How to Get the Most Out of Informational Interviews: Expert Tips and Strategies

An informational interview is an informal conversation in which people exchange knowledge, advice and professional insights. These conversations can cover a wide range of topics, including changing academic fields, moving to another country, exploring career options, identifying job opportunities and developing research collaborations. Most importantly, informational interviews are a powerful way to build mutually beneficial professional relationships.

Speaking with someone who could eventually become your supervisor, employer or collaborator can help you understand what is driving a field and which challenges professionals are trying to solve. Pay close attention to the problems they describe. Their challenges may reveal opportunities to explain how your expertise, skills and experience could contribute.

One of the greatest benefits of an informational interview is that it offers a more complete picture of your personality and working style than a CV, job application or social-media profile can provide. As the conversation develops, both participants can demonstrate how they approach problems, communicate ideas, collaborate and assess whether they would work well together.

When a genuine connection develops, trust and rapport can grow. The other person may begin to see you as someone who could add value to their research, organization or team. Although an informational interview is often initiated by someone seeking career advice, the best conversations work both ways. They allow the other person to experience your curiosity, initiative and collaborative approach. The long-term goal is to identify career, research or professional opportunities that you could explore together now or in the future.

These conversations can feel awkward at first. However, as I tell my career-coaching clients and explain in my book, Build a Unicorn Career, the more useful information you share during an informational interview, the more comfortable the conversation becomes. Openness also makes it easier to build a meaningful professional relationship.

How to Arrange an Informational Interview

Before contacting potential interviewees, identify the people whose experience and expertise align with your interests. Professional-association membership directories, boards of directors, department websites and staff pages can be useful starting points. Conference programmes and apps can also help you find speakers, poster presenters, exhibitors and attendees. Academic publications provide information about authors, collaborators and researchers cited in relevant work. Social-media platforms, particularly LinkedIn, are another valuable resource.

I refer to any channel that connects people with shared interests as a networking node. These nodes can provide a broad list of potential contacts as well as high-quality leads — people who share your research interests, background, professional goals or experiences.

Once you identify useful networking nodes, remember that much of your networking may take place online rather than in person. You might discover someone through a professional website, contact them by email and conduct the informational interview through Zoom, Microsoft Teams or WhatsApp.

In Build a Unicorn Career, I provide a template for the first message you can send when requesting an informational interview. Your message should include the following:

• Introduce yourself, including your educational background and current role, such as your Ph.D. position or postdoctoral appointment.

• Explain how you found the person and mention a specific aspect of their research, career or qualifications that interests you.

• Request only 15 minutes and respect the agreed time. A short meeting is more appealing and demonstrates consideration for the other person’s schedule.

• Describe the meeting as “informal”. This makes it clear that you are asking for a conversation rather than a formal job interview.

• Make scheduling easy by suggesting several dates and times in the person’s time zone or including a calendar-booking link.

The goal is not simply to send a message. You want to encourage the person to schedule a conversation with you. That is where the most valuable part of networking begins: discovering shared interests, learning about one another and developing a clearer understanding of each other’s skills and working styles.

It is also helpful to express an interest in contributing. You might offer to share a useful protocol, recommend a resource or explain a technique that has worked for you. This shows that you are not approaching the conversation only to gain something.

As an early-career researcher, you may not know what you can offer an established leader. Nevertheless, a sincere offer to help is often well received and can open a discussion about how you might contribute. Sometimes your contribution may be as simple as introducing the person to someone in your professional network.

What to Say During an Informational Interview

An informational interview should not feel like a job interview. Think of it as a two-way conversation in which you are getting to know each other. Ask thoughtful questions, listen carefully and share relevant information about yourself. Discussing your goals and experience is not bragging; it is a practical way to help both participants identify potential opportunities.

For example, you might say: “I would like to learn about the experiences you had outside the laboratory during your postdoctoral research that contributed to your success. I am writing a Substack newsletter about science communication and would value your advice on how this experience could support a career in the field.”

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Top tip: Personalize the conversation using information from the person’s CV, website or LinkedIn profile. If you share a connection — perhaps the same university, research area or professional association — mention it. If you notice that they mentor undergraduate students, ask what they have learned from that experience.

In Build a Unicorn Career, I provide a longer list of useful informational-interview questions. Here are some effective examples and why they work:

• “What do you enjoy most about your work?” This invites the person to discuss what motivates them and why they chose their field.

• “How did you find your way into this career, specialty or institution?” Their answer can help you understand the steps, decisions and experiences that shaped their career path.

• “What interesting challenges are you working on at the moment?” This demonstrates curiosity and may reveal ways in which your knowledge or skills could help.

• “How has your job, field or organization changed over the past few years?” This can highlight external pressures, emerging trends and developments to consider before pursuing a similar career.

• “Which conferences, professional associations and publications are important in this field?” This helps you identify the networks, resources and communities that support career growth.

• “Which experiences, areas of knowledge and leadership skills have helped you progress?” Their response can provide a roadmap for developing valuable abilities beyond your laboratory or current role.

How to Ask for Advice Without Asking for a Job

Asking for advice during an informational interview shows that you are being transparent about your goals. This form of networking is most effective when it creates value for both participants.

However, avoid asking directly for a job or making a similar immediate request. Doing so can make the conversation seem transactional and may suggest that you view the meeting as a one-time exchange rather than the beginning of a professional relationship or potential collaboration.

When making a request, strike a balance between being specific and keeping the conversation open. Explain that you are seeking information to help guide your professional development. You might ask which skills to develop, which resources to explore or which experiences would make you a stronger candidate for future opportunities.

A successful informational interview is not about extracting a favour. It is about building trust, exchanging useful perspectives and creating the foundation for a professional connection that may develop into mentorship, collaboration or a career opportunity over time.