What makes for a successful informational interview? In a word – curiosity.
Wikipedia defines an Informational Interview as “a meeting in which a job seeker asks for career and industry advice rather than employment. The job seeker uses the interview to gather information on the field, and expand their professional network. This differs from a job interview because the job seeker asks the questions.”
The questions you ask depend on what you want to know about a company or a particular kind of a job. Here are some questions you could during an informational interviewer:
- What is the job like day to day? What do you do in a typical day? What have you done over this past week or couple of days?
- Hone in on expected talents. What are the key skills that someone doing this job are expected to possess? For example a nurse needs to be able to assess patients, record what you observe in a document, etc.
- How did you learn those skills? On-the-job? In a classroom? Internship? From an informal mentor(s) when they started? How did they get the experience needed?
- Do you enjoy what you do? What drew you to this work? A paycheck? A friend? A relative? A teacher?
- What challenges do you face day-to-day and how do you tackle them?
- What is it like to work for this company? What do you like? Dislike?
- How does the company compare with competitors in the industry?
- What is your role in this job? What impact do you have in this company? Are you a revenue generator, one of the doers, part of an infrastructure support team, a strategic implementer? How do you fit in to the picture?
- What are industry trends? Is this industry or field cutting edge or is it mature or traditional? Could we do a quick mini SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the industry, employment opportunities, education required? For example: an intervention specialist in the field of education is a relatively new position. They develop independent action plans for at-risk students. Ten years ago this position did not exist, and now it is one of the fastest growing areas. If you were interested in this position, it would be informative to ask someone doing the job how the position evolved and what other changes are happening in the field today.
- What are the job opportunities in this geography or in this size company? Opportunities vary based on the career opportunity you are considering: CNC operator, IT professional, teacher, manufacturing engineer. Asking questions about job opportunities might help you target companies based on size, whether you should look for employment in a large or medium-sized company. What are your personal job experiences and how did you get hired?
Preparation gives your curiosity an edge. Do some background work so you can ask smart questions. Ask follow up questions when you want to know more. When something peaks your interest it will help steer the conversation. It’s meant to be a dialogue or interaction. Be curious and ask why.
Here is an example: Maybe you are interested in becoming a teacher. But you are aware that teachers continue to get beat up in the media for not getting the job done. You have heard about cuts in many school district. An informational interview might be a good way to get more information about whether this job is for you. You could ask a teacher how they make a difference. Get his or her perspective about what a typical day is like. Does he/she like their job? What is the best part of the day? What is the future of the teaching field? Ask some hard questions you have always wanted to know. Aren’t kids kind of crazy sometimes? Or parents? Or administrators? How do you get parents to become more involved?
Informational interviews give you a powerful perspective just by listening to an experienced person talk. Listen carefully to determine if their passion is a passion of yours? If so, you will feel it (or not) when you are talking to them. You may also get a stronger sense of your qualifications.
Guaranteed: An informational interview will help you determine if this type of work is something you want to do.
Dan Toussant
