Informational Interviews: 10 Steps for Getting the Most from Them

Last week I published the following article on George's Employment Blawg. The dynamic ladies of LYJ: Love Your Job, Love Your Life have also featured it, so I thought I'd give you a teaser here. Because approximately 5% of jobs are found online, it's vitally important for job seekers and those who advise, teach, and coach them to understand the art of the informational interview. So please soak up the following strategies and share with your network.

"Americans learned on Friday that unemployment has hit its highest level in 25-years. While the national unemployment rate is 8.1%, states like Michigan or my old stomping grounds, Nevada, are experiencing even higher rates, 11.6% and 9.4% respectively. This is sobering news for job hunters, but it should not be grounds for giving up on finding a job or calling friends and family for a couch to crash on until the recession ends. It simply is a reminder that traditional ways of conducting a job search, from perusing online sites like Monster and CareerBuilder to attending regional job fairs, probably aren't going to enable you to close the gap from job seeker to gainfully employed.

People who get employment in a down economy don't wait for opportunities to appear. They create them. They know where their expertise lies and how they can marry their strengths with unfulfilled needs in the marketplace. (And believe me, they exist.) Perhaps most importantly, they are proactive about reaching out to leaders in their fields for informational interviews so that they can learn from and make a positive impact on these key players.

Step 1: Scoring Face Time

So how do you land an informational interview? You compose a maximum of a one-page cover letter and email it both in the body of your email and as an attachment to the prospective interviewee. You explain succinctly and dynamically who you are, what results you have achieved, and why this person should give you the time to discuss existing and anticipated opportunities in the field. If somebody recommended you reach out or you have read this person's column, blog, tweets, etc., you mention this early in the letter. Finally, you state that you will call in the next week to set up a face-to-face, or if you are out of the area, telephone interview.

You DON'T attach a resume and you DON'T ask for a job.

While job opportunities often come out of informational interviews, this is not what they are for. Your goal should be to introduce a leader in your field to what you have done and what you plan to achieve next, learn as much as you can from this person's experiences, and make yourself so irresistibly attractive during the interview that the interviewee keeps his/her ear to the pavement for opportunities for you, many of which may actually be outside of the person's organization.

Step 2: Breathe and then Bulldoze Forward

You called your prospect when you said you would. And after a few rounds of phone tag, you have converted the person into an informational interviewee. Most likely you have a couple of weeks to prepare. It's important to celebrate this victory, and recognize that a little bit of smart work has paid off. Acknowledging the objectives we achieve on route to our goals keeps us motivated and engaged. But after a night off from online job searching (old habits are hard to shake so you're probably still trying out different keywords in Indeed.com), it's time to get back into preparation mode."

Read the entire article on George's Employment Blawg.