When you’re trying to figure out what you want to do with your life, informational interviews can be a critical step. It might be a term you’ve heard thrown around, but what is an informational interview? What does it mean? How do you initiate one? Don’t worry. We have you covered with our ultimate guide to informational interviews, which is perfect for a college (or late high school) student!
What Is an Informational Interview?
An informational interview is essentially a short conversation (usually about 10-20 minutes) during which you ask them about their career. It’s intended to give you a better idea of what the career entails, how to get to that point, what you should be doing to get there, and what their experience has been. It’s also a great way to network and build connections. Informational interviews can be done with strangers or people you know, but they are set up ahead of time. When doing the interview, you ask the other person questions about their current career, education, career journey, and anything else you might like to know. By the end of the conversation, you will hopefully have a clearer glimpse of what a career in that field would look like.
How Do You Initiate an Informational Interview?
Reaching out to people can be scary, especially when done through cold emails, and that’s why it helps to network constantly. There’s a thing called the six degrees of separation that states that we know everyone in the world and can contact them with six connections. Basically, you know someone who knows someone. And if they don’t know someone, they might know someone who does.
With that being said, there are a few ways to initiate informational interviews, and I’m going to go over the main three: reaching out to someone you know, asking a connection to reach out for you, and cold calling/emailing someone.
Reaching Out to Someone You Know
The easiest way to do informational interviews, especially when you’re in college, is to find people you already know. Like I mention in this article about internships, these connections can often be right in front of you. They might be your parents, family members, family friends, friends’ parents, etc. All you need to do is say something like this to them: “Hey, ______. I’m thinking about a career in ______. I know you work in it, so I was wondering if you’d have a few minutes to answer some questions about it soon.” And boom! They’ll probably be more than happy to talk to you about it and flattered that you’re taking an interest in them.
Asking a Connection to Reach Out for You
This is where the six degrees of separation comes into play. For example, if your mom’s best friend works in engineering but doesn’t do the type of engineering you want to do, you can ask her if any of her college friends do that. From there, she can make the introduction and connect the two of you.
When I was in college, this was how I was connected with a lot of contacts. It’s more effective than just cold calling/emailing because they have a stake in it–your mutual connection. By taking advantage of that, you can learn more about your field and make those connections.
Cold Calling/Emailing Someone
And finally, here’s the most intimidating way to reach out: contacting a stranger. Thanks to LinkedIn, it’s become a lot easier. All you need to do is search the type of career or company (more appropriate if you’re targeting a specific company) and send them a quick message. The message can say something like the following:
“Hi _____, My name is _____ and I’m a student at _____. I was hoping for 15-20 minutes of your time to ask you about your career in ______. Please let me know if this will be possible and when would work for you!”
If you don’t get a response, don’t take it personally. Cold calling/emailing/messaging can often be the most difficult way to initiate informational interviews, but it can also introduce you to people you might not normally have access to.
You can also simply google companies you like. For example, if you want to work at a social media marketing company, you can google a local company, go to their “about” or “contacts” pages, find someone in a position you see yourself in, and send a message. Once more, people will often be flattered that you’re taking an interest in them, but don’t be offended if there’s no response!
Pro Tip: Make sure to write that you’re a student! Sometimes, people are wary of others contacting them to simply ask for a job. While informational interviews do make connections that can lead to jobs, they shouldn’t be blatant attempts to get a job. By writing that you’re a student, people are generally a bit more at ease and willing to help you.
How Do You Hold an Informational Interview?
You can go about an informational interview many different ways. If you’re very shy or the person requests it, you can simply send them your questions over email and communicate that way. If you want to have some face to face action, Zoom and actually meeting up are better for that. My top two options are Zoom and in-person, and I will explain why.
With Zoom or another virtual meeting platform (Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Skype, etc.), you are able to communicate with people both near and far. This cuts down on the amount of time it takes to meet with someone too, as neither of you have to drive to the meeting place. For busy professionals, this can be an alluring option. For you, especially if you have a wacky schedule or limited access to transportation, this can be very convenient. Hosting the informational interviews virtually allows you to widen your net as well. Instead of simply talking to people within your city, you can arrange meetings with people across the county or outside of the country and get a broader idea of that field of work.
What both Zoom and in-person meetups have in common is that they allow face time. We automatically connect more with people we put a face to, especially if we see them in person. This makes them more “real” to us. As we talk to them, we see their quirks, conversation starters can pop up, and everything is a bit more organic. When doing an informational interview, it’s crucial to read tone and genuinely connect with people. If it’s face to face, you have a greater chance of that happening.
Or the Other Option…
Or, if you’re indecisive and can’t get a good feel for the person you’re about to do an informational interview with, you can always put it in their hands. By saying something like, “I know you’re a busy professional and I want to respect your schedule; what modality works best for you?”, you come across as very thoughtful and considerate. It can help them to feel more inclined to help you, and it can also ensure that they feel comfortable when it comes to the big day.
What Are Some Questions to Ask?
Here’s a partial list of informational interview questions that I’ve found helpful in the past:
- What is your specific title/role? What are the main responsibilities?
- Can you tell me about your career path?
- What schooling/other experiences did you have that helped you to get here?
- How relevant is your degree to this job?
- What kind of education do most people in this line of work have?
- What does your average day/week look like?
- Are there any times of the year that are busier than others? What does work look like then?
- What (if any) other careers did you consider?
- What made you decide to pick this job?
- What’s your favorite part about your job?
- What’s your least favorite part about your job?
- What skills do you think are the most important for this job?
- What kind of person do you think this job attracts?
- What kind of person do you think this job needs?
- What is the most common career path for people in this field?
- What are common entry level jobs in this field?
- What advice do you have for someone starting out in this field?
- What is one mistake that you wish you could go back and fix/that you don’t want someone else to make when trying to achieve your position?
- What is the work/life balance in this field?
- How do you see this job changing in the next ___ years?
From there, you can add anything else that feels right or that you’d like to know. Remember to show that you’ve done your research!
How Do You Follow Up with an Informational Interview?
Usually, you can send your interviewee a nice thank you after you interview them. I like to ask them if it’s okay to email them for any further questions at the end of the interview. Then, within 24 hours of the interview, I send them a quick thank you. It usually looks something like this:
“Dear _____, Thank you so much for your time today! I truly appreciated all the insight and advice you had to give. Insert something memorable that they talked about that helped you. This was truly invaluable in my career search journey. I hope we cross paths again in the future! Best, ____.”
This is extremely generic, and yours should have more thought, but it’s just a start. Thank yous go a long way, and they’re a considerate gesture overall. Make sure to do them!
A Final Word
Informational interviews were invaluable when I was searching for the career that would fit me. In the process, I learned so much about different careers, started focusing on skills that would help me succeed, and made connections that helped me to grow professionally and personally. If you’re not sure what you want to do, want to get a clearer idea of your choice career, or want to make connections, don’t hesitate to set up an informational interview!
