The Power of an Informational Interview

By: Rob Hubert

A friend recently shared this story:  My friend Jon referred Larry to me. Larry called and asked to meet with me for an "Informational Interview". I was reluctant at first, but I knew Jon wouldn't give my name out to someone that he didn't trust. Larry came to my office to meet and I was quite surprised by the rapport that we built. I was able to give Larry some leads, but nothing became of them. I did however stay in touch with him. He landed a new management job that was similar to his old job and he thanked me for helping him (even though I didn't think that I really helped). Nine months later, much to my surprise, my company began having financial difficulties and I was released. After a couple of months of an unsuccessful job search, I remembered Larry. I called him up and told him my situation and he invited me to his office to meet with him. Long story short, Larry is now my boss.

Everyone knows that Networking is one of the keys to continued career success and to a successful job search. One of the most common tools of networking is the Informational Interview. An Informational Interview is a formal, yet relaxed information exchange between two people with an interest to help each other. This may come in the form of sharing contacts from each others network to help achieve an objective (i.e. like finding a job). From a job search perspective, the idea is based on the simple fact that people don't hire resumes, they hire people.

You may want to rewind that last sentence and read it one more time, it's the key to this message. An Informational Interview is a way to get to know someone and build rapport with them. An Informational Interview also provides you an opportunity to talk about your key accomplishments, your strengths and the value that you bring as an employee. There is also great value from Informational Interviews with Recruiters. Here's why. I am literally bombarded with resumes daily and quite frankly I can't tell the difference between an outstanding person and an average person from a resume. I've met average people with above average resumes and outstanding people with below average resumes. I have helped dozens of people this year because they took the time to help me understand who they are and understand what type of opportunity they are looking for. This has predominately been done with Informational Interviews.

So, even If I don't have a position open at this moment that matches up to a persons career ambitions, I'm likely to have one soon. No one will ever hire you, if they don't know who you are. Don't turn down those Informational Interviews or Networking Meetings, you may be quite surprised by the results.