An informational interview is a networking/information gathering technique. It is meant to access what is commonly referred to as the hidden job market. As well, you can take all the information you have compiled to compare with your goals and aspirations that would bring you to a more fulfilling job.
Why are Informational Interviews needed?
You may ask why an Informational interview will be needed in our present job market with economies in North America changing constantly and companies down sizing. Companies in this climate usually turn within and rely on resources that they have on hand at the present moment. A clever analogy would be a tortoise pulling into its shell to protect itself from predators and the elements. The economy and world situation with wars and other calamities are bad for investors, employees and potential employees. The company will hide its top jobs they need to fill from their competition so that they will not lose face in their field. Companies rely on in house postings that will not go outside the company as their first step but if the company doesn’t get any results from this they go to recruiters second step. The very last step they post it online and in newspapers and in job banks.
Note: Not a lot of jobs are posted out in plain sight. The Key is to intercept new information you want to be an outsider with inside information on the companies status with current openings, income from the last six months, performance issues what is there standing in the industry and if they are stable. This information will be key on how to find some of the current job postings in some of the medium to large size companies. You will be able to use the information to formulate correspondence, make cold calls to the right Hiring Authority in the corporation.
To assimilate this information for the future you got to start with finding lists or prepared lists in companies in the areas you wish to relocate to. After you find a good size list for the field or fields of interest to you cold calls are the next step. Cold Calls some would say the phrase or term "Cold Call" is used in sales as a sales technique and it is and you can use this to sell yourself. Every new guru in Job Searching names proper marketing of you as an asset. Most old school people would feel that the old adage "Don’t call us we’ll call you." Our client Thought this was: "The best way to handle relations with a potential employer at least in my experience that was my train of thought." Comparison of his old method of job searching and his new informational interviews strategy results:
"My method was to Drop out enough resumes to blanket the area and expect the employer if he had received my resume they would call me. I received the standard 7% result of 600 hundred resumes last year and 10 interviews and 3 jobs. All of the jobs ended in lay off." After some retooling from Christian Smith and some Coaching. I used the technique I use now which is to set up a Cold Call script, which would lead me to the Hiring Authority. I then would use this script to Cold Call at least 30-60 companies to try and get an informational interview into prospective fields."
Setting up The Informational Interview
When some of the people who handle the hiring ask what is the purpose of this is or is this to find employment with us? Tell them it is only for informational purposes. Keep to that line most employers are interested after you tell them firmly that there is no ulterior motive but to find out information for potential future employment.
Preparing for the Informational Interview
You’ll now need to prepare yourself for the interview. You will need to research each company online or through trade publications, newspapers etc., From that you will be able to come up with some perspective questions for the Hiring Authority with some understanding of the history and function of the company and other tidbits that might lead you into finding job leads in the company. The number of questions you can ask will have to be at least 10 to 15 and must be at least 15 to 30 minutes long. You will have inside information that can help you formulate your resume and cover letter that will help you secure position. Dress for success also I would suggest to keep your resume and cover letter scarce unless after the interview and he/she gives you the impression that he/she would like to keep you in consideration for future postings/position. When asked for your resume tell the interviewer you will have it in as soon as possible or say tomorrow. That way you can keep the spirit of the informational interview intact. So that the Hiring Authority knows that you are a person of your word that the interview you had with them was purely informational. Try to rehearse your informational interview with someone you trust and I suggest the same for a Formal Interview.
Now you can use your informational interview techniques to the fullest extent as you research companies you may have to take questions out or put questions in that will follow some of the pattern you feel will give you better flow in the interview for the best results. From information you have you now can from the interviews you now have the results to pattern yourself and your skills listed out in a resume or cover letter to position yourself in the field of your choosing. If you feel you have the positions lined up and patterns that most employers have in the field pattern your resume send out either by being there in person, email or fax. Some companies prefer email with the resume in Word Format.
Some of the informational interviews that our client has had turned out to be Job interviews even after he had vehemently said this interview was an Informational interview. Here is just a sample of what our client had to say after we had given him some Informational Interview advice:
"I had three out of seven Informational Interviews turn out like this. The Hiring manager was carrying my resume out to the interview and had their questions with them. I was offered a management position with one company."
For further information on informational interviews you can look at our
Web Resources/Links Section or you can call (519) 250-9333 to find out more on how to use the Informational Interview to your advantage.
