Think back to when you graduated from college or graduate school. You went to the career services office at your school, looking to get a job lead, and instead, the career advisor told you to network and do informational interviews. Informational interviews!?
“I’m looking for a job. . .I have school loans. . .Informational interviews? Are you serious!!??”
Informational interviews are those networking things, where you find someone who is doing something interesting with their life and you talk to them. It’s less about trying to immediately get a job and more about gathering and sharing information.
After college, I knew about informational interviews, but just couldn’t bring myself to do them. Maybe it was because of the informational nature of the interviews. I didn’t buy into the idea that making connections could help me. Maybe it’s because I’m an introvert and going out of my way to speak with total strangers scared me.
“Hi, you don’t know me. Why would you know me? I’m really nobody, and your schedule is probably already full. After talking to me for five minutes you’ll wonder why you wasted your time by agreeing to this meeting. Sorry for wasting your time”
Yeah, those are my fears and insecurities talking.
Let’s try it again. . .
“Hi, I’m Darren. You don’t know me, but I got your information from ________________, and I understand you are doing some awesome things in your job. I know you’re really busy, but I was wondering, if you might be able to spare some time to chat with me and answer some questions about what you do?”
Okay, that didn’t seem at all awkward at all. In fact, it was much easier than I could have ever imagined.
This past year, as part of a special small group (called “Threshold”) on life direction (an experience I will discuss in greater depth in the future), we were asked to do informational interviews.
Through this process, what I’ve come to realize is that informational interviews are less about being put on the spot or having the perfect question, and more about simply entering into a conversation with another person. I have a much greater appreciation for conversation these days.
You sit down with people and you share about your life and they share about their life. In the course of this conversation, you share a little about yourself, but perhaps more importantly you listen. You listen to someone sharing their passions, hopes and dreams with you.
The people I spoke to for my interviews were not impressive in a Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg kind of way. No incredibly rich, famous or successful people.
For my informational interviews I spoke with . . .
- An arts pastor at my church who wrote a play and blogged about the experience
- An administrator of an organization (and a blog) trying share faith with the secular world
- A woman who started a non-profit organization helping people find their life direction and who also wrote a memoir
- A science fiction writer and blogger who also teaches writing
- A man who opened up a home for Christians living in community, and who is writing a memoir
Through my interviews here is what I found. . .
- Generosity and kindness
- A willingness to sit with a total stranger and be honest
- Inspiration
- Encouragement
While these people were not incredibly famous or successful, they were nonetheless each remarkable in their own way. What I found were ordinary people living inspirational lives.
All of my worst fears were not realized, instead I found people who were generous with their time and kind with their replies. Never once did someone roll their eyes. There was not a single dismissive response. These people were humble, down to earth and honest. They were free with their advice and quick with an encouraging smile.
One of the more encouraging and surprising encounters involved Christopher, the arts pastor at my church. When I contacted Christopher, I wasn’t even looking to interview him. I had emailed him about wanting to connect to people attending our church who were also engaged in writing. I thought he might give me a name or two and send me on my way. Instead, Chris, starts talking about doing a writers lunch and getting a bunch of people together in a room to talk about writing.
As a result of this conversation, our church ends up hosting a writer’s lunch. Over twenty-five people ended up attending the lunch. We sat down, talked a little about our writing and shared our work with one another. It was a remarkable experience, and one which left me incredibly thankful to be at a place where my gifts and my dreams are encouraged. I had contacted Christopher with very modest expectations and those expectations were exceeded beyond anything I could have imagined.
What all of this taught me is how sometimes I look too far afield for inspiration. All around me are people who are doing amazing things. All around me are people who have leveraged their talent and their passion in impressive ways for God. They remind and show me how life is full of possibility. All it takes is a little courage and maybe an informational interview.

