Career coaches like me will tell you that informational interviews are great tools for people in transition in mid-career, maybe in your 30’s or 40’s? And just getting started after college, in your 20’s? I realized recently that my first informational interview was when I was FIVE! Yeah, five years old.
My oldest cousin was ten years my senior. Richard was 15 when I was five. The first house we lived in was about two miles from my cousin Richard’s house. Richard would ride his bike over to our house to hang out with my younger brother and me. And whenever he arrived, we had the questions, LOTS of questions.
‘What’s it like to ride a bike in the street?’ (All we could muster were tricycles on the sidewalk.) ‘It’s fun.’ ‘How do you make it across those big streets?’ ‘Just follow the lights.’
‘What’s it like to go to school?’ ‘It’s okay. I like hanging out with my friends.’
‘Who’s your favorite baseball player?’ ‘I don’t have one. I like Elvis Presley.’
He answered our questions with natural sincerity and a quiet sense of humor. And thinking back on it now, he really enjoyed our questions.
Not every informational interview you do will be that fun, or could it be?!
Do you remember being five years old, how many questions YOU had? That is precisely the mindset, the posture, the demeanor you need to do a really good informational interview.
When you burn with curiosity, when you have a passion for something that someone already does, you become a very interesting person for that someone to meet, you offer them a flattering and engaging conversation. And when you connect with someone and they share valuable information, you’re on your way!
Like I was on my way to riding a bike in the street, going to school, and falling in love with Rock ‘n Roll, only with me, it turned out to be the Beatles.