Teachers in Transition - Episode 107 - How to Set Up Informational Interviews

Informational interviews are a great way to learn about jobs you may be interested in, as well as what it is like to work for a particular company or in a particular industry. In this episode, Kitty talks about the best strategy for setting up and executing an informational interview as part of the job search process.

To reach out to Kitty, email her at kittyboitnott@gmail.com.  Check out her website at https://teachersintransition.com/, and to set up a complimentary Discovery Session, go to https://teachersintransition.com/calendar.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Are you a teacher who's feeling stressed out and overwhelmed. Do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing some other kind of job or perhaps pursuing a whole different career, but you don't know what else you're even qualified to do. You don't know how to start a job search. You just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you're not alone. My name is kitty Boitnott. I'm a career transition and job search coach. And I specialize in helping burn out teachers disliking deal, not only with the stress and overwhelm of your day-to-day job, but to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you to join me for teachers in transition. In some episodes, I'll be speaking to stress management techniques and how you can manage your stress on a day to day basis. In other episodes, I'll be talking about career transition. What tools do you need to be successful in a job search when you're moving from one career into a totally different track. These are questions that you need answers to, and I can help you find those answers. My name is kitty. Boitnott welcome to teachers and transition.

Speaker 2: 1:27

Welcome to episode 107 of teachers in transition the podcast and the YouTube channel. My name is Katie Boitnott. I am the owner of botnet coaching and the founder of teachers and transition. If you have listened to this podcast or watched my YouTube channel in the past, you will already know that I alternate topics each week. One week, I talk about stress management strategies because I'm a certified stress management coach. And on alternating weeks, I talked about career transition strategies because I am a inexperienced and trained career transition and job search coach specializing in working with teachers who are burnt out and ready to leave the classroom for another kind of endeavor professional endeavor. This week, the topic is career transition. And I want to talk a little bit about how to best go about setting up a job inter informational interview. I'll get it out in a second informational interview. Now, in case you're not familiar with that term, informational interview is not an interview where you're being interviewed for a new job. That's not what an informational interview is. And I almost wish there was a different term for it because it's misleading a little bit, but an informational interview is where you ask someone who is working in the industry that you're interested in, or has the job that you're interested in learning more about and thinking that you might want to transition to, and you don't know enough about the job or the industry or the company to, to have a good notion of whether it really is something you want to pursue. We're not. So the informational interview is something you set up with someone who's already doing that job already working in that industry already working for the company or organization that you're interested in pursuing. And you want to interview them barn from them. How did they get started? What kind of training did they need? Do they really like the work or is it a total bore? What is it like to work for that company? What is the culture? What are the people like? What is, what are the expectations? What are the, what do they see as the trend for the future? And then industry that's what an informational interview is. You're interviewing someone who's already in the position or working for the company that you're interested in. And the purpose of the informational interview is to give you more information about whether or not it is the kind of job that you would truly be interested in pursuing or the company is the kind of company you would truly be interested in working for, or whether the industry has a, a projection that makes it make sense for you to go into that particular line of work. An informational interview can be extremely, really helpful, and it is forms your decision-making processes. You weigh the pros and cons of a particular kind of job or a particular company or industry. So that's what an informational interview is now. How do you set them up and who do you set them up with in general? You're going to be setting them up with people you don't know. I mean, you might have an opportunity if you have a, a friend or a family member who works for a company that you're interested in, in, uh, another field, you know, a particular kind of job, you could ask them for an introduction. That's one way to do it. So take advantage of your own network, for sure. So that you are using the resources that are available to you, but more than likely, most of your informational interviews are going to come through LinkedIn. And there's probably several steps you might need to take in order to get the informational interview set up. And one of those things that you need to do is just first just create a connection and depending on how well you're connected on LinkedIn, some of these people may be second tier connections, or they may be third tier connections as opposed to first tier. So first of all, you want to get them into your LinkedIn network. So whether they're a second tier or third tier connections, you want to send them a customized message, asking them to please become part of your LinkedIn network. Now, the customized message can be very simple, but it should be personalized. Hey, Sue, I see that you've been working for such and such a company, um, as a fill in the blank of the kind of position that they are working in, that you're interested in. And then simply I'd love to add you to my LinkedIn network, sign it, send it, send it to a bunch of people send, you know, you you're you'd need to be building your LinkedIn network anyway, if you're job hunting. So send those connection requests to as many people as you can, keeping in mind that you need to be strategic about it only invite the people that you know are working in the industry that you're interested in or working for the company that you'd like to work for, or have the kind of job you think you would be interested in that send out a bunch of those invitations, all customized and personalized don't be hurt if they don't all respond because frankly, um, they may not all respond. And that's okay. What you want to do is collect the ones that do respond. The reason people don't respond. As many as you know, there are people, some people don't check their LinkedIn profiles or their messages that often. And some people are leery of accepting invitations from people they don't know, frankly, I've stopped connecting with people who are only business to business B to B type