Informational interview

An Informational Interview (also known as an Informational conversation) is a meeting in which a job seeker seeks advice on their career, the industry, and the corporate culture of a potential future workplace, while an employed professional learns about the job seeker and judges their professional potential, so building their candidate pool for future hires.

Job seekers can be unemployed or employed and considering new options. They use the interview to gather information on the field, to find employment leads, and to expand their professional network, while the professional learns about a new potential colleague or hire.

This differs from a job interview because the potential candidate asks many of the questions, and the goal is not to evaluate the candidate's skills or suitability for a specific job, but to learn more about corporate culture on the one hand and personal character on the other.

The term was coined by Richard Nelson Bolles, author of the best-selling career handbook What Color Is Your Parachute? There may or may not be a specific employment opportunity available, but professional etiquette is expected.

Informational interviews are initiated either by the job seeker or by an employer looking to build a pool of strong candidates.

In a recruiting/job-seeking process, each side is hesitant to talk to the other because they are uncertain about whether they might find a match or, on the other hand, whether they might be wasting their time with an unqualified candidate or unsuitable workplace. "The informational interview provides an non-threatening forum" for discussion as the two sides learn about the other.

There are many avenues the job seeker on the one hand, or the industry professional on the other hand, can pursue to obtain the informational interview. These included web services dedicated to this purpose, career and social networking, newspaper want ads, job boards, placement services, company websites, trade association and professional meetings, human resource contacts, professors and teachers, job search engines, and professional recruiters.

Etiquette for Informational Interviews Initiated by Job Seeker

When the job seeker initiates the interview, the professional being interviewed is doing a favor by providing information. It is important to be mindful of guidelines of informational interview etiquette, in addition to etiquette for traditional interviews:

• prepare with research about the industry and the individual;
• arrange a time and place convenient to the professional;
• set a short time for the discussion (15 minutes is not unusual);
• have business cards available;
• dress appropriately;
• arrive promptly;
• ask well-prepared questions;
• offer to terminate the meeting at the end of the agreed time;
• offer to pay any bill associated with the meeting (from coffee to dinner tab); and
• write a personalized thank you note, preferably on stationery.

and other actions appropriate for the industry to make a good first impression.

External links

• Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Summer 2002 Informational interviewing: Get the inside scoop on careers by Olivia Crosby