Job and internship seekers often report that they have spent hours on job boards, applied for hundreds of positions, and still are not receiving interview invitations.
Informational interviewing can be an effective strategy to increase employment referrals and decrease time to a job offer. If you are not familiar, informational interviewing is an activity in which the job seeker takes the lead to connect with professionals in their industry. It is a great way to increase your employment referrals from both those you interview and those in their professional networks.
The muse provides resources to help you learn more about informational interviewing and how to be successful in the process. The website provides a number of blog posts on topics related to informational interviewing, including an email template for reaching out to potential interviewees. The recent Ivy Exec article, The Power of Informational Interviews: How to Use Them to Your Advantage presents a nice overview of the benefits of this strategy.
As you approach your interviews, remember that the goal is to learn about your interviewee’s career trajectory and organizational culture. You should not be asking for a job; however, it is acceptable to ask for additional referrals so that you can expand your network.
