Five questions to more powerful informational interviews

Informational interviews are a wonderful way to get personal, first-hand knowledge into a particular career field or position that you are interested in. If someone is gracious enough to spend time talking with you, however, you want to make it worth your while...and theirs.

The quality of the questions that you ask is critical to elicit the information you desire. Your questions need to be both interesting as well as to probe for deeper information. Add the list below to you cache of effective informational interview questions to get at the heart of your career area of interest:

1. What excites you about this position/field? Tap into the emotions of the person you're interviewing by asking them what thrills them about the work they do.
   
2. What about this position/field has surprised you? Every field or position looks different from the inside than from the outside. This question will probe into those unexpected aspects that you would be wise to be aware of.
   
3. What about the position/field keeps you up at night? A light-hearted question that goes deeper into the problems and issues that are a part of the position or field, ones that produce a significant amount of stress or anxiety.
   
4. What relationships have been essential for you to establish? An excellent question to ask to learn more about the important relationships that are necessary to be successful in this field or position. You may be surprised about who your interviewee makes connections with to be successful.
   
5. How does this position speak to your values? A question that is as poignant as it is personal, learning more about the values that drive your interviewee in his/her work will give you a clearer picture of how yours do or do not correspond. 

Make the most of any informational interview by being prepared with strong questions!

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Career Happiness, Music for Work, and More

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 10 Ways to Skyrocket Your Career Happiness: "Cultivate relationships with co-workers you like and minimize time with those you don't. Finding a mentor or mentee can help you boost your network, energize your work, and bring more joy to your job."


• 5 of the Toughest Career Lessons You'll Ever Learn: "Instead, assume that you're your own best advocate, and that you'll need to speak up—whether it's asking for more money or tracking your accomplishments throughout the year to raise when your performance review comes around."


• 10 TED Talks to Help You Reimagine Your Business: "Here are 10 amazing TED Talks that have helped me think differently about what business can be, how to be a better leader, and how to become a better global citizen."


• 5 Ways to Ace Your Start-up Informational Interview: "Regardless of who you’re interviewing with—a founder, engineer, recruiter, or customer service rep—you can assume that they’re underpaid and overworked, but incredibly excited by what they do. And that they want to see that same sort of enthusiasm from future employees."


• 21 Songs to Inspire You at Work: "We all love to be inspired at work, and we all love great music. So I asked people I respect what songs inspire them most at the office." 

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Negativity, Returning to School, and Meaningful Work

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

1. The Secret of Successful Networking: The Informational Interview
"The classic and most effective way of building a business network for job hunters is to engage in the process of embarking on many informational interviews."

2. 5 Steps to Releasing Your Negativity and Improving Your Opportunities 
"I’m sorry, folks, but if you want to build a great and satisfying career, you need people to help you.  You simply can’t do this alone, sitting at your computer."

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos 

3. Tell Me a Little About Yourself
"If you have ever been on a job interview the odds are you were asked this open-ended, break-the-ice question, which is often the first one asked."

4. Should You Go Back to School for Your Career?
"If you've been thinking about getting some additional formal education for a while and wondering if it's right for you, consider the following four questions before making your final decision."

5. Wanting Meaningful Work is Not a First World Problem
"Can you fill your belly and your wallet with meaning? Isn't meaning just the ultimate first world problem, just another saccharine flavor of: hey, which color leather should I choose for my new luxury SUV to match my plush designer handbag?"

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

1. 8 Beliefs That Are Stalling Your Career
"Here are eight common misconceptions that can keep you from getting the projects, jobs, promotions, and the salary you'd like."

2. 10 Smart Things New Grads Should Do to Get a Job
"Act like a professional. You never know where you could meet a potential hiring manager... Online and in person, dress, speak, and act like someone you would hire."

3. Grads: A Lame Job is Better Than No Job
"So should you wait and keep looking for the perfect job? The advice from career experts boils down to one word: No."

4. Your Personal Brand Toolbox: The Informational Interview 
"They are structured conversations that enable you to learn and understand your target audience while enabling you to build relationships that lay the groundwork for your career success."

5. First Interview Do's and Don'ts for Women
"First impressions mean everything, especially in the interview process. What you say, do and wear will leave a lasting mark on your interviewer more than you think."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

1. 5 Ways to Burn Bridges, Get Blacklisted and Stunt Career Growth
"If you're looking for some surefire ways to burn professional bridges and leave a bad taste in the mouths of colleagues, consider the following tips."

2. Simple Changes that Can Propel Your Career
"Don’t just do what you are told. Identify the biggest issues that your role covers, and go after these."

3. The Biggest Career Mistakes Millennials Make
"I think the biggest gift millennials will give us is their ceaseless interest in producing things that didn’t exist before."

4. Create a Meaningful Life Through Meaningful Work 
"Maybe the real depression we've got to contend with isn't merely one of how much economic output we're generating — but what we're putting out there, and why."

5. The Art of the Informational Interview
"When you set a meeting, it’s your responsibility to lead the agenda. Have a purpose for the meeting, prepare several questions, and prepare some discussion points."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!


1. Don't Forget Common Sense in Your Job Search
2. Why Patience Kills
3. How to Get the Most out of an Informational Interview
4. Questions to Ask When Networking
5. Should You Consider "Reinventing" Yourself Today for Tomorrow's Jobs?

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!


1. Why You Need a Photo on Your LinkedIn Profile
2. How To Rock An Informational Interview
3. Get a Job in December
4. Developing Executive Presence
5. Improving Communication Skills for Job Search Success

Information (Interviewing) is Power

Television is superb for making nearly any job seem thrilling, fun, and easy, from being a doctor or a lawyer to a homebuilder or a nanny. However, talk to any physician or litigator or childcare worker and they will be the first to tell you that their jobs are not as romantic as you see on TV. A great way to learn more about a career field or an organization is an informational interview. Talking to a real professional in a certain field or organization can give you inside information to help you make more informed career choices, but there are steps that you have to take first:

• Do your research: Investigate the field you are interested in to learn more about it. Career Transitions is a great place to start.

• Create strong questions: In an informational interview, you are the “reporter” doing the interviewing. Create questions that delve deeper into what you have researched and make the precious time with your interviewee worthwhile. Questions more personal to the interviewee’s experience can be successful as well, providing more detail into the nature of the career or company you are researching. Try these examples:

• What is your proudest accomplishment in your current position?
• What was the best piece of advice you received that helped you become more successful?
• What challenges in your current position do you enjoy the most?

• Contact the right person: When you are ready, contact the person who you feel would best be able to answer your questions. You’ll obviously want to find someone who works in the career field or organization that you are targeting, but how? The best way to do this is to use your network and connect with someone you are interested in through a friend or family member (or even through the friend of a friend or family member). Be persistent in calling on your contacts; degrees of separation are small and they will most likely know someone with whom you can talk-. If you still aren’t finding success, another option would be to send a blind email to someone in that organization or role that you are targeting, but don’t be surprised if you do not hear back. Be honest and sincere in your email, and let them know that they are under no obligation to talk with you or even reply to your email. With the control in their hands and with “no strings attached,” they will be more inclined to speak with you.

Knowledge is power, as the saying goes, but knowledge is created through information. Use informational interviews to become a more focused and educated professional!