How do I run an informational interview?

Most people never do this, because the request feels like an imposition. It usually is not. Talking about your own work for twenty minutes to someone curious is one of the easier favours to grant, and it is the fastest route to information that exists nowhere in writing.

What is an informational interview for?

Occupation profiles from sources like O*NET or the Occupational Outlook Handbook tell you the official tasks, typical pay and routes in. They cannot tell you what the work feels like on a Tuesday, what the local hiring managers screen for, or which parts people quietly dislike. A conversation fills those gaps.

It also tests your own interest. If you leave the call wanting to know more, that is a signal. If you leave relieved it is over, that is a signal too, and it cost you twenty minutes instead of a course fee.

Who should you ask?

• Someone roughly two to five years into the work, who still remembers how they got in.
• Someone more senior, if you want to know what the work becomes over time.
• A person who changed into the field from elsewhere, if you are a career changer.
• Former colleagues, alumni and friends of friends before complete strangers.

Where do you find people to talk to?

Start with people you already have a thread to, because warm requests get answered far more often than cold ones. Search your contacts, former colleagues and school or university alumni groups for the job title you are curious about. Then ask each person you speak to for one more name.

If you have no thread at all, look for people who write or speak publicly about their work: conference talks, professional association events, local meet-ups and posts on professional networks. Mentioning something specific they said gives you a natural reason to get in touch.

How do you ask for one?

• One line on who you are and the specific thing you are trying to find out.
• One line on why them: something concrete about their work or route, not flattery.
• The ask: twenty minutes, at their convenience, by phone or video.
• One line making it safe to decline, and stating that you are not asking for a job.

Illustrative example message: "Hi Priya, I'm a retail manager looking at moving into supply chain planning. I saw you moved from store operations into planning two years ago. Could I ask you about that for twenty minutes by phone, whenever suits? I'm not looking for a job, just trying to understand the work. A no is completely fine."

What questions should you ask?

1. 01"What does a normal week look like, including the repetitive parts?"
2. 02"What surprised you most in your first year doing this?"
3. 03"If somebody was starting today, what route in would actually work?"
4. 04"What part of this job do people underestimate, or quietly dislike?"
5. 05"What do the people who hire for this look for that isn't in the advert?"
6. 06"What would you want to see from someone like me to take them seriously?"
7. 07"Who else should I talk to about this?"

Pick five and skip anything a search would answer. The value of a live person is the unwritten material: the pace, the politics, the money and the parts nobody puts in a brochure.

How should you run the twenty minutes?

Take notes, but tell them you are doing it. Listen for the moments their voice changes, when they speed up talking about one task or go flat about another. Those moments often tell you more than the answers. If a question lands badly, move on rather than pressing.

Video and phone both work. Phone can feel less formal and easier to fit into a lunch break, so offer both and let them choose.

What are the common mistakes?

• Asking questions the company website already answers, which signals you did not prepare.
• Talking about yourself for half the call. Keep your own story to one minute unless they ask.
• Running over time, even when it is going well.
• Turning it into a job pitch or sending your CV unasked afterwards.
• Never following up, so the contact fades and you lose the most valuable part.

What should you do afterwards?

Write three things down the same day: what the work contains, what would drain you, and what you will do next because of the conversation. Then send a short thank-you that names that next step.

A month later, if you did the thing, tell them in two lines. That single update is what turns a stranger into somebody who thinks of you when work appears. It also gives them the satisfaction of knowing their time made a difference.

If they suggested someone else to talk to, contact that person within a week and mention who sent you. Introductions go cold quickly, and a named referral is the warmest request you will ever send.

Do informational interviews work for career changers?

They work especially well, because your questions are sharper. You already know what a working week feels like, so you can ask how this one differs: the pace, the politics, how decisions get made. Ask specifically which parts of your current experience would count, and which gaps people in the field would notice first.

Try to speak to at least one person who made a similar move. Their route in is often quite different from the official one, and they can tell you which shortcuts held up and which were a waste of money.

When should you stop asking and start trying?

Conversations have a ceiling. After two per direction you are mostly hearing the same account again, and the missing information is about you rather than the job. That is the point to do a small real piece of the work, such as a shadowing day, a short project or a micro-internship, and let your own attention be the evidence.

Ask about the Tuesday, not about the career. Tuesdays are checkable.