Colby-Sawyer College

An informational or research interview is a meeting in which you talk to people who are employed in a job of interest in order to:

• Obtain information from a person who is working in a career area that interests you. This information will help you to understand the realities of the field. YOU ARE NOT ASKING FOR A JOB!
• Expand your number of contacts. Your contact person may be referred by a friend or colleague or identified by a receptionist at an organization you've contacted. This person may or may not have hiring power within the organization.
• Learn the process of taking control in job seeking. You will be conducting the interview.

This technique provides many benefits:

• It will sharpen your perception of the career or job that you have been considering.
• Informational interviews help you explore a career, to gather information about a specific organization, or to investigate a specific job.
• You can discover what skills are required for certain jobs and match them with your own abilities and strengths.
• You will gain greater confidence in your interviewing skills since you direct the interview with professionals.
• You will view people at work and find out how they feel about their job and what type of lifestyle surrounds their careers. This observations and inquiry will help you see yourself in a similar position and determine whether or not it would be right for you.
• This low-pressure situation allows you to make a good impression with the person with whom you interview. This is beneficial since this individual may represent a valuable job contact in the future.
• Should you decide to pursue a particular occupation that you investigated, the knowledge of the field that you gained will convince an employer that you understand the career field. Also, the interviewer will be impressed by the aggressive measures that you took to learn more about the field.
• Most importantly, the people with whom you speak will become contacts and lead you to other, perhaps even better contacts and sources of job opportunities.

• You are less likely to encounter rejections since you are not asking for a job-only information, advice, referrals, and to be remembered.
• You go after higher level positions.
• You encounter little competition.
• You go directly to the people who have influence in the hiring process.
• You are likely to be invited to job interviews based upon the referrals you receive.

1. Begin with a few minutes of small talk-about the weather, traffic, mutual acquaintance, or a humorous observation.

2. Initiate the interview by emphasizing your appreciation, thanking the person for taking the time to meet with you to help you with your career plans.

3. Follow with a restatement of your purpose, as you mentioned in your letter or over the phone.

4. Focus on several "how" and "what" questions concerning specific jobs or careers:
Job and Career Questions
a) Duties and responsibilities
b) Knowledge, skills, abilities, and qualifications
c) Work environments-fellow employees, deadlines, stress, problems
d) Advantages and disadvantages
e) Future outlook
f) Salary ranges

5. Second major line of questioning should center on your job search. Now you want to know how to:
Job Search Questions
a) Acquire the required skills
b) Find a job related to this field
c) Overcome employer's objections to you
d) Identify both advertised and unadvertised job vacancies
e) Develop new job leads
f) Approach prospective employers

6. Last set of questions should deal with your resume. Give him/her a copy and ask these questions:
Resume Review Questions
a) Is this an appropriate type of resume for the jobs I have outlined?
b) If an employer received this resume in the mail, how do you think he/she would react to it?
c) What do you see as possible weaknesses or areas that need to be improved?
d) What about the length, paper quality and color, layout, and typing? Are they appropriate?
e) How might I best improve the form and content of the resume?

7. Your last two questions are actually requests to be referred and remembered. As you express your gratitude for the person's time, ask for referrals.

8. Just before you leave, ask to be remembered for future reference.

9. Make sure you leave a copy of your resume with this person so that he/she has something tangible to refer and remember you by.

10. After completing this interview, you should send a nice thank-you letter to this person.

1. Emphasize that you are not looking for a job. You only want information.
2. Avoid personnel offices unless you are looking for a job in that field.
3. It is a good idea to research the occupational field and companies prior to conducting informational interviews.
4. Prepare questions prior to informational interviewing.
5. Dress as if you were interviewing for a job.
6. Bring resumes.
7. Take note sparingly. Make note following the discussion.
8. Compile a notebook with the questions asked and responses received.
9. Keep a list of the people with whom you talk and their job titles, employers, addresses, and phone numbers.
10. Always ask who else you should contact prior to the conclusion of your discussion. Record the people to whom you were referred by the person who you interviewed.
11. Write thank you letters.
12. Make a good impression. You never know when this contact may lead to a job opportunity.