10 Tips to Have OUTSTANDING Informational Interviews to Get Your Dream Job

Recruiters and professors always instilled the importance of informational interviews. As Career Guru Madeline Mann says, informational interviews answer the question, “Would I be happy in this role or at this company?” An added benefit to an informational interview is widening your network, and potentially getting an “in” to a company down the line.

Informational interviews were essential to getting my dream job at LinkedIn out of college.

Many students whom I speak with assume that the hardest part is getting someone to agree to speak on the phone. It's not - that's only 50% of the work.

Misconception: if you’re good at communicating, your informational interviews will inevitably go well.

Some of my most eloquent friends have had informational interviews flop because they didn't prepare accordingly. Be prepared to lead the call but let the other person do 80% of the talking.

Below, I've outlined my Top 10 Tips on how to nail the informational interview.

Informational Interview Timeline

1. Plan the Conversation: Identifying your call objectives. Get your notebook ready.
2. Have the Conversation: Show respect with my favorite opening question. Give your tight, well-written introduction. Explicitly state your call objectives.
3. Ask your WBQ's: Ask questions that uncover what you want to know AND make your contact say, "Wow! Brilliant question."
4. End the Call + Follow Up: If you're comfortable, ask for relevant introductions. Send a simple follow-up LinkedIn note or a thank you email.

Tip #1: Identify your call objectives: Knowledge-Based Goals

Before you reach out, ask yourself, "What do I want to get out of this call?" Be honest with yourself. If your answer is "a referral" or "an internship offer at the company" you're not ready to chat.

Dr. Jeffrey Kudisch once shared with me this golden advice: "If you ask for a job, you get advice. If you ask for advice, you get a job."

Knowledge-Based Goals (KBGs?) answer the question, "What do I want to learn from this phone call?" Here are some examples of pre-call goals (not questions to be asked):

• Understand what an [insert role here] does day-to-day.
• Learn the career path for an [insert role here] can look like in 2, 5, or 10 years.
• Explore the company's culture.
• Hear the pros/cons of a particular industry.

Once you've identified these objectives, then you can start planning your call.

Tip #2: Have your notebook ready.

Whether you're taking notes on a computer or in a notebook, go to a quiet place with strong cellular service and be ready to take notes on everything they say. Have your list of questions ready and out in front of you.

Tip #3: Hop on the call. Win them over by respecting their schedule.

Full-time employees have busy schedules, so landing 20-30 minutes on someone's calendar is a BIG win. You want to show your appreciation upfront. This is the following talk track I always use:

"Hi _________! Thanks for responding to my email/LinkedIn message and for agreeing to chat. I know we have 20-minutes on the calendar. Does this still work for you?" *wait for reply* "Do you have a hard stop I should be aware of?"

If the agreed time works, keep the conversation going and watch the clock. If they ask to reschedule, thank them for their honesty and give time options to reschedule the call.

Tip #4: Deliver your tight, well-written introduction.

After you thank them for making time, have small-talk with a few quick icebreakers before jumping into things. Here are a few icebreakers I've used (adjusted with COVID):

• "Where are you calling from?"
• "How are things in [insert location from previous answer]?"
• "What does your 'office' situation look like?"

Since the "interview" hasn't started yet, feel free to give minimal commentary back. You don't have to drill your contact with questions yet. For example, you may respond to the third question about the home office situation, "Awesome! I just turned my living room into a home office, but I'm no interior designer..." followed by a new question or a segue into the the intro. (i.e. "Well, we could talk about work-from-home forever, but I'd love to maximize our time.")

After 1-2 minutes of small-talk, keep the conversation moving with a 30-second, high-level introduction connecting who you are, what you do, and what your career interests are as it relates to the phone call (or any concise elevator pitch template that assumes the other person hasn't done any research on you). Write this in advance (either paragraph or key bullets), and you can even read it on the call. Here's an example I've used:

"Again, I really appreciate you taking the time to speak today.

Just to quickly reintroduce myself, my name is David Rosenstein, and I'm a senior studying marketing and management at the University of Maryland. On campus, I'm a tour guide and oversee my business school's ambassador program. These experiences have taught me that I love working with other people, so I'm excited to explore sales-related careers upon graduating."

Tip #5: Communicate your call objectives

Remember those KBGs you wrote in Tip #1? You've put thought into why you're hopping on the call with this person. Now's your time to share this self-reflectiveness with the other person.

"My goal for this call is to learn more about your internship experience, what projects you worked on, and hear more about what you learned over the summer. Does that sound good for you?"

This/these objective(s) should directly align with the questions you're asking.

Tip #6: Ask your WBQs?.

Strong informational interviews have questions that demonstrate a level of depth, thought, or research.

You want your questions to elicit this response: "Wow! That's a brilliant question." I call these questions WBQs? (Wow Brilliant Question).

From my experience, there are three different ways to craft WBQs? (sorted in decreasing level of difficulty):

1. Questions that demonstrate depth: These questions are hyper-specific and industry-focused. For example: "With social media websites breaking data privacy issues and finding themselves increasingly under a government spotlight, how is LinkedIn maintaining trust from its members?" These questions flex your knowledge but aren't very useful for someone who doesn't know much about a particular field yet (align these questions with your call objectives). I recommend these questions if you have prior experience in, expertise, or a burning passion about the field, role, or industry as the person whom you're speaking with.
2. Questions that demonstrate thought: These questions start extremely open-ended and get increasingly specific. For example: "Tell me about how you started at the company?" *finds out they were one of the first hires* "How has the culture changed since you first joined?" *finds out much of the culture has stayed the same* "So what do you think have been the driving factors that have preserved this culture?" Etcetera and etcetera. This methodology works well if you have a sales-background or are naturally very inquisitive.
3. Questions that demonstrate research: These questions demonstrate you've done your research, make you stand out and follow an easy-to-use formula:

Generic Question + Piece of Research = WBQ?

