{"id":1104,"date":"2018-10-10T00:01:32","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T22:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.embl.org\/careers\/?p=33"},"modified":"2026-02-13T07:56:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T07:56:56","slug":"informational-interviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/blog\/2018\/10\/informational-interviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Informational interviews: 5 tips for effective career conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cInformational interviews\u201d are one of the best tools to get insights into different career areas. They are informal 15-30 minute conversations with individuals working in a career area that interests you. The aim is to learn more about the career area, particularly to get first hand and up-to-date information that can help you better understand whether the career is for you, and how to get your first role in that field. However, as the following video, &#8220;The Informational Interview and how to do it well&#8221; from the Stanford Design Lab&#8217;s Online Course&nbsp; &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/online.stanford.edu\/courses\/tds-y0003-designing-your-career\">Designing Your Career<\/a>, explains &#8211; an informational interview isn&#8217;t a job interview, and should not be about directly finding a job.<\/p>\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Designing Your Career: The Informational Interview\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/m6Pa4ZB4mvQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #808080; font-size: 10pt;\"><em>Designing Your Career: The Informational Interview &#8211; a video from the <\/em><a style=\"color: #808080;\" href=\"https:\/\/dschool.stanford.edu\/\"><em>Stanford Design Lab<\/em><\/a><em> \/ <\/em><a style=\"color: #808080;\" href=\"https:\/\/online.stanford.edu\/courses\/tds-y0003-designing-your-career\"><em>Stanford Online<\/em><\/a><em> Course Designing Your Career. You can learn more about the course in a recent <\/em><a style=\"color: #808080;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/careers\/2018\/07\/how-silicon-valley-design-principles-can-help-you-pick-your-post-phd-path\"><em>science magazine article&nbsp;<\/em><\/a><em> about a book &#8220;Designing your Life&#8221;, based on the course.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How to get started<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simply being curious about those around you and chatting to people informally about their careers can be a great start \u2013 particularly if you are in the early stages of career exploration and are not sure what career areas interest you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, more directed and structured interviews will help you to get the detailed information that will help you make a final decision \u2013 and help you break into the new career area. These can take place in person (e.g. at a conference), by telephone or by video call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It can feel quite intimidating to contact someone out of the blue to ask if you can interview them about their career. However &#8211; particularly if you have something in common, for example, a mutual friend, a common interest or shared experience &#8211; people are generally quite happy to help and have a short chat. Alumni networks can be a good place to find people from a range of careers with whom you have something in common, and many institutions offer some mechanism to connect current staff and alumni with each other. This may be via a alumni directory and\/or social media. LinkedIN is another powerful tool to find potential interviewees &#8211; some of whom may already be in your network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"vf-blockquote\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;In my experience EMBL alumni are always happy to interact with and support EMBL fellows and staff. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/community\/directory\/\">EMBL Alumni Directory<\/a> can be accessed by all staff across EMBL\u2019s six sites. It can be used to identify people working in different career areas, or specific organizations, cities, countries or even according to expertise. Alumni have been very responsive when contacted via this channel\u201d Mehrnoosh Rayner, Head of Alumni Relations, EMBL<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve&nbsp;collected 5 key pieces of advice \u2013 from books, relevant articles, and our own personal experience \u2013 to help you schedule, prepare and carry out these interviews. Additional resources to help you implement these tips can also be found at the bottom of the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote><h2><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 12pt;\"><u>Our top 5 tips<\/u><\/span><\/h2><ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #18974C;\"><strong>Leverage events &amp; networks <\/strong><\/span>to identify people to talk to.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">LinkedIN and alumni networks may help you find good people to interview. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Delegate and exhibitor lists for conferences &amp; events you will attend are also a great resource &#8211;&nbsp; a coffee break is a great time for such meetings.<br><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #18974C;\"><strong>Show you appreciate the time the person is giving you.<\/strong><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Be specific, polite and concise when you contact someone. Be specific about what you are asking for &#8211; including both the specific request (would they have time for a 20 minute call) and topics (specific areas your questions relate to).<br><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">If you meet for coffee, offer to pay; and always send a thank you email.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #18974C;\">Prepare well<\/span>* so you can ask relevant questions and make a good impression .<\/strong><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Think about what is important for you in your career<br><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Do background research on the person &amp; career area<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #18974C;\">Prepare &amp; prioritize specific questions<\/span>*<\/strong> that 1) address your queries about the career area 2) show you have done your research 3) focus on your interviewee and 4) are open-ended.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #18974C;\">Lead a structured interview<\/span>*. Think about how to structure the interview to help you keep on time e.g. by asking related questions together. You should s<\/strong>tart with an recap of who you are, and why you wanted to meet the interviewee &#8211; and end on-time, with a thank you. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol><p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><em>* Additional resources to help with these points are included in the resources below<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n<hr class=\"vf-divider\">\n\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Relevant resources<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong> *Resources relevant for specific tips<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"3\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Prepare well so you can ask relevant questions and make a good impression.<\/span>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Think about what is important for you in your career: do you need a role with a high level of autonomy &#8211; then one of your questions should be how much autonomy your interviewee has in their role.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">background research on the person &amp; career area<\/span>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">On the person you are interviewing: LinkedIn or other online profiles<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">On the career area<\/span>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Career profiles of other people in that area, including career profiles on this site<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Career talks from people in that area &#8211; for those in EMBL, you can find a library of previous talks on the intranet.