PSA: don't ask your friends or contacts to take informational interviews

[Anonymous]

This is almost never a good idea. Successful people are wildly busy with zero time. Asking them to speak to someone for whom they have no existing job, is a waste of their time and a waste of the person's time. It also forces them to either be rude to you and say no, or feel over burdened and resentful. Please dont do this.

A better alternative is to ask someone if they ever have need for xyz service, will they let you know, as you have a great contact who you'd love them to meet. That allows them to either say 'sure thing' or say 'oh i'd love to meet them now'.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is almost never a good idea. Successful people are wildly busy with zero time. Asking them to speak to someone for whom they have no existing job, is a waste of their time and a waste of the person's time. It also forces them to either be rude to you and say no, or feel over burdened and resentful. Please dont do this.

A better alternative is to ask someone if they ever have need for xyz service, will they let you know, as you have a great contact who you'd love them to meet. That allows them to either say 'sure thing' or say 'oh i'd love to meet them now'.

I disagree. This is part of networking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is almost never a good idea. Successful people are wildly busy with zero time. Asking them to speak to someone for whom they have no existing job, is a waste of their time and a waste of the person's time. It also forces them to either be rude to you and say no, or feel over burdened and resentful. Please dont do this.

A better alternative is to ask someone if they ever have need for xyz service, will they let you know, as you have a great contact who you'd love them to meet. That allows them to either say 'sure thing' or say 'oh i'd love to meet them now'.

I disagree. This is part of networking.

Yeah totally. Just part of being in a community of life

[Anonymous]

The ask should just be double opt on (separate email chains) with a very easy out (I'm not sure how crazy your schedule is at the moment).

[Anonymous]

The most wildly successful and busy people I know always have 30 minutes to meet with someone. That's how they got so successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The ask should just be double opt on (separate email chains) with a very easy out (I'm not sure how crazy your schedule is at the moment).

This. I’m more than happy to do informational interviews. I love my job and am happy to talk about it anytime.

[Anonymous]

They often find great employees through informational interviews. You get a lot more out of the candidate than you would in an interview.

I agree with the person who said everyone has 30 minutes to spare, i f they don't chances are they are poor at time management and who would want to work for someone who is too busy to help others.

[Anonymous]

Say no. Or offer to answer questions via email. It's not wrong to ask.

[Anonymous]

I am successful and routinely do these when asked, because mentoring is an important part of success. Giving back. I applaud ambitious young people willing to reach out and seek insight from more senior folks. Good for them, and get over yourself, OP.

I always emphasize the importance of culture, teamwork, and helping others. There are some really great young people out there and they are worth our time.

[Anonymous]

OP is off base

[Anonymous]

I’m a VP in a fortune 500 company and I meet with more junior people for this type of stuff a lot.

It’s no skin off my back and sometimes they just want an outside perspective from somebody who is not directly impacted by what they’re searching for. Also, they can take my advice or leave it. I don’t really care.

If I’m really busy with a project, I might not do it immediately or I might push them off for a week or two, but I usually find the time on a Friday or something like that.

[Anonymous]

I am happy to do informational interviews, regardless of whether we're hiring or whether I am the person hiring (I've been a hiring manager, but am not currently). I am always upfront that I cannot hire based on the informational interview: we have an application process.

Mostly I talk to young people trying to figure out what grad school program to pursue, or to people who want to join my organization but don't know how it's structured or what some of our position titles mean.

[Anonymous]

am i the only one who's never heard of 'informational interview' before?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:am i the only one who's never heard of 'informational interview' before?

What is your job and work experience?
It's a little wild to me that you've never heard of it before

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:am i the only one who's never heard of 'informational interview' before?

Yes. Are you very old?