How To Use Informational Interviews To Get More Job Interviews
Informational interviews and virtual chats are one of the most important tools that will help you with your quest for your dream job. It is the ultimate tool to find the jobs in the hidden job market. It is generally believed that 60-70% of the jobs still exist within the hidden job market and are not normally advertised to the public. Informational interviews and casual chats are one of the best ways to tap into this hidden job market.
With tools such as LinkedIn, it's never been easier to get informational interviews online. There are millions of people on LinkedIn that can open up conversations and give you insights that can help your career advance rapidly.
Here are some of the benefits of doing informational interviews:
Helps you build a valuable relationships and network
Get deeper insight on the company and the work
Tips and tactics to prepare for actual interviews
Find career paths you didn’t know existed
Get to understand the realities of job roles
Get insights into hidden job markets
Develop confidence to ask and answer questions
Gives you interview practice
The key to having successful informational interviews is about sincerity. Be sincere about developing a relationship with your new contact and actually get to know about their life and work. If you ask them sincerely, people generally love to give advice and help.
Imagine yourself in their situation. Would you give your time to someone who is just talking to you to get a job, or someone who is actually interested in knowing you professionally and looking for advice?
The first thing you need to do before asking for interviews is to make sure you have built out your resume. It will work as a reference point to ask questions. Once you have done that, make a list of people in your network who you can ask for an informational interview or a quick chat.
Then, send a quick message requesting a short virtual chat. You can use channels such as email and LinkedIn to request informational interviews from your network.
Here are a couple of sample messages you can model after:
Hi [Name],
Hope you are doing well!
I'm really interested in joining the Project Management team at [Company name], and I was wondering if you'd be able to chat with me for a few minutes about your experience there, or possibly direct me to someone who would be closer to my field?
I thought I would reach out to you since you know [you and their shared connections].
Many thanks!
Your name
Another example:
Hi [Name],
Hope you are doing well!
Your profile and professional experience looks impressive and really caught my eye. I’m doing research to start a role as [your job title in the specified industry] and need a bit of guidance and advice from someone who is an expert in the field.
I was wondering if you'd be able to chat with me for a few minutes about your experience working as [person’s job title]?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Many thanks!
Your name
Don't ask for a job directly from the interviewers. Rather, be genuinely interested in their path, what they are doing for work, and what they do to get better at their job.
You can show your resume to the interviewer and ask where you can improve and what skills you can acquire further. They may provide you with tactics and guidance to help improve your profile.
In certain cases, they may even ask you to apply for a job in their company, and ask you to put them as a reference if they see you as a fit.
Either way, be friendly, grateful, and respectful for their time and experience, and don't take the interview and the interviewer for granted. Be appreciative of the interviewers who actually give you time.
Pro-tip: Dedicate time to make connections with others on Linkedin. Look to make one connection per day with someone new on LinkedIn or in real life.
That’s for today!
Much love!