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">General sources of information about the career areas. Sources include:<\/span>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Articles in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/careers\">Nature Careers<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/careers\">ScienceCareers<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Relevant professional bodies and societies<\/span><br>    <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Prepare &amp; prioritize specific questions<br><\/strong><\/span>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5281\/zenodo.12722164\">handout<\/a> from our workshop &#8216;informational interviews&#8217; lists potential questions. Further resources include:<\/span>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/campuspress-test.yale.edu\/cnspy\/2017\/04\/26\/informational-interviewing-part-ii-preparing-for-your-interview\/\" data-type=\"URL\" target=\"_blank\">Career Network for student Scientists and Postdocs at Yale<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/careers\/2016\/08\/maximizing-your-informational-interview-investment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Science Magazine: Maximizing your informational interview investment<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Note:&nbsp; your questions shouldn&#8217;t ask something that is clear from their LinkedIn profile, or from 5 minutes spent reading google results for your interviewee \/ the career area.<br>  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Lead a structured interview.&nbsp;<\/strong> One possible structure, suggested by John Lees in his book \u201chow to get a job you love\u201d is REVEAL:<\/span>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><u>R<\/u>ecap: Start the interview explaining who are you, and why you wanted to talk to them. Mention if you are aiming to talk to multiple people.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><u>E<\/u>xplore &nbsp;&#8211; ask your questions about the career area.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><u>V<\/u>ision \u2013 ask questions about the future of the sector, and longer term career prospects.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><u>E<\/u>ntry routes- ask how the person got their first role, what the usual route is and whether there are also non-conventional routes in.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><u>A<\/u>ction \u2013 ask their advice on your next steps. This can be a good point to ask for feedback on your CV.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><u>Links <\/u>*if* you mentioned that you will be talking to multiple people, refer back to that point, and ask if they can recommend anyone to speak to.<\/span>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Alternatively\/additionally, you can ask about useful resources, such as professional bodies or online courses, that might be helpful as you prepare to apply.<\/span>  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Related resources <\/strong><\/span>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<article class=\"vf-card vf-card--brand vf-card--striped vf-u-margin__bottom--800\" default>\n  \n  <div class=\"vf-card__content | vf-stack vf-stack--400\">\n          <h3 class=\"vf-card__heading\">\n        \n        Further EMBL resources\n              <\/h3>\n    \n    \n          <p class=\"vf-card__text\"><!-- wp:list -->\r\n\r\nOur<a class=\"vf-card_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/info-resources\/making-connections\/\"> &#8216;making connections&#8217;<\/a> resources &#8211; including <a class=\"vf-card_link\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5281\/zenodo.12722283\">slides<\/a> and handout from our informational interviews workshop.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n<\/article>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">EMBL Careers Blog <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/blog\/2019\/06\/using-linkedin-for-careers-research\/\" target=\"_blank\">article<\/a> on using LinkedIn for careers research<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">General articles on informational interviews<\/span>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/content\/article\/informational-interview\">The informational interview<\/a> \u2013 Science Careers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/content\/article\/maximizing-your-informational-interview-investment\">Maximizing your informational interview investment<\/a> \u2013 Science Careers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/content\/article\/getting-inside-scoop-science-careers\">Getting the science scoop on science careers<\/a> \u2013 Science Careers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/naturejobs\/2016\/08\/10\/informational-interviews-the-right-push-for-your-career\/\">Informational interviews: The right push for your career?<\/a> \u2013 Nature Careers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/advice\/2020\/06\/01\/given-uncertainty-about-faculty-hiring-fall-job-seekers-should-actively-seek\">The importance of informational interviews<\/a> \u2013 Inside Higher Ed<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/roostervane.com\/tips-on-how-to-network\/\">Want tips on how to network like a boss? Here are 11 actionable tricks<\/a> \u2013 Roostervane Careers with purpose<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/campuspress-test.yale.edu\/cnspy\/2017\/04\/26\/informational-interviewing-part-ii-preparing-for-your-interview\/\">Informational Interviewing Part II: Preparing for your interview (and related posts)<\/a> \u2013 Yale Career Network for Student Scientist and Postdocs at Yale Blog &#8211;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<article class=\"vf-card vf-card--brand vf-card--bordered vf-u-margin__bottom--800\" default>\n  \n  <div class=\"vf-card__content | vf-stack vf-stack--400\">\n          <h3 class=\"vf-card__heading\">\n        \n        Further internal resources\n              <\/h3>\n    \n          <p class=\"vf-card__subheading\">For EMBL fellows and staff<\/p>\n    \n          <p class=\"vf-card__text\"><!-- wp:list -->\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item -->\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>EMBL Alumni Relations <a class=\"vf-card_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/events\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Events &amp; Networks page<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item -->\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>EMBL Fellows&#8217; Career Service <a class=\"vf-card_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/internal-information\/eicat\/embl-fellows-career-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">intranet pages<\/a> e.g. <a class=\"vf-card_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/internal-information\/eicat\/embl-fellows-career-service\/job-search-resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">listing<\/a> of external career and industry networking events.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul><\/p>\n      <\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cInformational interviews\u201d are one of the best tools to get insights into different career areas. In this article, we provide 5 tips that can help you use this tool effectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3326,3352],"tags":[3396,3420,3432],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-1104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-networking","tag-careers-research","tag-embl-alumni","tag-informational-interviews"],"acf":[],"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1104"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27907,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions\/27907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1104"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=1104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}