We’ve all heard about ‘informational interviews’ but few of us do it. What is it? How does it work? And how can you use subtle techniques to make an informational interview help you — and more importantly, the other person — even if you have seemingly little to offer?
First, an informational interview is an opportunity to meet someone you’re curious about and learn from them. Maybe you’re curious what a Product Manager really does. Maybe you want to know what the culture at IDEO is like. That’s what an informational interview allows you to do.
Second, THIS IS NOT WEIRD. What’s weird is a bunch of whiny 20- and 30-somethings doing the same damned mindless resume submitting, then wondering why they don’t have jobs. Are you seriously kidding me? Informational interviews are one of the most powerful techniques in your Dream Job arsenal, yet because they seem ‘weird’, people don’t do them. You continue thinking they’re weird while I sail around in a flying car paid for by my Dream Job, which I got because I used effective informational interviews. I hate you.
Lastly, people WANT to meet with smart people. That means you, if you send a great email, have incisive questions, and are interesting. People do not want to meet with idiots, which includes people who…
- Ask worthless questions (‘Dear Ramit, what should I do with my money?? Uh….read the last 8 years of my site’)
- Ramble (‘Hi I’m blah blah and I’m really interested in blah blah and once when I was a kid we went to the park and blah blah and…well I guess this got really long, so…yeah. Thanks for reading.)
- Only talk about themselves (Hi Mr. Senior Exec at a Fortune 100 company, let me tell you about my background, what I studied in school, what I’m interested in….? You are there to LEARN FROM THE IMPORTANT PERSON. NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOU AND YOUR STUPID INTERESTS).
Have you read my NYT Bestselling book yet? If not, watch this 10 minute summary while you’re here!Â
