Who are the people whose friendship and relationship you value the most, and what is it that makes them stand out? The answers to this question would offer many different insights, but one of the most common answers is that we like to be around people who ask us questions and listen. Our best friends and relationships are experts at conducting informational interviews. They get us to talk, and we spill our thoughts. These people are also part of our network; we are likely part of theirs. When questions are asked and answered, the interaction between people is probably overlooked as we investigate the traditional definitions of informational interviews and networking. Still, when the time comes that we need to understand these skills, it will help us learn more about the many ways that they can help our lives.  

Informational interviews are networking with a purpose, and like networking, your interaction with others creates a professional or social contact where information is exchanged. Still, one party communicates about who they are, and the other communicates what the first party wants to learn. 

The traditional purpose of this type of interview is to do current and relevant research and seek it from those on the front lines of the targeted subject matter.  

If you can talk directly with an expert, in person, on the phone, or online, you can likely obtain the information you could not gain through any other type of research.  You also can hear relevant real-life stories, firsthand accounts, and suggestions of other places to look or people to consult for the information you seek.

LinkedIn is the largest professional network in the world and has, in many ways, replaced traditional networking approaches for professionals and opened doors for informational interviews.

The excellent news for networkers using LinkedIn is that it is easy to check the company you are interested in to see if any of the employees working there are those you know or have even worked with in the past. This enables an easy step in clicking connect and including a note, but that is where the connection ends too often. Of course, you can ask about their job and experiences at the company, but it is usually too easy to do that by typing your thoughts. Talking only happens with some of the LinkedIn connections a person has. LinkedIn makes it easy to seek out relationships, and it is a beautiful tool with all the other ways it can help.

The value of connecting with someone at a company you are interested in is obvious, but a face-to-face meeting with someone well-associated with the company is still much better. As you ask questions, when you look each other in the eye, there are more messages than just the words conveyed. Sometimes, sensitive information is received in face-to-face settings that would never happen otherwise.

A job for most of us is more than a way to make a living.  It shapes how we see ourselves, as well as how others see us. It gives our day structure, purpose, and meaning. With such an important decision to make when seeking new employment, it is evident that we must be well prepared when we pick a company to apply to and meet with them. We want to know if we fit the job description, like the company, and can relate to and understand the industry.

The three key areas we need to research before meeting in person with the people who will decide to hire us are understanding the industry, the company, and the job we seek. The best way to achieve that knowledge is through informational interviews.

Learning about the industry first will be an advantage because it will give us credibility when we meet with people from the company or other companies. Both experiences will significantly help us when we meet to discuss the job.

Networking can lead us to find people to visit in the industry. We often think our network consists of friends, neighbors, and even people we go to church with. Those contacts may coincidentally be involved in an industry or company we are looking at, but that network is where you may find others who know someone in the industry you’re looking at.

Suppose you’re at church, a PTA meeting, or a family gathering. In that case, it can be surprising how easy it is to ask: Does anyone know anyone who works in the aerospace industry or is a retail manager or whatever you're looking for? Someone usually will, and then the next step is to tell them you want to learn more about that industry and are hoping to get a 30-minute interview with someone to ask some basic questions and then ask if you can call the person and use their name explaining why you called to meet and ask questions. This is an advantage because time may be available if your contact knows you were referred.

This meeting, learning about an industry, is crucial for you. Your contact can be an ongoing member of your network where you can follow up with a thank-you note and try to find some reasons to keep in touch with you in the future.  You will want to learn this contact’s employment path in the industry and, as you share your experiences, know where the contact may think you could fit. Different industries have a variety of companies. Retail grocery consists of in-store opportunities of many types. Still, the store suppliers and distributors also have a variety of jobs, as do the manufacturers that service those distributors and stores. As you learn about these areas, you learn the industry's language, sometimes called the trade jargon. When exposed to this, you want to be able to make notes and remember them because you will seem like a much better fit for a potential employer if you have some of the industry’s language and understand how the suppliers and competitors interact. Use this opportunity to see if your prior industry perceptions are accurate.

Sometimes, when informational interviews are discussed, someone will say that they believe this approach is acceptable for beginners in the job market but not for them. They may have been in industry or a particular job for years.  Those same people often have a narrow view of the industry that mainly applies to their past and could quickly come across as dated and behind in an interview. They also may not see how their skills could easily fit in a related industry. Successful people become industry students; these interviews are opportunities to stay relevant.

As you learn about the industry, you will have an excellent opportunity to learn about the companies in the industry and who they compete with. If you already work in the industry, your suppliers can tell you which competitors are doing well. They supply many of the same things your past company used, and they know who is growing and who is not. These suppliers will be careful with confidential information, but they will want to help you find a place and will be glad if you become a customer.

Meeting with someone in the industry or a past supplier will point you towards the good companies, the next place you want an informational interview. Maybe someone you used to work with left and went to a competitor in the past. They are accommodating since you already know them, but past connections or people your network can refer you to will open the door for an informational interview. You will benefit from a learning interview about a particular company before applying to a specific company. You can learn a lot from others you know, people who used to work there and even competitors.

If you are applying for a specific job, knowing as much as possible about that job will help you. This fact should point you toward seeking others in the industry with the same job position and asking for an informational interview. Their advice and comments may be the best preparation you can get for your job interview. Please pay attention to how they refer to the different parts of their work. Their simple keywords and job vocabulary will make a person sound like a good fit versus using the wrong words. 

An example of this would be in the restaurant supply industry; from the point of view of the manufacturer and distributor, the ultimate customer of their product is the “end-user.” This will not mean much for the restaurant, but it is quite a common terminology in the supply chain. Understanding where to use the word “supply chain” is another excellent example.

