The Informational Interview

I am sure you have heard from someone that you should be networking. Going out and meeting people so that they can connect you with a job. While this is true, I have always found the process of networking exhausting, embarrassing, and disingenuous. Instead, I prefer to do informational interviews.

The informational interview is a form of networking where the goal isn’t to be offered a job at the end, but instead to just learn more about a job or person. They involve talking to a person and just asking them about their career. Typically this is just a 10-20 minute conversation and offers a snapshot of what that career could be like. The one key is to ask at the end if they have any suggestions of other people you should talk to. You can then snowball this process and have a constant string of explorations to tap into.

The one downside is it does often need an introductory email which can be awkward. If you aren’t ready for that, I recommend signing up for Lunchclub. Lunchclub does the work of connecting you with interesting people. Once you sign up, you share your interests and sign up for a time to meet someone. Lunchclub then matches you with someone who shares your interests and can chat at that time. It’s a low-stakes, low-effort way to gain experience with informational interviews and worth checking out.