Informational Interviews

Posted: October 04, 2012

Do you how to use an informational interview to open doors to places that you want to go? Here are some simple suggestions to get you started on the right path to conducting a informational interviews and getting results.

So, you think you want to work for a certain company or in a particular profession in a specific position or department. How do you know for sure? How do you find out? Conducting informational interviews is a good place to start.

What’s an informational interview? It’s a meeting with someone in a position, department, company, or profession that intrigues you. You’re not certain whether you are suited for or interested in that career, so you ask someone who knows what working in such an environment involves. (Equally important is what an informational interview is not: It is not a stratagem for finagling an opportunity to ask for a job under the guise of merely obtaining information.)

How do you go about setting up an informational interview? Brainstorm, and check with friends and family, to find someone who works in a position or a company in the profession you’re interested in learning more about. Ask for an introduction, or contact the person directly. If you can’t identify a friend of a friend to interview, search online for contact information for a likely candidate and make a cold call (or, better yet, send a cold email, and then follow up with a call if you haven’t heard back from the person within a few days).

To get the interview, write or say something like this: “I’m exploring new career opportunities, and I’m intrigued by your job description/your company/your profession. Before I seek employment as a (blank), I’d like to make sure that it’s the right fit for me, and I’d appreciate the opportunity to ask you a few questions about your work.

“Could we meet for coffee, or at your office, for thirty minutes? This is not a stealth effort to ask for a job. It’s premature for me to seek employment in (job area) until I’m certain I have the aptitude and skills, and I am not deceitful. I’m genuinely interested in benefiting from your knowledge and insights.”

If the recipient declines (which is unlikely — most people are willing to share their professional know-how with a newcomer), thank them for their consideration and reply with a request for the name of someone else in the same company or profession who might be amenable to an interview.

Here are questions to ask (but find out what you can through your own research first):

1. How do you spend your workday, and what are the weekly, monthly, and yearly cycles, if any, of your workload?

2. What is the balance of routine and novelty in your job? Does your work largely follow a set pattern, and does that appeal to you, or is it mostly unpredictable, and do you like that?

Read the entire article Informational Interviews.

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