Have you been bored from being on the interviewee’s side after applying for a job? Not knowing if it’s a career path you are interested in, and besides, you keep applying for work, and you do not get a response?
Today, I’m going to share a tool that I found helpful when I was switching from my previous job.
I decided to look into artificial intelligence and machine learning. However, there are many roles in the field, and one tool that helped me narrow down my focus is informational interviews.
What is an Informational interview?
It is an opportunity to meet with a professional in the field of interest, where you get to learn from them about their career path, their area of expertise and ask for any career advice they have.
An informational interview is not a job interview. It is not the time to express your interest in a job offer in the company and you don’t have to not expect a job offer out of it.
And even though it’s called “Informational”, you still need to consider it just like any professional meeting, which means it cannot be without a timeline and so on.
An informational interview is an opportunity to meet someone and further talk about the industry or career of your interest. Because of its format – no obligation for the interviewee to give you an offer – the person will be more open to talk about his/her experiences, knowledge, and learnings. (let’s admit it: everyone like to talk about themselves)
It is especially beneficial when you are not sure about what job role you would like to pursue as it allows you to learn from someone who DOES the job, not from a job description or information gathered from the internet about a job role.
What will you get out of it?
The main benefit that you can get from it, is clarity.
One of my mentors Anna Runyan shared with us that when she thought about going into a career in the legal field, she did an informational interview. And thanks to that, she realized that she doesn’t want to do pursue the legal field.
So, we can see from Anna’s example how such an interview can save you a lot of time, instead of going for studies, taking the diploma, start working, and only then discover that it’s not something that you want to do.
You will get an opportunity to stay in the mind of the person you’ve interviewed with. That person will remember you, build and grow your network by referring you, and an opportunity to start leading directly to a job.
You will get experience, skills, and improve your ability to answer interview questions better by observing how your interviewee spoke about their background, learning, and seeing them talking about themselves.
How can you do it?
Make sure you know the person that will help you. To validate that, study or research about that person and the company he/she works with.
Then invite them to schedule a time when the informational interview will take place. Set the length of time to 15-20 minutes to prevent rejection. Take note, the longer you set the length of time, the more chances you’ll get rejection. These few minutes will be good as an introduction and to get 3-4 questions answered.
Don’t forget to prepare your questions beforehand and you have to be specific. For instance, how is your typical job today, , what you’re doing, what things have helped you get to this place.
Don’t forget to send a thank you email after the interview. And if the interview feels right, it went well, perhaps you can ask that person for more, such as reviewing your resume, ask him if he has a favorable opinion about you, and likely to spend more time helping you. Ask how you can find someone to do an informational interview close to your area and ask him to carry your network.
I would like to challenge you if you are looking for a job or thinking about your next career step. Do this the next day or two, find three individuals you can interview, and send them an invitation to do so.
If you are looking to find the right career path for you, join the waiting list of Thriving Career Moms’ membership, where I help moms find the career path they are looking for and there are some informational interview tools available there too. See you, Mama!
