Three Questions That Define A Quality Informational Interview

When was the last time you had an informational interview?

Informational interviews are your greatest tools to develop meaningful relationships and broaden your network.

They will help you see new career opportunities you didn't know existed before. 

Perhaps most importantly, when conducted right, informational interviews are the first step to getting a job referral which is your fastest track to employment. 

If you are like most PhDs, your school did not provide you with adequate career guidance. A report in Nature estimated only 33% of graduate students receive useful career advice about options outside of academia. 

So unfortunately, your career as a PhD is entirely in your hands. You will receive little guidance and little advice from those in your academic circle. 

Fortunately, we live in the age of virtual communication. You can connect with anyone in the world, from any career at any time! Setting up an informational interview is fairly easy, but conducting an informational interview that is meaningful and builds a relationship is challenging. 

It’s not just contacting someone and asking them to pass along your resume. 

Keep in mind that networking is about more than just connecting. It’s about building relationships and adding value to the other person. Make it less about you and more about them.

You want to be a journalist, to discover and learn new things and less like a lawyer, arguing your way to ‘success.’ 

There are 3 types of questions you want to ask at every interview. These questions will give you a better understanding of the career while fostering a relationship with the interviewee. 

1. Personal and qualification questions

These are the questions specific to the person and the job. They include questions that will help you be prepared for your own hiring process and also questions to help you learn more about the other person. Beyond basic bio questions you can ask questions like how long they’ve been at the company and what they thought about the interviewing process or even what resume style they used to get hired.  

You can even go as far as asking them if they got a referral for the position. If they got a referral, it will remind them how useful that was for them and maybe even encourage them to pay it forward. If they didn’t get a referral, it will still be a gentle reminder that this is something they can do. It plants the seed while not directly asking.

Here are some personal/qualification questions you could ask at your next informational interview:

1. How did you get started doing this type of work?
2. What parts of your job do you find the most challenging or the most rewarding?
3. What do you think made you a competitive candidate in this position?
4. What are the skills you use most in your work?
5. What connections would be most helpful to get hired here?

Each of these questions are designed to provide you with specific information to make you better prepared for the interviewing process while still allowing the interviewee to feel valued. You are asking for their opinion based on their own experiences. 

2. Questions on current, future, and company fit

Not everyone fits into every company. We all have our personal preferences, things we will tolerate and things we won’t. When you are in a job interview, it can be challenging to gauge if you fit into the company hierarchy, but with informational interviews you can get a better picture of what it will be like to actually work at the company or in a particular career track. 

These questions may be the most important to ask during an informational interview. If the company is not right for you, it's better to know that before you become an employee. 

Some current, future, and company fit questions you can ask are: 

1. What does your day-to-day look like?
2. What percentage of your time do you spend in meetings?
3. How much collaboration is there at the company? 
4. How does the company communicate with its employees and how much communication is expected?
5. What is your career trajectory? Or where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

3. Lifestyle questions

The final category are lifestyle questions. Do you wish you could work a 4 day work week? Do you need a flexible schedule? Are you willing to work on weekends? These are the kinds of questions that fit into this 3rd category of questions. These questions are designed to understand not only the day-to-day in the company but how life outside of work will be in this position. 

Here are some lifestyle questions you can ask:

1. What is the work life balance at the company?
2.  Are people required to work on the weekends? What do you do on the weekends?
3. Are there a lot of people that work 10-12 hour days? Has the company adopted the 4 day work week? 
4. Does the company have any employee retreats or happy hours?
5. Is there a lot of travel involved in the position? If so, where have they traveled?

In Summary…

Make sure your questions during an informational interview are well structured and are deliberate. Generally you want the informational interview to last between 20-30 minutes as not to take too much time from your gracious interviewee. In that short 20 minute time frame you need to build a lasting relationship, understand the company culture, determine if the lifestyle is right for you and determine ways to make yourself more competitive. This is a lot to do in just 20 minutes, so keep it light, non-threatening and always add value to the other person. Be deliberate and come prepared but also allow the conversation to flow naturally and organically. 

Are you a PhD?

If so, are you prepared for your next informational interview?

Tell me in a comment below.

To learn more about transitioning into industry, including how to gain instant access to industry career training videos, case studies, industry insider documents, a complete industry transition plan, and a private online job referral network for PhDs only, get on the waitlist for the Cheeky Scientist Association.