Center for Career Development

Students & Alumni -- Informational Interviews

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One of the best resources for gathering information about what is happening in an industry is to talk to people working in the field. This process is called informational interviewing. There are many good reasons to conduct informational interviews:

• To discover employment opportunities that are not advertised,
• To expand your professional network, and
• To build confidence for your job interviews.

In the beginning, you may feel a bit anxious about requesting or facilitating an informational interview.  Just follow the simple steps outlined below:

Prepare For The Interview

• Research the field prior to the interview. 
• Decide what information you would like to obtain about the occupation/industry.
• Prepare a list of questions that you would like answered to help you assess whether this is a job or industry you would like to pursue.

Here are a couple sample questions to get you started:

• What are your general responsibilities?
• What skills or personal qualities are important to being successful in this job?
• What opportunities for advancement are there in this field?
• How do you see jobs in this field changing in the future?
• What special advice would you give a person entering this field?
• Do you have suggestions of other individuals in the field with whom I may network?  When I contact this person(s), may I use your name?

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Identify People To Interview

• Start with lists of people you already know  -friends, classmates, professors, supervisors, relatives.
• Utilize the Alumni Career Network.

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Arrange The Interview

• Contact the person by phone, email, or letter to schedule an appointment.  An informational interview should be brief (approximately 30 minutes).

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Conduct The Interview

• Dress appropriately.
• Arrive on time.
• Be polite and professional. 
• Before leaving, ask your contact to suggest names of others who might be helpful to you and ask permission to use his/her name when contacting these professionals.

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Follow-Up

• Immediately following the interview, record the information you collected. 
• Send a thank you letter to your contact within 24 hours of the interview.

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