Informational Interviews (and Cold Calls)
What are Informational Interviews?
* In essence, an informational interview is a brief, 15 to 30-minute conversation with a person working in a field that is of interest to you.
* During an informational interview, YOU are the person asking questions, thus YOU are the interviewer.
* Note that the goal is to gather information, not secure a job.
One obvious question to ask is WHY would someone seek an informational interview? There are several reasons and here are just a couple of illustrative examples:
Scenario #1: Informational interviews are appropriate not just for people who are already working, but also for people who are thinking about applying for programs of study. Suppose, for example, you're thinking about applying for an educational program in biotechnology. Before forging ahead, you may want to arrange for a couple of informational interviews with people in that field. Those conversations may give you a better sense of whether biotechnology is the right fit for you. In fact, you could even take the process a step further. Biotechnology has several different areas of specialization, and there are a variety of different companies that employ people with expertise in biotechnology. It might be helpful to have first-hand information from more than one person and/or company about various career options in the field.
Scenario #2: Suppose you've been working as an EMT, but the physical strain of that job is getting too difficult for you. You want to completely change careers -- perhaps get an accounting degree and work in some sort of office. Before making such a huge decision, you could set up informational interviews -- possibly at 2 or 3 different places -- to find out what it's like to work in the accounting field, and in a variety of different settings.
Bottom line is that if you're at a point where you want to learn more about a specific job, career field, educational path, and/or organization before making any major life decisions, one or more informational interviews might provide you with extremely helpful information.
And the truth is, even though an informational interview isn't a job interview, it is unquestionably a way to expand your network of contacts. That could ultimately help you get a job in the future.
Steps for Setting up Informational Interviews
We're going to offer the story of a real person who used informational interviews as she was contemplating a career change. However, before we share her story, let's briefly look at the term "cold calls". Often, the terms "informational interviews" and "cold calls" went hand in hand, because in the "old days", it was typical to reach out to people by phone in order to try and set up informational interviews. Note that the "cold" part of a cold call indicates that the outreach is to someone you don't know.
Times have changed in one respect in that more typically, we now reach out via email or professional networking sites (e.g. LinkedIn). However, even via email or LinkedIn, we're usually reaching out to strangers, thus the "spirit" of the cold call is still very much at play (and actual cold calls by phone still have their relevance).
THE STORY: "Rosie" worked in the educational administration field for many years, both in the USA and other countries. She learned two languages during those years and understood the challenges of language learning and adapting to different cultures. At a certain point, she wanted a change and was thinking about training to become an ESOL teacher. She didn't have a lot of money in the bank, thus it was a big risk. Rosie decided to reach out to people working in the ESOL field. She ended up conducing informational interviews in two different places. The first was with the Director of an ESOL institute that worked primarily with paying students and travelers. At that location, she was also able to interview a teacher. The other place where she conducted an informational interview was at a non-profit that worked primarily with refugees and immigrants. There, she was able to meet with a teacher, and that teacher also got permission to invite Rosie to a couple of classes. After the interviews, Rosie sent thank-you emails to everyone with whom she had met. Ultimately, she decided to make the career change. She left her job, went back to school, and found a position teaching English and coordinating language programs.
Let's take a look at the key steps that were involved in Rosie's process:
1) The first thing Rosie did was conduct Internet research that enabled her to identify ESOL venues and potential people to interview. (Remember that you can also network with people you know to see if they have any helpful contacts.)
2) She then reached out (via email and phone) to administrative staff at a few different places, explaining that she was considering a career change and was hoping to conduct informational interviews. Some of these places were obviously receptive, and that's how Rosie was able to connect with the Director at one place, as well as a couple of teachers. In her case, the meetings were in person (in some cases, informational interviews are conducted via Zoom or phone).
3) Next, she PREPARED! Rosie did some Internet research on the people she would be meeting as well as the organizations where they worked. She also did a bit of reading about the ESOL field. She then came up with a list of insightful questions that would enable the conversations to be productive within the time allotted (she had about 30 minutes for each interview).
4) She dressed professionally for the meetings and conducted herself professionally. Though an informational interview is not a job interview, the same standards of professionalism still apply.
QUICK TIP #1: Make sure to express your appreciation to each person who has agreed to be interviewed. Go in prepared, in order to have a smooth, productive conversation. And be respectful of the amount of time that has been agreed upon for the meeting.
5) After each interview, make sure to send a THANK YOU message via email. Do that on the same day (or within 24 hours at most).
SOME ONLINE RESOURCES ABOUT INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS AND COLD CALLS
Note: By including the links below, we aren't endorsing every detail that the sites provide (and they may not fully agree with each other on some points). But each of the sites contains a lot of valuable information.