It is useful when members are unsure of what they want to do, when they don't know who does what they want to do, or when they know what you want to do and want to figure out how to get there. An informational interview is a meeting with someone who can give them more information about their career or life journey. This is different from a job interview. At an informational interview, members try to find out how people first started doing the work they do, what they had to do to get the job, whether they like what they do and why, and what skills or qualities are necessary to be successful in their line of work. Encourage your members to arrange informational interviews with people who do something they want to do some day, professors or students at a school they're interested in, someone who has started or coordinated a project in which they're interested, or people who are passionate about their work.
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Let your member know that if they go into an informational interview specifically to get a job, they will lose out on the opportunity to gain insightful information that may help on their life journey. Show them that becoming clear about what they want in the long-term will help them choose work now that will lead them in that direction. They need to persist in job searching until finding something they really want to do. Considerations and Tips for informational interviews to share with members Practice informational interviews start by role-playing with a friend, and build up to an interview with an acquaintance about a mutual interest. Go to the interview prepared with questions to guide the conversation so you are able to gather the information you need.