Looking for outside-the-box ideas for getting in with a certain company? Informational interviews might be the ticket to help you land a job.
There’s a strategy that some savvy job seekers use to help land a new remote or work from home job that many people never take advantage of. That strategy is asking for and taking part in an informational interview, ideally with someone who works for a specific company you would like to work for.
For the uninitiated, an informational interview is often an informal talk with the goal of gathering information and insight, not specifically to apply for a job or internship, according to the Center for Career Development at Princeton University.
While some people may see this as an unnecessary hurdle to work since it is not a true job interview, some career coaches say these types of conversations are incredibly helpful for learning more details about specific careers as well as building up a wider network of professional resources.
Informational interviews, as noted by the Princeton career data, may not directly lead to a job, but the honest exchanges with an interviewee can help job seekers develop stronger connections that potentially may be valuable in the future. After all, the only way to truly know if you could be a great fit for a certain role is to gather details about the work from people who actually do it.
Informational interviews, notes Indeed.com, can be conducted in person, by phone call, or via video chat. For those who ask the right questions, they offer an opportunity to gain an insider’s perspective on specific work environments, understand decision-making responsibilities, and learn how to best prepare for similar roles.
If you are seeking a new remote role and have never taken part in one of these informal conversations, consider this your opportunity to learn more about how they can help you land your next great position.
Provide First-Hand Guidance About a Specific Job
There’s a saying that you need to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes before you can truly understand their perspective. In the same way, job hunters can use an informational interview to gain relevant, firsthand insights into the realities of working in a particular field, organization, industry, or position.
Here’s the thing: This kind of insider information is not always available online, according to the University of California, Berkeley. So one of the best ways to get to it is to seek out those already working in the field. While you can also potentially do this at a job fair, a one-on-one interview will likely result in the sharing of more details to help guide your job search.
Detail Career Paths You Didn’t Know Existed
Another great thing about taking part in an informational interview is the potential to receive tips and other insider knowledge about how to prepare for and land a position, according to Keene State College.
Depending on the willingness of the person you seek out for an interview, you have the potential to initiate a valuable professional relationship and expand your network of contacts in a specific career field, plus meet people who may forward job leads to you in the future.
They can also offer insight about potential jobs that may be opening in their field or at their current company before those positions are ever posted. Plus, you don’t know what you don’t know. There may be roles related to a career path that you discover during an informational interview that open up even more opportunities for you.
Gain Insider Knowledge About the Role and Company
According to Indeed, informational interviews also allow you to learn first-hand what a job or company is really like, including culture, duties, and typical expectations, which is information that job postings often don’t – and can’t really – include.
This type of insight can help you tailor job applications to fit a specific remote role better.
For example, you may find out from an informational interview that a specific role requires a certain skill level with a particular brand of software. With that in mind, you can make sure to spell out your comfort level with the software, if applicable. Or, you could also use that insider info to take classes or tutorials to build the desired skills if needed.
Learn What Employers Are Actually Looking For
When you are looking to change career fields or seeking a first job, it’s hard to know everything you need to know about potential roles with unfamiliar companies. This is another way that informational interviews can help you, according to data on LinkedIn.
By asking professionals what skills and experience matter most, you can better highlight key data on your resume and cover letter — which can be especially important for remote jobs where communication and self-management skills are often in high demand.
Gain Access to the Hidden Job Market
While the immediate goal of an informational interview should not be to ask outright for a job or recommendation from the person you speak with, a potential benefit of such an interview can be if a professional decides to share unadvertised opportunities or upcoming openings with you — potentially giving you a competitive edge before roles are listed, according to Macildowie Recruitment and Retention.
Because of the potential for access to hidden jobs, it’s smart to dress for the role, wearing professional attire even if you meet via Zoom or another video conferencing platform.
Develop a Better Job Search Strategy
The conversations you have during informational interviews can also help you customize your job search — as you gain more understanding of which specific roles may best match your interests, which companies hire remotely, and how to approach applications, notes Career Contessa.
Improve Your Confidence and Communication Skills
One of the best ways to get better at anything is to practice. So it’s great that one of the benefits of informational interviewing is that it can help build your confidence and communication skills. And because informational interviews are casual, they offer a low-pressure way to practice for sharpening networking and interviewing prowess, which are again skills you will need to use later in formal remote job interviews, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Informational Interviews Conclusion
While they are not designed to land you a job immediately, informational interviews can be a key strategy for learning more about specific roles within an industry, plus the culture and expectations of specific companies, according to career coaches and job recruiters.
To make the most of those interviews, it’s smart to prepare ahead of time by bringing a list of questions and doing research on the individual you are interested in speaking to. This shows that you value the person’s time, as you potentially create a new valuable connection in your job search.
