What Is An Informational Interview?
Welcome to the 3-part series on Informational Interviews. This is Part 1.
Before designers or engineers build a product, they prototype a smaller, quicker version to see if it will work. When designing and creating our careers, we do the same thing!
Career prototyping conversations are commonly referred to as informational meetings or interviews. Prototyping experiences typically take the form of an internship.
Through conversations and experiences we figure out what we like doing and what we don't like doing. Enter the informational interview!
Keep It Informal and Learn
An informal conversation helps you better understand different career paths, industries, companies and/or general career advice from someone with experience and knowledge. The goal of the conversation is to learn, it’s not to get a recommendation or additional connections, but if there is a good fit and the person you interview offers to help in your job search, great!
Build Your Network
Every interview is an organic and natural way to build up your network. While the goal of interviewing is to learn, gaining connections during or after the interview is a huge bonus. You can interview folks that are senior to you or in your peer group.
Starting with your peer group is a low-stake way to practice your interviewing skills and provides an opportunity to speak more freely and ask the questions you might be apprehensive asking someone senior to you.
Remember A.I.R.
A.I.R. stands for Advice, Information and Recommendations. The questions you ask in an interview should yield advice on jobs, industries, companies or life as well as information helpful to you when considering jobs, industries or companies and skills, certifications, associations, publications or people they recommend you take up. Make sure to bring a pre-pared list of questions and take notes during the interview.
Some common questions include:
What is a typical day like in your job?
What do you like most / least about this career?
Is your job typical of others in this field?
What are current job prospects like?
Are there related fields I might want to look into?
Small Steps
Informational interviews are small steps in understanding what careers and jobs are right for you. The more interviews you do and the more data you collect. Use this information to conclude trends and themes from your data set and think how you can use this information going forward in your job search.
If you thought you wanted to become a consultant and you did 5-10 interviews with consultants and found you actually really didn’t enjoy the job or industry outlined in the interviews, this is good information to know before taking a job as a consultant. Do your homework and design a career that works for you.
The Expert’s Guide To Informational Interviewing eBook
A complete guide to having helpful networking conversations
Related:
How To Manage Your Time In A 30 Minute Informational Interview
Why LinkedIn Isn’t Working For You: 4 Mistakes You Might Be Making Right Now
5 Tips To Elevating Your LinkedIn Profile Headline To Get Noticed Fast
Meet The Writer!
Hi! My name is Nadia Ibrahim-Taney and I help people design happy and fulfilling careers through authentic career coaching. My expertise includes career exploration guidance, resume writing, interview prep and LinkedIn profile optimization. My pronouns are She/ Her/ Hers and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I focus on how diverse identities impact and influence folks holistically and professionally. Please connect with me on LinkedIn or at Nadia@beyonddiscoverycoaching.com