General Question: This question comes from any unexciting list of traditional informational interview questions (here's a list of 200 questions from UC Davis Graduate School of Management). Asking these questions alone makes it seem like you haven't done your research.

Piece of Research: You try to find the answer to this question online. If you find the entirety of the answer, then you don't need to ask the question (avoiding questions such as "What's your company culture like?" shows you value the other person's time, reinforces your credibility, and demonstrates your level of seriousness).

WBQ: Combine the general question with your piece of research to frame a highly-effective WBQ (see examples above).

This structure also works for questions to ask at the end of your interview. Learn more about asking the right questions with this Washington Times Article.

Tip #7: If you run out of questions, wrap up the call.

If you have 30-minutes scheduled but the call ends in about 10 minutes, know that you don't have to fill the other 20 minutes. There is nothing more exciting for a working professional than having time added back to their schedule. I always suggest students end the call asking for advice (but framing the question as a cliche). Here's the talk track I use:

"Well, I know we had 30 minutes booked but you've actually answered all of my questions! I really appreciate you taking the time to speak today. I guess my final question, I know it's cliche, but for someone who [describes my current sitiation], do you have any advice?"

*wait for advice*

"Thank you so much. With that said, I'm so excited to give you 15 minutes back."

Tip #8: Ask if they would make an introduction.

At the end of the phone call, identify what other information you still want to learn. If you spoke with a recent graduate about their job, maybe you're curious to learn from their manager about what their leadership style looks like. If you spoke with someone who does product marketing, maybe you're interested in learning what similar roles (i.e. digital marketing, inbound marketing) look like. End the call explicitly asking for an introduction to a relevant colleague with some justification:

"Thank you so much for answer all of my questions. Speaking with you really helped me understand [reiterate call objectives]. Moving forward, I'm definitely interested in learning more about [insert tangentially related topic], so would you feel comfortable making any introductions to your colleagues in [insert department/roles]?"

Alternative (and more specific) way of asking:

Last week, I read a post written by someone who preferred people search through their LinkedIn network before the informational interview so they can end the call with:

"I'm looking to learn more about [insert topic here]. I see you're connected with [insert name here] on LinkedIn. Would you feel comfortable making an introduction?"

If this level of specificity fits your style, it's worth considering.

With that said, if you've followed the other tips, this person will likely feel more inclined to make an introduction since they know you're not messing around.

Tip #9: Follow up with a thank-you note.

I recommend sending a brief email or LinkedIn message thanking the contact for their time. A surprising amount of people do not do it.

Additionally, ask the contact if they would feel comfortable connecting on LinkedIn (if you're not already):

"Can I connect with you on LinkedIn?"

Connecting on LinkedIn is the best way to maintain a passive relationship with someone. Last year, I reached out to someone I hadn't spoken to in four years; simply being connected on LinkedIn made it seem like we've been friends for years.

Tip #10: Calm nerves by practicing with B-level companies or upperclassmen.

The best way to rock your informational interviews is by doing them. Just be prepared for your first couple of calls to flop.

When I was an eager freshman/sophomore, I hopped on ~10 calls with alumni at all my top dream companies. Almost immediately, my naive enthusiasm came across the wrong way. I felt like I blew every one of them. Here's how to minimize this.

Make a list of your A+ dream companies. Then, make a list of your B-level companies. Your B-level companies are companies you would like to explore, but you won't beat yourself up if the informational interview goes disastrously. Practice your informational interviews using contacts from your B-level company list. Who knows...maybe it could turn the B into an A+! (Note: one person's B-level company could be another person's A-level company and vice versa).

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Summary

Put yourself in the shoes of a senior who had a sick internship last summer or someone who graduated from your school and works at an extremely competitive firm. They may get dozens of people every month reaching out to "pick their brain." Now, imagine how many times they get the same questions.

Think about it: it sounds exhausting to constantly answer the questions:

• "How did you get started in your career?"
• "How did you break into [insert company]?"
• "What's your favorite part about working at [insert company]?"

If you can do anything to stand out from the pack and demonstrate that you've researched the company and/or the person you're speaking with, you automatically put yourself in the top bracket of information seekers. Following these 10 tips will help you do just that.

Identify your call objectives (KBGs). Have your notebook ready. Win them over by respecting their schedule. Deliver your tight, well-written introduction. Communicate your call objectives. Ask your WBQs?. End the call when you run out of questions or when the time ends. Ask if they would make an introduction. Send a thank-you note. Go out and practice.

Which tip is your favorite? What did I leave off my top 10 list?

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David Rosenstein is a career consultant who helps young professionals write LinkedIn profiles and build networking strategies that get job offers. To learn more or contact David, send him a LinkedIn message.

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Edit (May 12): A previous version mistyped, "Be prepared to do only 80% of the talking" when it should have said, "Be prepared to do only 20% of the talking and most of the listening." This has been clarified.

Edit (September 10): Added icebreaker topics under Tip #4 before jumping into tightly-written introduction.