Informational Interviews – U Career Success

This is the main banner for the blog post, "Informational Interviews." There is a photo cutout on the right side of the banner that features two business professionals talking to each other. Above them are decorative speech bubbles. On the left side of the banner is the text, "Informational Interviews." Behind the text and photo cutout are subtle triangle design elements.

Finding the perfect fit for a job or internship can be hard, but that’s totally okay! If you’ve ever thought to yourself “I’ve been unemployed for so long, employers will see me as a liability,” or “I got a liberal arts degree, what was I thinking? I thought any degree would open doors, but I’m struggling to find a job,” you’re at the right place. Informational interviews are a fun, high-impact way to explore careers—you get real talk from people in the know and grow your network without the pressure of a job interview. Need help finding a professional? Talk to your career coach. U Career Success is well-connected to many professionals, and we are happy to connect you.

Getting Into the Hidden Job Market Through Informational Interviews

An informational interview is a meeting or conversation between a professional and someone exploring job/career options. It’s not an interview for a job, so there’s no pressure. The perk of informational interviews is the opportunity to build relationships within an industry you are considering! The purpose of an informational interview is:

To gather insights, advice, and information about a profession, company culture, career paths, and skills needed for success
An opportunity to learn and network

What if I’m an Introvert, too busy, too anxious, or too nervous?

Don’t worry! Check out this “Networking for Introverts” article! The way I see it as a career coach for Pre-Business students, you can be busy and anxious using the traditional method that is inefficient and ineffective or you can be busy and anxious but try something new by effectively conducting informational interviews.

Take it from The 2-Hour Job Search by author Steve Dalton on the traditional job hunt process:

“Sadly every year I see dozens of very smart people do exactly this— voluntarily subject themselves to situations with high competition and low odds of success (in the form of online job postings), desperately hoping someone gives them a chance. There are numerous downsides to this approach, but the worst of all is the toll it takes on one’s self confidence. I have seen people who’ve lived their whole lives at the top of their class shaken by the epic silence after submitting to an online job posting to the point where they’d be willing to accept anything just to make the anxiety stop.”

Ponder. Plan. Set Goals. And Execute.

For University of Utah students, I put together a quick informational interview training that walks you through this process step by step. A feature that students love is that I include recordings of real informational interviews with professionals so you can see it modeled beforehand.

In this free, short, self paced informational interview training, you will learn:

How to prepare for an informational interview
What to do in the interview
Follow up strategies for after an informational interview
How to utilize your personal career coach as you prepare for informational interviews

If you are a University of Utah student, you can self-enroll and get started at your leisure here.