Job Search · Networking
How to Ask for an Informational Interview
A networking guide for job seekers with informational interview scripts, LinkedIn outreach templates, follow-up messages, and referral tips.
Networking
How to Ask for an Informational Interview
Jan Tegze
45 pages
About This Guide
A clear system for the whole job search
Networking does not have to feel fake. A good informational interview is not asking someone for a job — it is asking for insight, advice, and perspective from someone who understands the role, company, or industry you are trying to enter.
This guide gives you a clear system for doing that well. You will learn how to define your goal before reaching out, identify better contacts on LinkedIn, use alumni networks and weak ties, write messages that sound specific, prepare thoughtful questions, and run a conversation without wasting the other person's time.
Inside, you will also find word-for-word outreach examples, follow-up templates, a question bank, relationship tracking ideas, referral guidance, and advice for harder situations — like searching discreetly while employed, being laid off, or explaining a non-linear career path.
What's Inside
Everything you need to stay on track
Word-for-word outreach
Copy-and-adapt messages for LinkedIn and email that sound specific and human instead of spammy.
Finding the right people
Identify better contacts using alumni networks, weak ties, and smarter LinkedIn searches.
Question bank
Prepare thoughtful questions so you sound like a peer in the conversation, not an interrogator.
Follow-up system
Templates and timing that keep the relationship alive long after the first conversation.
Across borders and cultures
Guidance for informational interviews in different countries and cultural norms.
Harder cases covered
Scripts for staying discreet while employed, reaching out after a layoff, or explaining a non-linear path.
Table of Contents
What the 45 pages cover
- Introduction: The Conversation That Changed Everything
- Chapter 1: What You Are Actually Trying to Accomplish
- Chapter 2: Finding the Right People to Talk To
- Chapter 3: Writing Outreach That Actually Gets a Response
- Chapter 4: Preparing for the Conversation So You Sound Like a Peer
- Chapter 5: Running the Conversation
- Chapter 6: The Follow-Up System That Keeps the Relationship Alive
- Chapter 7: Informational Interviews Across Borders and Cultures
- Chapter 8: Special Situations and Harder Cases
- Chapter 9: Turning Informational Interviews Into Real Opportunities
Who It's For
This guide is for you if you are…
- Job seekers and career changers breaking into a new role, company, or industry
- Students and graduates building their first professional network
- Mid-career professionals restarting their networking after years heads-down
- Anyone who wants to access opportunities through conversations, not just applications
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Turn conversations into opportunities.
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