Informational Interviewing « The Career Development Center Blog

Posted by Anne Lapour, Career Counselor Interview_1(1)

Have you ever found yourself wondering, I know there are jobs out there that may be perfect that I’ve never heard of. How do I find them? Most people ask this at one time or another. There are many ways to research occupations, but one of the most effective is: Informational Interviewing.

What is “informational interviewing”, you ask? An informational interview is an interview that you initiate with someone in a field that interests you. You ask the questions, because the purpose is to obtain information. This is one of the best sources for gathering information about what’s happening in an occupation or an industry, because you’re talking to people actually working in the field. You get to interact with someone and have a dialogue—something you can’t do with a computer screen. Informational Interviews allow you to:

explore careers and clarify your career goal
discover employment opportunities that are not advertised
expand your professional network
build confidence for your job interviews
access the most up-to-date career information
identify your professional strengths and weaknesses

Informational interviews can teach you about those mysterious job descriptions you’ve never heard of, and give you insider information about your field of interest. And best of all, they can teach you what kinds of experiences you’ll need to give yourself a leg-up in the job market during these tough economic times!

To conduct an informational interview, follow these steps: 1) Identify the occupation or industry you wish to learn about, 2) Identify People to Interview 3) Prepare for the interview, 4) Arrange the Interview, 5) Follow Up.

More questions? Come to the Career Center and meet with one of our career counselors.

49 thoughts on “Informational Interviewing”

Maria said on September 30, 2009 at 5:26 pm:

Very useful tips and lot’s of a good advice. Would you recommend to consult a coach or attend special training? Thank you.
lapoura said on October 1, 2009 at 10:11 am:

Coaching or special training isn’t necessary if you want to conduct an informational interview. It certainly can’t hurt, but mostly all you need is interest, the skills to interact professionally with someone, and lots of questions! Our website has some useful step-by-step tips for conducting an informational interview: http://oregonstate.edu/career/informational-interviewing
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Diabetes Menu Plan said on November 29, 2010 at 4:48 pm:

All of these tips are sound tips that everyone should be paying attention to when they are trying to make a career decision, you have to ask yourself these type of questions.
ibcbet said on December 7, 2010 at 2:25 am:

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film said on January 1, 2011 at 10:55 am:

Very useful tips and lot’s of a good advice. Would you recommend to consult a coach or attend special training? Thank you
busickj said on January 3, 2011 at 9:52 am:

If you are an OSU student or alum you could make an appointment with Career Services to get more advice. Our website also has a section about informational interviewing that may be helpful.
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Water Proof Dog Bed said on February 12, 2011 at 10:51 am:

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grams said on March 10, 2011 at 5:48 pm:

explore careers and clarify your career goal

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Home based business tips said on March 29, 2011 at 7:02 am:

Would you recommend to consult a coach or attend special training? Thank you
stuff to draw when your bored said on April 3, 2011 at 11:41 am:

I remember when I was about to go on an interview, I could have used this helpful information, thanks for the post.
basketball strategies and tactics said on April 5, 2011 at 4:12 pm:

Trying to find a job in these tough economic times can be a challenge, I can use this information in my next search.
busickj said on April 11, 2011 at 12:59 pm:

Meeting with a career counselor or advisor can be really useful. I would also attend any workshops about resume writing, interviewing, job search strategies, etc. You can do all of these at Oregon State University if you are an OSU student or alum. For more information, go to our website.
Bodybuilding Workouts for Men said on April 17, 2011 at 1:06 am:

know there are jobs out there that may be perfect that I’ve never heard of. How do I find them?

I always wonder about them!

Thanks for sharing!
busickj said on April 18, 2011 at 3:51 pm:

That is a great question and can be difficult to answer. Oftentimes the way to find out about jobs that you may not even know exist is to talk to people about your interests and skills and they may tell you about a job that would be a good match. You can also do some online research and there are books also on the topic. One blog that may be useful is resume bucket blog.
Slim Drops said on April 28, 2011 at 11:52 pm:

Informational Interviewing is a new one for me. I only hope that those people you’re interested in are willing to be interviewed? But well worth looking into – thanks.
busickj said on April 29, 2011 at 12:00 pm:

Most people are very receptive. Occasionally you will get someone who is not interested or doesn’t respond to your request but I think you will be quite surprised how many people are willing to meet with you and share about their career.
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Restaurants In Jackson MS said on June 7, 2011 at 1:49 am:

The key with any job interview is to make sure that you don’t talk about your old job in a negative light. Keep everything positive and be confident. It’s everything…
Cumhur said on June 25, 2011 at 5:35 am:

Very good and useful information. Why not write a book about this topic. For today’s economic fluctuation and lack of opportunities, it really will be a very hot topic.
Thanks anyway.
All the best
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Just make sure you dont talk about your old job in a negative light, keep positive and be confident and everything will be ok.
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Informational Interview is quite a new term that I am hearing first time in your post. BTW the concept is very interesting and it could really help people before they are entering into their professional life. But I really have doubts if the people will be cent percent open to our questions.
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Sağlık said on February 10, 2013 at 5:05 am:

Very useful tips and lot’s of a good advice. Would you recommend to consult a coach or attend special training? Thank you.
busickj said on February 11, 2013 at 2:31 pm:

Glad you found the post useful! I don’t think you need to necessarily consult a coach, if you are an OSU student or alum you are welcome to meet with a career counselor to go over any questions you may have about informational interviewing. There is also quite a bit of information on the OSU Career Services website or you could just do an online search about informational interviewing to get a lot of information.