What is an Informational Interview?

An Informational Interview is a meeting in which a person asks for advice and information rather than employment. It also differs from a job interview in that the person wanting the interview initiates the contact, requests the meeting and asks most of the questions. The Informational Interview can be a powerful networking tool for helping you to both identify the right career, and also make contacts that can help further your career. An informational interview can be used to:

• gather information on a profession, field and/or industry
• obtain information on a company or operational unit (e.g. department, division, etc.) within a company
• request referrals for other informational interviews and or employment leads
• expand one’s professional network

NOTE: From this point on, the person requesting the informational interview may be referred to as the “interviewer” and the person granting the informational interview as the “interviewee.”

The Golden Rule of Informational Interviews

Most of the rules of engagement for Informational Interviews are adaptable to the circumstances of the search and the personalities of the interviewee and interviewer; however, there is one courtesy that should always be observed:

“You should never ask for a job during an informational interview!”

The “don’t ask for a job” rule benefits everyone by greatly reducing or even eliminating the stress associated with a normal job interview. It also benefits the person requesting the informational interview since:

• The interviewee will be much more willing accept an interview request and provide useful information
• The interviewer can concentrate on obtaining information on a company, industry or profession instead of needing to sell their skills and impress a potential employer

Exceptions to the Golden Rule

Although people should not ask for a job during an informational interview, they can:

• Ask for referrals to other people for informational interviews
• Ask for information about job openings (e.g. ask the interviewee if they know of divisions or departments within the company that might be hiring or of other companies that may have open job listings)

The Golden Rule does not apply to the person being interviewed and can be waved at their request! People requesting/obtaining informational interviews can sometimes find themselves meeting with someone that has or knows of specific job listings that fit the qualifications of the interviewer. The person granting the informational interview can, at their discretion, change the scope of an informational interview to something that more resembles a formal job interview. For this reason alone, it is strongly recommended that a person requesting/obtaining an informational interview come fully prepared to discuss their interests and qualifications for specific jobs, if and when it is or becomes the desire of the person granting the informational interview to do so.

Other Resources

About.com has an online guide titled Informational Interview  that discusses the etiquette and advantages of Informational Interviews. About.com also has an online guide Informational Interview Questions that provides some example questions that could be used during an informational interview.

The Quintessential Careers Website provides a detailed online tutorial on Informational Interviewing titled Informational Interviewing Tutorial that provides information on obtaining and conducting informational interviews, including questions to ask and how to prepare for an informational interview. Please make note of the tutorial page titled Never Ask for a Job .

Wikipedia has a brief definition of Informational Interview and a couple of useful links. The first useful link is to the About.com online guide listed above, but there is also a link to a downloadable article from the Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Summer 2002:
Informational Interviewing: Get the inside scoop on careers by Olivia Crosby .