Editor, Publisher

Now, to see how an informational-interview request letter might be pulled together, just take a look at the example below.

Dear Ms. Rodriguez:

I am a third year student at the University of Illinois.  I'm extremely interested in pursuing a career in advertising and have taken several courses so far on the subject. 

Your company has an outstanding reputation in the advertising field.  Also, I read how you were just chosen to head up your company's already profitable 1.8 million cosmetics division.  I would really appreciate an opportunity to meet with you to uncover your views on careers in brand management vs. client service and what you believe to be future opportunities for women and minorities working in advertising.  Also, any further insights you have concerning the advertising industry overall would be greatly appreciated.

I will contact you the week of February 9th to see if and when would be a mutually convenient time to meet.

Sincerely,

Seneca Langford

Attach Your Resume

Now, although you're not openly looking for a job, I still recommend that you send a resume with your request letter.  From firsthand experiences at arranging countless informational interviews, I know that interviewers prefer to review resumes on candidates well before their meetings.  This helps them in formulating sound questions for the candidates and can also aid them in determining if someone else (from a department that is more closely tied to your interests or professional background) should also be contacted to meet with you during your company visit.

Take the Meeting Seriously

Also, don't let anyone fool you when they say informational interviews aren't interviews at all and you can relax and just throw on a pair of jeans for the meeting.  Wrong!!! The person that will be sitting on the opposite side of that desk will definitely be taking notes.  Those notes could be on important details such as how smoothly you answered their questions or it could be on trivial matters such as how you slouched in your seat, how you said too many "um huh's" or how you yawned into your hand too frequently.  You should definitely take this meeting very seriously.  Make sure to dress as if you're going to be at a real bona fide interview.  Be prepared to answer intelligently the interviewer's questions and make sure to prepare a list of your own questions to ask him or her. 

Don't Ask About A Job

During the meeting, never ask if he or she can hire you or if they know of someone else at the company that can.  Resorting to this unconventional tactic will only strain any relationships you were trying to build and could also squash any chances you may've had at gaining a job interview with the company.  Regardless of how dire your job situation is, never resort to this scheme.  In my professional experiences of working closely with job applicants that have tested this route, it's always ended up backfiring on them. 

Post-Meeting Tasks

After your meeting, make sure to send a thank you letter to the person that you met with.  Also, if you arranged the informational meeting on your own and you're not sure that the person you met with is going to promptly forward your resume to his company's human resources department, then you should feel free to go ahead and handle this small task yourself.  A week or two after your meeting, send your resume with a cover letter to the company's hiring director and make sure to include a brief reference about your meeting with the employee in your cover letter.

Additional Benefits of Meetings

Besides being able to uncover information about the company and learn how people at the company view their roles, you can also gain the following benefits from landing informational interviews.

• Help you in building a network of people that can help you towards acquiring a job

• You'll become more comfortable talking to people in the industry you're exploring

• You'll be able to gain valuable feedback on your strengths and weaknesses, which will undoubtedly aid you in giving your best performance during job interviews

Now, with all this said, I wish you the very best of luck in landing informational interviews.  They're really great tools to not only aid you in developing your interviewing skills, but they can also help you in uncovering promising job leads.  And remember, never flat out ask during an informational meeting if someone can hire you.  Instead, always allow the person you're meeting with to bring up this sensitive subject.  This way, you won't jeopardize the relationship you're trying to establish and you'll also smoothly learn about possible job openings. 

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This article is © 2003-2005 by Tracy Miller and may not be reposted without written permission from the author and may not be reprinted for profit.