An Outline for An Informational Interview | No BS Job Search Advice
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Take a few minutes talking about your interests and background–where your career has been, where you want to go and what you’re hoping to accomplish. Be concise. You want to get them to answer your questions and talk about their career path to where they are now. Depending on what you’re trying to get out of the conversation, you may want to adjust this first thing to do is ask them to Tell me about yourself. Be concise. You want to get them to answer your questions and talk about their career path to where they are now.
You’ve heard me talk about acting like a curious reporter. Understand their role and career path. How did they get to where they are today. Ask them for advice
about how you can build your skills and level up in that career.
So let’s start with understanding their role and career. Ask about their daily life, what does their job consist of? Really get into the weeds with them. So if they say they do administrivia, dig in to understand what that work is. What are the tasks that they do on a given day. This will help you picture yourself in the role and whether you want to move into it. Why do they love about the work? What’s their favorite part? You also want to ask them about the toughest or their least favorite part of the job. Even people who love their jobs still have parts of it they don’t like. What’s something you didn’t know before coming into this industry that you wish someone would have told you?
How satisfied are you with your current role? Then if they say anything that’s lower than a 10, ask them, “What would make it a 10?” This opens them up to be candid about areas of improvement.
How did they get to where they are today. Be sure to ask them to go through it step by step. Where and how did you start? How did you improve and develop? How did you wind up here? You want to get all the juicy details, all the mistakes and bumps in the road to really understand their career trajectory. Now, convert it into a realistic view for yourself. If you’re asking about the specific company, you could ask them what’s the path to rising through the ranks as well as how much time is expected to take at each stage. Make sure you really have a good idea of how long each step in their career took to get to the next level.
Another question to ask is, if you were going to go back in time to when you first entered the working world, what would you do differently? How much money should you be expecting to make at each stage in your career?
What advice or final thoughts do they have for you personally? You could ask that as , “based on what you know about me, what would make me more attractive to a hiring manager to get a role in this field? What skills should I be building to make myself prepared to enter this industry? Are there books I should read, courses I should take or conferences I should attend? Who else should I should talk to? If there’s anything specific about your background that you want advice on, ask it. Finish by asking them if there’s anyone that who they would recommend that you talk to next to get you next informational interview.
Never just rely on your question list. Ask follow-ups.
Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2022
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves career coaching, as well as executive job search coaching, job coaching, and interview coaching. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2300 episodes.
Are you interested in 1:1 coaching, interview coaching, advice about networking more effectively, how to negotiate your offer or leadership coaching? Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
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