Informational interviews can help make your job search a success.
But how do you make sure that your interview is a success, too?
Besides finding the right mentor and connecting with them, here are 3 important things to do before any informational interview!
1. Offer plenty of options
Remember that your potential interviewees DO want to connect with you, but it’s not always a possibility.
It’s important to be mindful of their time and provide a list of options for when and where your meeting could take place.
If it’s a long distance between you, consider meeting them halfway or going even further out of your way to save them a trip.
And because it’s an informal meeting, you can offer an informal setting such as a coffee shop or restaurant. You can even offer to treat them as a way to say thank you for their efforts.
By giving your interviewer options when it comes to your meeting, they’ll feel more at ease with meeting with you in general. And if your potential interviewer is still on the fence about meeting, this will nudge them in the right direction.
2. Learn what you can in advance
The whole point of an informational interview is to gather information.
But that doesn’t mean you need to waste time learning basic things about your interviewee.
Instead of spending the first half of your interview going over the basics about their education, or employment history, or what their current company specializes in — all things which you can find out from a quick search on Google or LinkedIn, in most cases — instead, show up informed enough to jump into learning about what you actually want to know.
It saves time for both you and them, and it also lets them know that you are legitimately interested in learning about them.
And on top of that, doing your research can help you come up with more interesting or specific topics to talk about at the interview!
3. Stay social
They say to put your best foot forward. But nowadays, your first foot is always going to be your digital presence.
Before you even reach out to potential mentors and interviewees, be sure to curate your social media presence.
You want to come across as professional, or professionals won’t take you seriously. You may even miss out on opportunities to connect with some great people — all because of that one embarrassing photo on Facebook, or a painfully awkward tweet.
If you can, consider setting up your own personal website where you can share more insights about yourself. You can write blogs, or show off a gallery of your work, etc. The more people see you taking your online presence seriously, the more seriously they’ll take you as a rising professional!
Conclusion
Looking for more information about your industry, but not sure where to start?
Start at ReStart! We can help you explore your options and connect you to employers and like-minded professionals who want to help your career develop!