If you’re looking to transition to a new field or a different type of work, a good way to find out if you’re a solid fit is through informational interviews.
An informational interview is a 15-minute meeting, requested by you, with someone who excels in your chosen field.
Ideally, this person’s an alum of your college or university, a neighbor or member of your faith community, a friend of a friend, or someone else you know through your network.
The goal of this meeting is to help you acquire information you could not have otherwise uncovered about the employer, field, or type of position that interests you.
Focus on the other
What’s counter-intuitive about these meetings, though, is that although you are gathering information that will impact you, the meeting is not about you.
Since you’ve arranged the interview in order to gather information you’d have no way of knowing otherwise, use the limited time you have to get answers to questions that help you understand more, without offending your host.
You do this by making the meeting entirely about your host.
This means that instead of asking “Why should I work here?” you might ask, “What drew you to this position?” or “What has been most remarkable to you about working here/in this industry/in this type of role?”
You could also ask your host a variety of questions to understand his or her career path, and the skills most needed to excel on the job.
Questions such as:
“How did you arrive in this position, and what was the best preparation you made along the way?”
“What skills do you use the most in your daily tasks?”
“What training do you most value or will you seek in the future?”
“What advice would you give to someone who wanted to join this industry/firm?”
…will help you to understand if this position sounds like something you’d like, and if you are qualified or would enjoy training for the role.
Your goal is to leave the meeting with at least three actionable pieces of information.
Useful topics to cover
This does not mean three contacts for you – don’t expect people to open their Rolodex, unless they offer to.
But you could ask about events, blogs, publications, or other resources that your informant finds really useful and recommends you check out in order to stay current in the field.
And here’s a question that will help you determine if your informant is happy in his or her job (since you shouldn’t ask directly).
This suggestion was given by Derick Brinkerhoff, EdD, of RTI International during a panel I facilitated at Duke a few years ago.
He suggested that you could find out about another’s satisfaction on the job with the question, “Working here, can you do what makes sense?”
This helps to get at satisfaction by uncovering how much autonomy your respondent has to be effective in his or her role.
People who feel effective are, for the most part, pretty satisfied at what they do.
People who feel stymied are going to be unhappy.
Key takeaway
Remember, in an informational interview: focus entirely on your host. (And write a thank-you note immediately afterward).
This will allow your respondent to know that you value their time, and will ensure that they enjoy the conversation.
The information you gather will be transferable to you.