connections. And I know that at the end of the day, they want to sell me something. So, you know, I get messages from people who help coaches do any number of things and I've stopped. I've just stopped connecting with them because inevitably the next message I get is, Hey, I've got a program. I think you'd enjoy, Hey, look at this webinar. Hey, you know, I've got, I want to, I want to sell you something. So I'm only accepting invitations from teachers who send me an invitation to connect on LinkedIn. And if you ask somebody who's been inundated with requests to connect, they may not accept your request. It's not personal. So don't take it personally. But as people do accept your request, then you want to follow up with, thank you. Another message. Thank you so much for connecting with me. I really look forward to creating a relationship you're on LinkedIn and you might send them an article. You know, here's an article about something that I think you'd be interested in and depending on what they do, if you can find a link to an article that they might find of interest, send it to them. That's part of what LinkedIn is about as creating rapport and relationships. Even though they're with people that we don't otherwise know, then after a few days, maybe they'll send you a, Hey, thank you. I appreciate it. It was really interesting article, or maybe they don't respond, but either way you want to write them at some point, not immediately, maybe, but after a week or so and say, Hey Bob, Hey, Sue, uh, I'm really interested in how you got to do the work that you're currently doing. Would you be willing to give me 10 minutes of your time so that I could ask you some questions about how you got started in that line of work? Can't buy you a cup of coffee, but I'll send you a$10 Starbucks card. Now you don't have to send them a$10 Starbucks card, but you do kind of want to make it worth their while. So that's not, or maybe a fun, maybe a$5 Starbucks card that would, that would buy them a coffee. And normally in normal times when we could meet for coffee, that would be generally where an informational interview would take place. In this day and age, we can't meet for coffee as easily as we used to. So meeting virtually over zoom is the best alternative, but I'd offer something as an incentive and explain why you want to talk to them and keep the timeframe limited 10 minutes, 15 minutes tops. The thing about an informational interview is if you strike up a rapport and you really hit it off and they don't seem to be pressed for time, you may wind up going well beyond the 10 or 15 minutes, but don't ask them for more than 10 or 15 minutes. And if they tell you that they have a hard stop at the end of the 10 minutes, don't be upset about that. Be sure that you've gotten in as many of your questions as you can. So when you're interviewing these people, asking them about the kind of work they do, or the company they work for, or the industry that they are engaged in, you need to be prepared with a bunch of questions so that you're not wasting your time or that time. So I backed it up so prepared to ask them as many questions as you can get in and 10 minutes. And if they, like I said, if they seem pressed for time, then you move on, find something you'll, you'll have someone else to interview, but put you want to do is over overstay, your welcome. You don't want to impose on them. That will send the wrong message and leave a sour taste in their mouth. So as you wind up the interview, be sure to thank them for few sleep for their time. If you have offered an incentive, get their address so you can send it to them promptly as a thank you do, send a thank you note and thank them for their time, their insights, all of the information that they shared with you. Now, you want to set up several of these with different people, because each one is going to have a different perspective, a different background, a different story to share that will help to fill in the blanks of what you don't know about a particular job or company or industry. So you are building your treasure trove of information about the job, the company, or the industry, so that you can make an informed decision about whether it's a job you really want to pursue or not. If you're position of already wanting out of one job, you don't want to make the mistake jumping into a job that you're not going to. Like, you want to make an informed, educated decision about what you pursue next. And this is part of the process setting up informational interviews. Now, if it goes, if everything goes as well as it possibly could, it could lead to, Hey, you know, there's a job coming up in our company. You seem like you'd be a good fit. Send me your resume and I'll, I'll pass it on to the HR director. That would be the best of all outcomes, but don't offer your resume unless they ask for it. You're only asking for information. You're only asking for 10 minutes or 15 minutes of their time. Don't presume anything. And certainly don't send them your resume. But if they ask for it, go for it. I had a client who recently had an informational interview with someone at the school that she was interested in working for as an administrative assistant. And she found out sure enough, there was an opening and the individual offered to take her resume. So you never know how those conversations might go, but don't assume. And don't prison. Just go with the flow and let it unfold. Naturally, as you ask your questions and make sure they're good questions, don't waste, anyone's time with frivolous questions that you can easily find online. You're looking to find out about them, their story. What did they need to do to get that job that they're in? What kind of training did they need? How did they get that particular job? What was the process that they used? So informational interviews can be extremely useful as you transitioned from one job to another. Don't overlook the power that they may offer and the information that you may glean about the job or the company or the industry, so that as you're making your decision, you're making smart decisions and you have all the information you need at hand. So that's it for today. That's what I can say about informational interviews. If you have questions, email me@kittyboitnottatgmail.com as always please review this podcast or the YouTube channel so that other people can find it. And send me a questions. If you have topics that you'd like me to cover in the future, I'd be happy to hear from you. This is Katie Boynton out of teachers and transition have a wonderful week, stay safe and be well. So there you have it. An episode

Speaker 1: 17:50

Of teachers in transition. I hope you enjoy the information and I hope you'll plan to come back. Please subscribe to teachers in transition so that you can be alerted of future episodes. And let me know if you have any questions or topics that you would like me to specifically cover in a future episode, I'm more than happy to help with individual questions as well. So email me at kitty, not@boitnottcoaching.com. If you are interested in finding a new career or just enjoying your life more, this is the place to start. I'm Katie Boitnott and this is teachers in transition.