A casual conversation with a professional to gather career insights.
What is Informational Interview?
An informational interview is a deliberate, structured conversation — typically 20 to 30 minutes, conducted via phone, video call, or coffee — between a job seeker and a professional who currently works in a target company, industry, or role. Unlike a formal job interview, the informational interview is initiated by the job seeker for the explicit purpose of gathering career intelligence: learning what a specific role actually involves day-to-day, understanding how to break into a field or company, getting an insider perspective on company culture, and — critically — building a genuine professional relationship that may lead to a referral. It is one of the highest-leverage and most underutilized tactics in modern job searching. Research consistently shows that employee referrals are the single most effective source of quality hires for companies, and informational interviews are the most natural pathway to generating genuine referrals. The psychological dynamic is favorable: people generally enjoy talking about their careers and feel good about helping someone — a well-conducted informational interview positions the job seeker as curious, thoughtful, and proactive rather than transactional.
Key Takeaways
Request an informational interview via a concise, personalized LinkedIn message or email — never ask for a job, ask for 20 minutes of insight and perspective.
Prepare 5–8 specific, thoughtful questions that demonstrate you have researched the person's background and the company — avoid questions easily answered by the company website.
The best informational interview questions explore: what a typical day looks like, what skills are most valued on the team, what they wish they knew before joining, and what advice they have for someone targeting a similar role.
Always send a specific, personalized thank-you note within 24 hours of the conversation — reference something specific that was said to demonstrate you were genuinely engaged.
Stay connected after the conversation by engaging with the person's LinkedIn posts and following up with an occasional professional update — convert a one-time conversation into a sustained professional relationship.
Never request a referral explicitly during the informational interview itself — if the relationship develops and there is a genuine fit, the referral will be offered organically, usually within 2–3 interactions.
Treat every informational interview as a mutual assessment — the person you are speaking with is evaluating whether you are someone worth recommending to their team, so bring your full professional presence.
Informational interviews are equally valuable for validation as for networking — they may reveal that a target role or company is not what you imagined, saving you from pursuing the wrong opportunity.
Build an ATS-Friendly Resume
Don't let Applicant Tracking Systems reject your application. Use our AI builder to generate a perfectly formatted resume.