How informational interviews help you land your dream job

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Chan With A Plan, host Max Chan speaks with Sara Seymour, host of the podcast What Do People Do All Day? In this conversation Sara discusses the importance of conducting informational interviews and how to do them the right way to bring value to you and the professional you are speaking with and help move your career in the right direction. 

 

QUOTES

• “There are a number of different ways to [reach out to people for an informational interview]. One way is, you know, just through LinkedIn, if you're looking for a specific person or a specific company, or if you're looking for a specific role, you can look through LinkedIn, that can also help you identify people who maybe went to the same university that you went to, and I think that can be helpful for just easing the conversation. But you don't have to, like you don't have to necessarily know the person in any way or have any connection to the person, it's very reasonable to cold reach out” - Sara Seymour
• “One thing to keep in mind is you want to make your ask clear [when reaching out to professionals]. And this is true, like generally with communication, you want to make sure that you are upfront. But you also want to give them a little bit of background [of why you’re reaching out].” - Sara Seymour
• “[Informational interviews can be better than applying online] because sometimes jobs don't even get posted. And part of the reason that they don't get posted is that they have someone in mind, they hire internally. So if you have spoken with someone, and this role comes up, and they think of you, they reach out to you before they even post the job, you sort of skipped the part where your resume and potentially cover letter are competing with a bunch of other resumes and cover letters [in the online application pool].” - Sara Seymour

 

TIMESTAMPS

• [1:01] Meet Sara
• [1:58] Introduction to informational interviews and how Sara used them to help move her career in the right direction
• [4:46] Common misconceptions about informational interviews
• [6:00] Reaching out to the right people for an informational interview
• [9:10] Being realistic with response rate when reaching out cold to professionals on LinkedIn
• [10:16] Important questions you should ask in an informational interview
• [15:17] Why you should never ask for a job at the end of an informational interview
• [18:09] How to stay connected with your contact once the initial informational interview is over
• [20:53] The benefits of networking / informational interviews over only applying online 
• [21:33] How long it takes for networking / informational interviews to start generating job opportunities to move your career forward
• [23:46] Additional strategies and tips when it comes to utilizing informational interviews to further your career
• [25:02] The biggest career challenge Sara has faced, and what she did to overcome it to get to where she is today
• [26:28] Contacting Sara
• [27:48] Outro

 

RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS

• What Do People Do All Day? Podcast
• Chan With A Plan
• Chan With A Plan Private Facebook Group