Just last week I read a US-based article that said that for 1 in 12 informational interviews leads to a job offer whilst 1 in 200 (and sometimes 1,500) online applications leads to one. I've read similar statistics before and whilst I have no idea where these figures came from, and the writers of the article did not share their sources, I wouldn't be surprised if the figures were not similar in the UK (at least London) as well.
Most people I talk to, however, aren't sure what an informational interview is. What do you think it is?
Essentially, it's a meeting you have with someone in a field or industry that you would like to work in that you interview for the purposes of gaining information about how to get into it, how to succeed in it or to find out whether it's really something you want to pursue or not.
If you approach people saying you only need 15-30 minutes of their time for the purposes of finding out more about them, their work and how they got into it, and to get some advice from them, most people will not say no. If you think about it, if someone approached you for the same reason, what would you say?
Now somebody might say no, and that's fine, thank them and move on to the next invitation.
How do you find people to interview? Well, your friends, family and colleagues might be a good place to start. Most of us will discredit especially friends & family thinking we'd know if they knew someone. Would we really? There's no way I know everybody they come in touch with on a daily basis. So don't make it hard on yourself. Talk to them, ask them if they know someone or if they know someone who might know someone. The law of ‘six degrees' assumes that we all can reach anyone in the world we want through only six other people.
A great way to test this out is the online networking tool LinkedIn, it's great for finding contacts and being introduced to the right people.
So yes, back to the informational interview. The purpose of them is not to ask for a job, but to find out more information. So how do 1 in 12 interviews of this type end up in a job offer. It might not be with the person you interviewed, but once you get out there and get known by people, when jobs do pop up (and remember that estimates say about 66% of jobs are in the ‘hidden market', i.e. not advertised), then your name can pop up if you've left a favourable impression.
So who do you want to meet? And who do you know who could get you that introduction?
Just last week I read a US-based article that said that for 1 in 12 informational interviews leads to a job offer whilst 1 in 200 (and sometimes 1,500) online applications leads to one. I've read similar statistics before and whilst I have no idea where these figures came from, and the writers of the article did not share their sources, I wouldn't be surprised if the figures were not similar in the UK (at least London) as well.
Most people I talk to, however, aren't sure what an informational interview is. What do you think it is?
Essentially, it's a meeting you have with someone in a field or industry that you would like to work in that you interview for the purposes of gaining information about how to get into it, how to succeed in it or to find out whether it's really something you want to pursue or not.
If you approach people saying you only need 15-30 minutes of their time for the purposes of finding out more about them, their work and how they got into it, and to get some advice from them, most people will not say no. If you think about it, if someone approached you for the same reason, what would you say?
Now somebody might say no, and that's fine, thank them and move on to the next invitation.
How do you find people to interview? Well, your friends, family and colleagues might be a good place to start. Most of us will discredit especially friends & family thinking we'd know if they knew someone. Would we really? There's no way I know everybody they come in touch with on a daily basis. So don't make it hard on yourself. Talk to them, ask them if they know someone or if they know someone who might know someone. The law of ‘six degrees' assumes that we all can reach anyone in the world we want through only six other people.
A great way to test this out is the online networking tool LinkedIn, it's great for finding contacts and being introduced to the right people.
So yes, back to the informational interview. The purpose of them is not to ask for a job, but to find out more information. So how do 1 in 12 interviews of this type end up in a job offer. It might not be with the person you interviewed, but once you get out there and get known by people, when jobs do pop up (and remember that estimates say about 66% of jobs are in the ‘hidden market', i.e. not advertised), then your name can pop up if you've left a favourable impression.
So who do you want to meet? And who do you know who could get you that introduction?
