{"id":9873,"date":"2020-10-09T12:25:10","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T18:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/?p=9873"},"modified":"2020-10-09T12:25:10","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T18:25:10","slug":"how-to-get-the-most-out-of-an-informational-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-an-informational-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get the Most Out of an Informational Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When you\u2019re looking for a job or exploring a new career path, it\u2019s smart to go out on informational interviews. But what should you say when you\u2019re actually in one? Which questions will help you gain the most information? Are there any topics you should avoid? And how should you ask for more help if you need it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What the Experts Say<br><\/strong>\u201cInformational interviews are essential to helping you find out more about the type of industry, company, or role you\u2019re interested in,\u201d says Dorie Clark, author of\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Stand-Out-Networking-Authentic-Portfolio-ebook\/dp\/B00TY3ZKJ0\/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1_kin?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1432839878&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=stand+out+networking\">Stand Out Networking<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>\u201cYou may think you already know all about a certain position, but speaking to someone directly gives you the opportunity to test your assumptions.\u201d John Lees, a UK-based career strategist and author of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Success-Code-How-Stand-Noticed-ebook\/dp\/B00Z70VH4G\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1455010671&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=john+lees+the+success+code\"><em>The Success Code<\/em><\/a>, agrees. Informational interviews \u201cgive you exposure \u2014\u00a0a way to get yourself known in the hidden job market,\u201d he says. \u201cThe visibility may put you straight onto a short list, even if a job isn\u2019t advertised.\u201d They can also be a great boost to your self-esteem. \u201cYou get to wear smart business clothes and visit places of work, which maintains your confidence levels in a job search,\u201d he explains. So whether you\u2019re actively trying to change roles or just exploring different professional paths, here are some tips on how to make the most of an informational interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Find out more in <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2016\/02\/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-an-informational-interview\">this great article<\/a> from the Harvard Business Review. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you\u2019re looking for a job or exploring a new career path, it\u2019s smart to go out on informational interviews. But what should you say when you\u2019re actually in one? Which questions will help you gain the most information? Are there any topics you should avoid? And how should you ask for more help if&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":848,"featured_media":9874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[2672,1826],"class_list":["post-9873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-job-info-advice","tag-asking-for-help","tag-informational-interviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/files\/2020\/10\/harvard.png?fit=300%2C138&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p79l8e-2zf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9875,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9873\/revisions\/9875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/careercenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}