I recently had a great interview with Jada Graves from USNews.com about informational interviews and I wanted to share some additional thoughts with you based on that conversation. Here’s a link to the article I was interviewed for as well: http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2012/07/26/what-is-an-informational-interview-anyway
I think informational interviews are one of the most underutilized tools in career transition. People either don’t know about them, or are uncomfortable conducting them and reaching out to people they don’t know to learn more about an industry.
Informational interviews are one of the best tools you have at your disposal to expand your network in a new field for you, learn about what it’s like to work in that industry and to possibly land a job as a result of that networking. Don’t be shy. Many of my career coaching clients initially hesitate to reach out to people to set up interviews like this, and I understand that hesitation, especially when the contact is cold or someone that you don’t know.
I encourage you to get over that hesitation. You need to realize that people do these every day. It’s an incredibly helpful tool in your job search, and the worst thing the contact can say is no or just ignore your request!
So get over your fears. Find that confidence inside you that has taken risks in the past, and reach out to your network to find people you can talk with. Set a goal for a certain number of interviews per week as well and stick to it! Good luck and I hope this is helpful to you.
Hallie Crawford
Career Transition Coach
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