Cold messages to people in my field, do they work?, accounts payable clerk here

A friend suggested informational chats and I do not know how to ask. Any experience at all would help. I want advice, not a job directly. How do you phrase the request?

I asked what they wish they had known at my stage. People enjoy answering that.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.