Three Tips To Conduct Effective Informational Interviews

THREE TIPS TO CONDUCT EFFECTIVE
INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS
A CRITICAL STRATEGY IN YOUR JOB SEARCH
Create Your Career Path
HallieCrawford.com, LLC
www.halliecrawford.com
Copyright 2013

T H E I N F O R M A T I O N A L I N T E R V I E W - W H A T I S I T ?
©2002-2013 HallieCrawford.com
The informational interview is a critical piece to your job search, but too few
people actually know its purpose or protocol.
Informational interviews unfortunately are very underutilized. College graduates
use
them more frequently because their career centers encourage it. Only 50 percent
of
our career coaching clients know what an informational interview is when we first
suggest it to them.
It's time to change that!

W H A T Y O U N E E D T O K N O W
There are several things you need to know to correctly use these kinds of
interviews
as a tool in your job search. For example:
 How do you set them up?
 Whom should you interview?
 What questions should you ask?
 What should you wear?
 How should you follow up or continue to stay in touch with the person you’ve
interviewed?

A O N E - O N - O N E C O N V E R S A T I O N
First, an informational interview is a one-on-one conversation, either in
person, over the phone, or via Skype with someone who works in an
industry
or at a company you would like to work at/in (or are considering as a career
possibility).
 That person may have a job you’re interested in learning more about, or simply
work within an industry you're considering as a long term career option.
 They could also be someone who is employed by a company that you're
interested in learning more about and possibly working for.

T H R E E T I P S T O K E E P I N M I N D
Informational interviews are a great way to decide on your career path,
determine
your next career moves, focus your aspirations, or figure out if a company / role
would
be a good fit for you.
They are a way to learn more about what a day is like in that job or industry.
You can
gain an inside perspective before you dive in and start applying for jobs.
For job seekers it’s also a great tool to network your way into an organization
and,
informational interviews are a perfect way to practice your interview skills
without
conducting a formal job interview as well. Here are a three basic tips to keep
in
mind…

# 1 – P E O P L E Y O U K N O W
Start with people you know:
Start by reaching out to people within your inner circle, personally and
professionally. Friends, family members, and LinkedIn connections are great
places to start to identify possible candidates for an interview. Contact a suggested
person and try to arrange a meeting; whether it’s face to face, over the phone or
via Skype. Email is an option, but the least desirable one so try to arrange at least
a phone meeting, but - go with what works best for them. It’s their time, be mindful
of it.

# 2 – B E S P E C I F I C
Be specific in your request:
When asking for their time, be concise and clear about your motivation and
intentions.
Let them know you are looking for information, not a job!
Give them specific questions you would like to have answered during the call.
Keep
your expectations reasonable; consider asking them for just 10 to 15 minutes of
their
time to answer five or six questions. Send your questions in advance, so that the
interviewer knows you’re prepared and can think about your questions in advance.
They
may give you more time than just the 15 minutes, which is great. Most people will,
just
don’t expect or demand more than that.

# 3 – F O L L O W U P
Follow up:
Keep in mind that how you follow up is just as important as how you behaved in
the
interview itself. You should always follow up, regardless of whether you feel the job
they
spoke to you about is a fit for you or not. If you don’t check back at least once,
you’ve
missed an opportunity to develop a relationship with someone that could be very
valuable and useful to you down the line.
You don’t have to keep them abreast of every aspect of your job search, but a
thank you
and a mention of any contact that you had with people they referred you to is
critical.

D E V E L O P A N E T W O R K O F C O N N E C T I O N S
The bottom line is, if you treat people professionally, with respect, care and an
interest in
helping them as well, you will have developed a connection that could help you
down the
line.
You never know what can come of these interviews, so handle each one well.
You’ll realize
you’ve developed a network of connections that can help you with your job search
and
your professional development along the way!

A B O U T C R E AT E Y O U R C A R E E R PAT H
Create Your Career Path was founded by certified career coach, speaker and
author Hallie Crawford. Crawford has served on the Board of the Georgia Coach
Association, and is regularly featured as a career expert on CNN, Fox Business News
Forbes.com, The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo HotJobs, and Entrepreneur Magazine.
Create Your Career Path is a boutique career coaching firm known for their personal
attention, commitment to clients and a blend of dreaming and being practical in
achieving career goals. Since 2002, they’ve helped hundreds of clients all over the
world find and succeed in their dream job.
Each of their coaches are certified coaches with specific career coaching experience
and training. They cater to professional men and women, management level and
higher, in mid-career transition. Their success rate is 97%, measured by the number of
people who have gotten what they wanted out of coaching. The coaches use a
specific tried and tested process and tools developed by Hallie Crawford over the
years.
Contact us for a complimentary consultation: www.halliecrawford.com/contact.html.

Three Tips To Conduct Effective Informational Interviews

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Mehr von Hallie Crawford

Mehr von Hallie Crawford (9)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Three Tips To Conduct Effective Informational Interviews