How to Secure an Informational Interview

Informational interviews are a great way to make new contacts in your field of interest, and they can be especially effective at getting you a foot in the door at your target companies. So many job seekers know this a great method but get stuck trying to figure out who to meet with or how to get in touch.

The first place to start is suggestions from friends. Tell your friends and closest contacts who you want to meet with and why. This can either be highly specific ("I saw you know Betsy Jones at NBC, would you be open to making an intro, as I'd love to work in NBC's sports division?") or more general ("I'm hoping to transition to a role in live events at a company like Live Nation. Do you know anyone who works in that space you can introduce me to?").

Additionally, you should conduct online research in the trades or on LinkedIn to identify people of interest outside your immediate sphere. Find people in departments of interest at your target company. People at your level can be really helpful in breaking down what you can really expect from a possible future role (and give you current insight into how to land those roles), and people higher up or department heads can give you more strategic visibility into the organization's mission and how it might align with your expertise. 

Once you identify a possible new contact, you'll want to see if you can get a referral. Look on LinkedIn to find out who is connected to your target contact and reach out to them via email (or if the relationship allows, text) and ask them to make an introduction for you. Be sure to clearly explain why you want to meet with this person, so your contact will feel comfortable making the intro. Most people are happy to connect their network when it makes sense, as that can pay off professionally for them down the line, either with returned favors or credibility. 

If you don’t have any referral contacts, you can try cold outreach, ideally via email, or as a last resort, LinkedIn messaging. This works best if you can reach out to people who share something in common with you, like an alma mater, or if you have a really unique reason for getting in touch. You may or may not hear back from cold outreach, so don't take it personally if you don't. You may need to try a few possible contacts to get that initial meeting, and from there, hopefully the person you meet with can introduce you to someone else at the company.

Ultimately, the goal is to build a web of contacts through informational interviews, where new contacts are continually referring you to other contacts. This is the best way to meet multiple people at one company that can refer you for open roles. And once you have that first meeting, future meetings will be much easier to get!