An informational interview is an informal conversation with someone in your company, industry or even outside of your industry that gives you a chance to learn about that person's work and field.
There are all sorts of reasons to book one: You'd like to learn about another branch of your company or about moving up in it. You'd like to learn how a competitor functions on the inside. Or maybe you're considering moving to another industry altogether and want to feel it out beforehand.
"You're building relationships with low stakes," says Angelina Darrisaw, career coach and founder and CEO of C-Suite Coach. "Often people are much more willing to meet if there's not an ask and it's really just information sharing."
Here's how to go about getting one.
'What are my questions?'
To begin with, you'll want to figure out who you want to reach out to.
Ask yourself, "what am I looking to achieve? What are my questions?" says Vicki Salemi, career coach at Monster, adding, "are you looking to get your foot in the door with a specific company? Do you want to network within that company? Learn more about it?" Figure out what your objective is then narrow down your search for who'd be most relevant.
"One thing that really helps is engaging your manager," says Darrisaw. You can share your goals with them and say something like, "I'm looking to be in this role five years from now, who do you think are some good people to meet with?"
Once you've narrowed down a goal, you can also see if an alumni network at your alma mater has relevant graduates or if any other organization you're part of could offer good connections.
Tell them 'what it was that motivated you' to reach out
When it comes time to reach out, see if you have a mutual connection with that person who can make an intro or consider cold emailing or messaging the person on LinkedIn.
Whether after an intro or not, use any first direct contact with them to say, "who you are, what you're looking to do next or what you're doing now and what it was that motivated you specifically to reach out," says Octavia Goredema, career coach and author of "PREP, PUSH, PIVOT."
Ask them if they'd be open to a 15 to 30 minutes chat on the phone, over Zoom or over coffee in a convenient place and let them take the lead in suggesting when might be a good time.
Keep it short — maybe a few sentences or one short paragraph and look out for any grammatical errors or typos. If you don't hear back, wait a week or two and do just "one polite follow up after that," says Goredema.
"Keep your expectations low" if you're cold messaging someone, says Salemi. But be open to whatever happens next.
Want to earn more and land your dream job? Join the free CNBC Make It: Your Money virtual event on Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. ET to learn how to level up your interview and negotiating skills, build your ideal career, boost your income and grow your wealth. Register for free today.
DON'T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter!
Check out:
3 reasons to do informational interviews, say career experts: They can make you 'better at your job'
Suzy Welch: If you want to be successful, don't network—do this instead
The No. 1 question to ask in a job interview, according to a former Google recruiter
