CareerZ Cast Guide to Informational Interviews

=> CareerZ Cast audio version of this article

What are informational interviews?

While the term “informational interview” can be applied to different types of career-related conversations, for the purposed of this article, we defined it as a one-on-one conversation with a professional in a field you are interested in with the main purpose of obtaining first-hand insights and information.

The potential learnings out of an informational interview can be, for example, how a more seasoned professional get inspired and conduct their work, learn about the skills needed/daily tasks in a specific job, how to take the next step in getting into a target career, what skills/knowledge you need to pursue, understand an organization or company culture, discover career paths or resources you were not aware of, etc. While there might be occasional transitions, do not treat an informational interview as a covert job search requests.

Once you start doing it, in addition to the information you ask for, you will also realize that having candid conversations helps to build relationship, learn about the person you are talking to, and possibly to the building of longer-term relationships and opportunities.

A formal informational interview will typically be scheduled for 30 minutes, but depending on how close you are to the interviewee or how the conversation goes, it could be both longer and involve multiple sessions.

Who should I talk to?

Particularly if you are approaching a career-related milestone (picking a major in college, earning a degree, starting a job search, preparing for a job interview, considering a career change, promotion into a new role, etc.), it should be easy for you to approach anyone and ask for help.

You will find that most people, particularly people who have achieved a successful career, are more willing than you imagine to share their ideas and knowledge.

We are not used to just approach people and ask for help. In this case, the worst thing that can happen is the person offering some excuse (“I am too busy in the next few weeks…”) and declining the appointment. The upside is compelling so, as long as you are genuinely interested, just do it.

Some of the most insightful and productive informational interviews I have requested were with people I was not close with. But it does take some courage to take that first step and cold contact someone. So, you can start and practice with someone you already know.

Have you had a career talk with your parents or a relative? You would be surprised at how setting a professional context and adding a bit of structure can change how conversations go, even with people you have been talking for a long time. You will lean a lot if you can get someone who knows you well to talk to you as an objective advisor instead of a well-meaning but subjective parent.

Once you have identified an immediate goal, do some homework and use your natural contacts, such as family, friends, professors, former employers, mentors to identify a good conversation candidate. People you know, even if not ideal candidates, can connect you to people who are.

If you are in college, the alumni network is an obvious place to look. If you are a professional looking for career advice, pick someone in your organization you admire and trust. If you are applying to a job, talk to someone in the company or in the organization you might be joining. Use tools like LinkedIn to look for possible contacts.

In summary, here is the list of places you can find people to share and ask for advice: family, friends, neighbors, classmates/colleagues, professors/managers, student or professional associations, social networking, alumni or ex-employees, other communities.

Preparing for an informational interview

• Research – Do not ask trivial questions that ChatGPT can factually answer. You want insights, specific information that is not in job descriptions or Internet articles. For example, don’t ask “what does a data scientist do?”. Instead ask “I read that data scientists perform analysis on data to detect or predict business trends. Can you tell me what that means in practice in this company and give an example of business problems you work on?”
• Develop a brief introduction – Be prepared to briefly tell your story: talk about where you are in your career, what your goals are, why you requested the interview and what you hope to get from it. Be candid and vulnerable with the interviewee and go into it with a genuine curiosity and interest in learning.
• Prepare a list of questions – Particularly if you are talking to someone who is more experienced, you might expect them to partially lead the conversation and tell you things you did not even know existed. But be prepared with a list of questions exploring the things you would like to know. Listen more than you talk. Ask real questions you are interested in (don’t ask just because you saw it in an article like this one).

Reaching out with a request

Proposing an informational interview can be scary, but should not be difficult. Here are some examples.

• Direct personal acquaintance – You are interested in going into a certain field and your uncle is a practitioner. You can simply say during Thanksgiving dinner: “I am graduating from college next year and considering exploring career option in <field>. Would it be ok for us to have a quick meeting next week? We have not talked about work much, but I know you are in this space and would like to get some insight and orientation from you as I start that exploring journey…”
• Indirect connection – You intend or have applied for a job role at a certain company. You can explore your network and find someone who already works there. Contact them and state (a) who you are, how you got their name, (b) the context of your upcoming job interview, (c) what you are looking for (not asking for a job, finding more about the company and its culture, determine if I am a good match to apply to or be hired for a job).

Examples of questions to ask

• Personal: Books that influence you, what drives/motivates you, how reality differs from expectations when you were where I am, what are your personal strengths in career development, specific advice on next steps, how to select a good mentor, how the job affects your lifestyle. Think about your current struggles. Ask them how they have overcome them.
• Field of work: If your main topic is exploring a specific company/domain/industry, you can ask about important technical and non-technical skills, how a typical day of work looks like, the culture and attitudes in the company/organization, the business value of the work, how success is measured, suggestion for getting started, adjacent and next career paths, industry trends, thought leaders to follow or books to read.

Showing up for the conversation

While the range of formality in a informational conversation might vary broadly, make sure you treat it as a professional conversation.

• Set a professional context. If you are meeting face-to-face, show up on time and dress appropriately. If you are having an ad hoc conversation at a backyard barbecue triggered by “what you do for a living?”, signal interest and suggest moving to a quiet corner for a minute. If talking to a personal acquaintance, preamble the meeting by declaring the professional nature of the conversation you would like to have. Bring your notes and questions if it is a planned meeting.
• Introduce the conversation. Restate that your objective is to get information and advice. If necessary, highlight you are not asking for a job. Provide context and tell your story: where you are, what are your goals, why you are having the conversation, what you expect to get out of it.
• Conduct the interview. You are the interviewer, so be prepared to ask questions. Be an active listener, ask clarifying questions as real insights will be one layer deeper. Respect the person’s time. Limit the meeting to the agreed-upon timeframe.
• Conclude the conversation. Thank them for their time. Ask if you may contact them again in the future with other questions. Ask for names of other people to contact in order to gather different perspectives.
• Follow-up. Follow-up with a formal professional note, request referrals or links mentioned during the conversation, say after our conversation I felt.. and was surprised to learn… and plan to do… If you were anticipating a career milestone, let them know where there is a resolution later (“I got the job!”, “your advice was crucial for my decision”, “I had a very instructive conversation with the person you referred me to…”, etc.) and thank them again and turn a transactional conversation into a longer-term relationship. Anyone providing advice and information wants to know what they did was consequential to you.

Follow-up Action

If you are reading this or listening to the CareerZ Cast podcast, you are obviously thinking about your career. Take action today. There is no better way of learning, communication your intentions, get advice, nurture relationships, letting the universe help you, than talking to people about your status, struggles and dreams.

While informational interviews are typically conducted with some formality and with people who are more experienced than you, that doesn’t need to be the case. Develop the habit of telling your story and your goals in conversation with your peers. They are in parallel journeys to yours and might have insight and information to offer you. Perhaps you can share your insight and information and help them.

Take the time to share this post with a mentor and have a discussion on how to approach people for advice and information. Also take the time to share this post and podcast with friends.

About the author

Marcio is a technology veteran both in large corporate and startups. He has built a 35-year career in Technology product development and led a handful of people in a startup environment, dozens of people in traditional companies, and hundreds of people in large Tech. Marcio provides career coaching services.