What Is an Informational Interview?
When you apply for a job, especially at a big company, your resume is often screened by the human resources department. After the human resources staffer checks out your resume and cover letter she decides whether you might be a fit for the job and whether to pass you along to the person actually doing the hiring.
Occasionally someone in human resources will come across a resume of a candidate that sounds promising and invite that candidate in, even though she doesn’t have an open position or the position that was open has been filled. That invite is for an informational interview, which is designed to allow human resources staffers to get to know a candidate better and offer the candidate more information about a company.
What’s the Value of an Informational Interview?
Although an informational interview won’t immediately result in a job, it's a great way to get you noticed for a future position. If you make a good impression on a human resources staffer during an informational interview, you’ll likely be kept in mind as a candidate when a job does open up.
The other good thing about informational interviews is that you can learn more about the company. Although you might not think that’s important -- it is. Knowing more about a company you potentially want to work for can help you learn about divisions you might not have known about -- divisions where there might be jobs that interest you -- and make you more informed for an actual interview.