How To Power Your Career Transition Or Job Search With An Informational Interview
Being well-informed about an industry or role is not only the smart thing to do; it’s the right thing to do for your career in both the short- and long-term.
If you’re planning on transitioning into a new career, new company, or new role this year, informational interviews are a key component of the job search process and one of the best strategies you can undertake while in “career investigation” mode. Informational interviews enable you to have an informal meeting or conversation with an industry insider without a job commitment or prospective employment offer. Through an informational interview, you can gather deep insights into a company’s culture, its growth opportunities, and your potential career trajectory while learning what it’s really like to work there.
Informational interviews are powerful because they give you the ability to broaden your professional network while also increasing the scope of information about a company or specific role prior to making the leap. Informational interviews provide valuable chances to get ahead in the process, while helping you refine and practice your interview skills, uncover gaps in your career trajectory, and upskill your tool kit. Ultimately, they can help you decide whether it’s truly lucrative to leave your current role or change your career path.
With LinkedIn giving its users unfettered access to senior executives and industry insiders, it’s incumbent upon all job seekers to take this targeted approach in today’s job search process. Informational interviews are a strategic method to building a more robust and targeted network, gaining important industry insights, as well as understanding the employee’s day-to-day job functions, career challenges, and even the company’s marketplace challenges.
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Being well-informed about an industry or role is not only the smart thing to do; it’s the right thing to do for your career in both the short- and long-term. That means performing detailed research on companies and firms, as well as keeping a folder with the information, statistics, and notes about the pros and cons of the potential new career or new company. As a result, you should always create a job search spreadsheet to stay organized in the job search process.
While the informational interview is an informal “coffee chat,” it must be purposeful and targeted. After all, it can lead to mentorship in addition to future career opportunities. Therefore, preparation is key when it comes to informational interviews. The informational interview is not there to ask questions about information easily discoverable in a Google search or LinkedIn profile review. It exists to go beyond introductory questions and dig deep into the career of the person you’re interviewing and experiences at that company.
Be sure to ask valuable pieces of career information such as career advancement and growth opportunities, professional development, courses/certifications that are highly valued at the company (or recommended for the role/industry), typical industry salary ranges, ways to break into the industry, other key players in the industry, and other companies that might be congruent to this one (and how they differ).
Plan out your “ask” before you send that introductory email or message on LinkedIn. Think about what you want to get out of the informational interview and how this person will provide that information.
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For example, if you’re transitioning from law firm lawyer to in-house counsel, seek out informational interviews with those who have successfully made the transition — learn how they did it, find out what they recommend you accentuate in your own career, gain their perspective on working in-house, and learn of industry professionals you can also connect with (who might be part of unique succession plans at companies of interest). Think about reaching out to people who are where you want to be a year, five years, or even 10 years from now.
If you’re interested in switching to a new practice area such as data privacy, perform a targeted search of “data privacy counsel” on LinkedIn and read through the profiles in detail. Look to see if there’s a data privacy counsel who writes extensively about compelling topics on data privacy issues and send that person a message about their recent article that discusses a trending topic. Draw a connection and let that be your introduction to setting up the informational interview. An informational interview request should be direct and succinct.
Remember, each opportunity to meet and engage with someone at the targeted company is also an opportunity to refine your interviewing skills while also showcasing the value you bring to the company (and the position). Just as you would send a thank you note following a job interview, don’t forget to send the industry insider a simple thank you note and leave the future conversation line open.
Wendi Weiner is an attorney, career expert, and founder of The Writing Guru, an award-winning executive resume writing services company. Wendi creates powerful career and personal brands for attorneys, executives, and C-suite/Board leaders for their job search and digital footprint. She also writes for major publications about alternative careers for lawyers, personal branding, LinkedIn storytelling, career strategy, and the job search process. You can reach her by email at wendi@writingguru.net, connect with her on LinkedIn, and follow her on Twitter @thewritingguru.
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