INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW STRATEGY
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Find someone within the role you’re hoping to fill, or one step above that, who is close to a hiring
manager
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When you make contact be clear about your motivation
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Consider asking them for just 10-15 minutes of their time to ask five or six questions
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Ask questions that you couldn’t have answered on your own
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Ask questions and be ready to speak about your personal career plans, your experience, and your skills
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You want to make a great impression that helps position you as someone that an employer would love to
have at their company or who they would refer to other people
TWO KINDS OF INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS
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One that is focused on information gathering-including individuals at your level
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One that you hope will lead to a job interview – more of an exploratory meeting (with someone at the
level that could hire you)
TRUE INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS
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Have 3-6 purely informational interviews before going for a role that you haven’t had before
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Places where you don’t want to work (i.e. due to geography) are ideal for true informational meetings
EXPLORATORY MEETING
You are ready to meet with hiring managers when:
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You’ve done the same job as your target job at two or more organizations just like your target
organization
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You’ve had 3-6 informational interviews with people doing the exact role you are targeting AND you’ve
been told that you “sound like an insider” or something similar
TOPICS TO AVOID
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How difficult the jobs search is
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What your perfect career would be
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Why you are ‘perfect’ for the job or ‘uniquely’ qualified for the job
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How their work is exactly like what you have one in the past
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The wrong decisions made by your previous boss/company/employees
KEEP FOCUSING ON THEM
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When interviewing with a hiring manager you should be talking one third to one half of the time, mainly in
the second half
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Never talk for more than a minute without pausing so they can redirect
ACT LIKE AN EMPLOYEE
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Talk to them about their work, not about your career aspirations
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A good interview feels like an idea-generating, problem-solving meeting between two professionals who
aren’t working together yet, but should be
FOLLOW-UP
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Write thoughtful letters, focusing on their interests and needs, showing that you remember and take
interest in their views
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Confirm any follow-up discussed (e.g. next meeting)
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SUGGESTED INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
INDUSTRY
What direction do you see our/your industry moving? How do you see our/your industry changing in the
next 5-10 years? What changes have you seen in the course of your career so far? What are your
projections?
What are some of the biggest challenges facing your company and your industry today?
What do you read — in print and online — to keep up with developments in your field?
Share with me your strategy to manage the barrage of information and news and stay abreast of the most
critical issues facing our/your industry. What do you pay attention to?
LEADERSHIP
What do you find to be most challenging about leading and motivating others? What has worked best for
you?
A leader must be equipped with a set of competences necessary to perform his/her role. Which one would
you say is the most important ability a leader should have?
How do you help to build your team’s competencies in areas where they need to develop?
INDIVIDUAL
Which skills and competencies have you found most critical to your success, and which ones will be most
important in the future?
Has anything surprised you over the course of your career? What changes have you found most challenging?
Would you choose this field if you had it to do over again? Is there anything you would do differently?
Hindsight being 20/20, what do you know now that you wish you knew at the beginning of you’re career?
What lessons could you share with me?
If you were going to change direction now, where would you go? How would you do it?
What sorts of changes are occurring in your occupation?
What’s one thing that’s key to your success that somebody from outside the company wouldn’t know?
If you could hire, what are 3 key things you’d like the new hire to accomplish?
Can you recommend another person I could interview like this?
When I call him/her, may I use your name?
References
J. Graves, 2012, What Is an Informational Interview Anyway, US News
S. Stamboulie, The Hidden Job Market: Getting from Informational Interview to Job Offer
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