Informational Interviews 101

Is your son or daughter still unsure about their career choice? Are they having trouble choosing a major, even after almost a year of college? If they're looking for answers, you might want to introduce them to the process of conducting an informational interview.

What is an Informational Interview?

Career research requires asking questions and finding out as many answers as possible about a career area or field of work. First-hand research is the most relevant -- using print and online resources and informational interviews.

An "informational interview" is an effective career research strategy that's been around for many years. The goal of an informational interview is to gather information from people currently working in the career field your child is interested in or from people who are actively using the skills your child wants to use in their work.

By asking questions, your college student will gain insights from real-life accounts of a typical day on the job and confirm or revise previous information gathered from other sources. They will also establish a network of contacts in the field.

What Do You Need to Know About Informational Interviews?

Your son or daughter needs to understand that they have to gather the information themselves because only they know what they are really looking for.

Before embarking upon one of these interviews, they should do some homework. Check to see if they have completed research on the career field or occupational area by gathering as much information ahead of time from books, magazines, newspaper articles, journals and websites. This will ensure that your son or daughter has done adequate preparation for the interview and can ask meaningful questions.

How to Conduct an Informational Interview

To prepare to talk to people working in the field, your children have to outline a set of questions that they will ask everyone they interview. Once the questions have been defined, they should make a "contact" list and call to make 20- to 30-minute appointments, setting a time to begin and end each interview.

By following their questions and sticking to the predetermined amount of time scheduled, they will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to engage people. Almost everyone likes to share information about their experiences and their work.

Your child needs to track their interviews and document their meeting notes. They should include the date, time, location, name of the company and contact person, along with the street address, phone number, e-mail and company website, if applicable.

Following their interviews, they should categorize gathered information into areas related to their career research, such as:

Career-, work-, job-specific information
Education, training and other qualifications needed
The interview subject's personal perspectives on the work
Labor market information
Related career paths
Leads -- professional organizations, names of other companies to contact, identification of who is hiring in this field

Other Benefits

The organizational, communication and planning skills that your son or daughter will use in conducting this research are transferable to a wide range of career areas. Taking initiative and demonstrating personal responsibility are also valued qualities.

These interviews are useful not only in the career decision-making process and job search phase, but also during the stage where your student might already be employed but looking for help to move ahead, change jobs or branch out and start their own business.

Last Tip

Accessing those directly working in the field gives the most current and real-life look at what the work would be like. By gathering such information, your son or daughter can get the answers they are looking for. To complete the interview process, coach your kids to send a thank-you note. Encourage them to consider a follow-up phone call immediately after the meeting, thanking the contact for their time.

In today's busy world, building bridges and networks means a great deal.