Informational Interviews for Transitioning Military

Informational Interviews for Transitioning Military

As you prepare to transition from the military, you have a unique opportunity to choose your next career. Even if you enjoy your occupation in the military AND it translates well into the civilian world, it's important to examine the available options in advance, so that you can chart the course ahead.

Choices

The military provides many supports than those that are available to the average person who's considering a career change. These programs vary widely, including everything from government programs like the GI Bill, SkillBridge, free certification, and mentoring programs. Together, these offerings allow unique opportunities to explore, study, and prepare for a new post-military career, but the only way to know whether a particular career, organization, or industry is a good fit for you is to talk with people who are in those roles.

What are Informational Interviews?

Simply put, an informational interview is a conversation with an experienced person who is working in your field of interest. Generally, these conversations are brief (15-60 minutes), using a script of several prepared questions specifically developed to quickly learn as much as possible about the role, the industry, and the incumbent's organization.

Plan to have more of these conversations than you might imagine, with 30 being a good target. Depending on your situation and how many options you eliminate in the process, you may need to do many more!

How Do You Find Interviewees?

To start, focus on finding veterans who have transitioned into fields you're considering. They will have the most relevant advice having previously completed the transition journey to those careers.

Additional candidates for informational interviews can be found through your network of personal and professional contacts of people you already know. Those direct contacts may introduce or refer you to still more professionals from their own networks. By researching companies online and through networking on LinkedIn and elsewhere, you'll begin to identify more potential candidates to interview.

Requesting Informational Interviews

When requesting an Informational Interview, clarify that your purpose is to learn more about their field, industry, and organization, so that you can make an informed decision about career choices and adequately prepare for your military career transition journey.

Suggestions for your interview request:

• Communicate your proposed time frame for the interview (e.g. next two weeks)
• Ask about their availability to schedule the conversation
• Request a time frame for the conversation (15, 30, 60 minutes)
• Suggest the meeting place (virtual platform, phone, or a mutually convenient location)
• Thank them for considering your request

If the person does not respond within a few weeks, it's probably safe to assume they don't have time, unless they were directly referred to you by someone you know. In that case, a follow-up call may be appropriate.

The Interview

Once you've arranged the meeting, doing your research on the interviewee, their industry, and organization in advance will allow you to get the most out of the conversation, while presenting yourself as an informed interviewer.

As with any other professional meeting, be punctual, respecting the other person's time; be prepared to take notes, and come armed with your carefully selected list of questions. Start the conversation by briefly introducing yourself, but keep the overall focus on them. You are there to gather information and learn. Do not ask for a job!

Based upon your preparation, tailor questions which may center around topics such as:

• What attracted them to this field
• How their military experience prepared them for this career
• What their typical day is like
• What their greatest challenges are
• What they love about their work, organization, and industry
• Recommendations for entry into the field (certifications, training, education, internships)

Near the close of the discussion, ask if there's anyone else they recommend you speak with. This critical step builds your network and maintains your pipeline of potential candidates to interview. Wrap up the conversation by thanking them for their time and generosity.

After the Interview

Your interview may yield action items. Be sure to follow-up on any suggested activities, such as reviewing a website, reading an article or book, or contacting someone else. Follow-up with a thank you email and again later with the results of any recommended tasking, as needed.

Benefits

After doing multiple informational interviews, you will quickly develop a sense of which careers, industries, and organizations are a good fit for you. Depending on the rapport that's created during the conversation, a few of your interviewees may become mentors who may eventually recommend you for job openings within their organizations.

Employers take employee referrals seriously, often paying generous referral bonuses for successful placements because hiring is faster, costs less, and retention is higher.

As an added bonus from your efforts, you'll be building your professional network and leveraging your growing understanding of your chosen field and industry, making you an outstanding candidate when you are ready to interview for positions. Best of all, you'll have much more certainty that the career choice you make will be the right one for you and your family!

Summary

Informational interviews are a useful mechanism for doing in-depth career exploration, building industry knowledge, and learning about organizations. For transitioning military, these conversations often provide valued insight into civilian careers that cannot be accessed elsewhere.