If you are approaching an industry you have not been in, the essential contacts to gather information are people working in the job you are considering, people who work at companies where those jobs are, and others in the industry who might be regarded as industry leaders.

If you are already in an industry, the best contacts to gather information will be with your current or last companies’ suppliers, competitors, or customers. All have different ways of looking at industry and the marketplace and can suggest ideas and approaches you will likely miss. The suppliers and customers will have different viewpoints from your company’s competitors. You will want to find out who the leaders in your category are and what they are doing differently.

One of job seekers' biggest challenges is that most open positions are never posted or publicized. Word spreads, and jobs are filled before hiring managers even need to hang up the “help wanted” sign. According to the online professional networking site LinkedIn, 80% of job openings are never posted, and up to 85% of all jobs are filled by networking. Even when job openings are published, often to follow fair hiring practice mandates, it is common for employers to have already decided on hiring before the job is posted.

Why would so many jobs never be listed? One reason is that hiring managers like to hire from within, if they can, and to have candidates referred to them by people they know and trust. Another factor is that word gets out internally before jobs are publicly posted, and the insiders pass the information to their contacts.

LinkedIn data also shows that 70% of the global workforce comprises passive talent if that needs to be more challenging for the active job seeker. These employees are not actively searching but keep an eye on job postings and opportunities in case something interests them. And 87% of all employees reported being open to new job opportunities.

Employers assume if a job seeker is already employed, they must have the skills, experience, and drive to be employable. It is the case that it is easier to find a job when you already have one, so allowing yourself to be open to new career possibilities without truly job searching is a habit worth developing. Suppose employers do, indeed, prefer to have candidates referred to them and prefer to see those already employed who are passively looking for selected job candidates. In that case, active job seekers have much to do to overcome this. And it is the reason why strategic networking is so important.

Everyone has a network, but many people only recognize, develop, or nurture it once they find themselves out of work. That is a mistake, but one that’s easily rectified. Your job-search network can be found by looking at everyone you know, from former coworkers and supervisors to company executives, trade association employees, suppliers, online connections, customers, and competitors.

Informational networking is an excellent tool for finding answers to these questions. It is a process that involves asking all your contacts for suggestions from people they know who you might reach out to for informational interviews. Explain that you want to spend 15 to 30 minutes learning from the contacts they suggest about their jobs and industry. When you get names, call, or email them and ask if they’ll agree to speak with you briefly when it’s convenient for them to share their insights.

The interviews can be in-person, over the phone, or via video conferencing. Once you get an appointment scheduled, study and read up on the industry and the contact’s company before the meeting so that your questions will make sense. A well-thought-out, relevant question might result in the connection bringing in or suggesting another person see, which could be a new contact for you.

When the interview is finished, please ask if you can return to the contact after doing additional research based on what you learned from the meeting. Your goal is to know about three areas: the industry, the company, and the job. If you can show that you understand the company, its structure, and organization in this first meeting, or when you come back, you will come across as sincere in your interest and likely be given more help, maybe even other referrals to talk with.

Remember, however, that this is an informational interview, so do not ask for a job. Your objective is to learn and to find out where you need to go to learn more. Be sure to thank the contact for the time and follow up with a written email note. This approach will take time to teach you what you need to know, but it will help you better understand the industry, companies, and jobs within it. And that depth of understanding can help you determine what you want.

Informational interviews do sometimes lead you to job openings. Still, your primary goal is gaining insight and knowledge to help you prepare your resume and plan your active job search more strategically. The more you learn about these three areas — industry and the companies and jobs — before you are in front of people considering you for a job, the better you will come across.

Asking your best network contacts about job options follows your informational interview research. In this case, former co-workers and supervisors are excellent contacts because they know you, your previous job, how you fit into the workforce, and your hard and soft skills. If they pass on information about a job opening, you can and should still go back to the informational interview. Could you ask for a short meeting with someone at the company before applying so you will be more knowledgeable when trying to get a job interview opportunity?

An even better network contact than an immediate past coworker might be someone who left your previous company a while back and went somewhere else. Their past relationship with you and the change they made make them exceptional resources from which to learn about opportunities that might be a good fit for you. You will want to know how they see the marketplace from their perspective now with their new company. Where do they see your skills fitting best in the market? Do they see new skills you will need to get the best opportunities?

Your previous company’s competitors and suppliers can be additional excellent network contacts. A supplier may have called on your company, as well as on its competitors, for years. They know who is growing and hiring and who the right contacts might be. If you do not see contact at a supplier, check LinkedIn or other online resources for possible leads or ask someone at your previous company to suggest who you might contact to request an informational interview.

In some cases, customers of your former company can also be apparent places to land. Your insights and experience as a former supplier could be an asset to them.

Establish and build on your network throughout your career, not just when you are out of work. Be active with giving and taking, offering ideas and support to others. Connect with contacts who have the jobs you would like and study them. What paths have their careers taken? LinkedIn will show their work histories: do a little research and see the payoff. But remember, networking is a two-way street. Tap your contacts as appropriate before and during your job search, but always strive to be a valuable contact and pay it forward. Keep in touch and occasionally offer suggestions and ideas to your contacts. When you are out in the marketplace interviewing for jobs and spending time on informational interviews, for example, you will often find out things that may not be of value to you but could be helpful to someone in your network. Keep proprietary and confidential information to yourself, but share other things that could help or interest your contacts. They’ll appreciate it and may one day return the favor.

Finally, while considering networking strategies, heed Eleanor Roosevelt’s words: “Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes.” I like this quote partly because it shows a meaningful way to think about networking and illustrates an important principle. If you’re asking people to hire you or help you in your job search and they are unable to do so, you’ve probably done a poor job of networking. Informational interviews and asking your connections the right questions will take you to the “right” person who can say yes!