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Informational interviews are a key tactic to a successful job search and career transition. They:

• Provide a wealth of information about what it is like to work for a potential employer.
• Are direct paths to the hidden job market.
• Help us expand our networks and improve our networking skills.

How we conduct the informational interview—from the questions we ask, to how actively we listen, to the action we take as a result—is important for making the most of this opportunity.

Instead of: Hoping you do well or deciding to wing your informational interview....

Try: Preparing, using active listening skills, and making decisive next steps.

1. Start with someone who is easy to talk to. To practice informational interviewing, identify someone you can easily talk to. This could be a neighbor who works at a company you have always been curious about. It could be a parent on your daughter’s softball team who works in Human Resources. It could be a leader in your community who works in Marketing at a nonprofit. Choosing someone you feel comfortable speaking with also increases the chances they will say “yes” to your request for an informational interview.
2. Ask for the interview and provide the reason. A brief email can lock in your interview by making it easy for them to say yes: “Hi David, it was great seeing you at the BBQ! It was so nice that so many neighbors could make it. I would love to ask you more about your career and your role in marketing at (x organization). I am searching for a new position (or, I am making a career transition) and I am really curious about your organization and what you do there as I think about my next career move. Are you available on Tuesday at 12PM?”
3. Prepare thoughtful questions. Open-ended questions are a great way to gather important information when conducting your interview. Below are three questions that can help you learn more about your interviewee and the role they play at their organization, and provide you with feedback or advice from the individual:
   1. Tell me about what you do in your role as (x)?
   2. What is the best part about working for your organization?
   3. What feedback or advice do you have for me on how to apply to your organization if I see an opening?
4. Listen (actively) to the information you are collecting: Your active listening skills will provide you with invaluable data as you listen without interrupting and demonstrate your ability to reflect back what you heard as you conduct your interview. Actively listening to the information being shared also enables you to listen for cues so you delve into an answer further. The best part of active listening is that your interviewee feels heard – and valued. For example, “That is great to hear you feel so aligned with your company’s values and that you have an employee referral program! I am also really excited to hear that your organization does so much community work and has a focus on work/life balance for employees, which are things I am looking for in a potential employer.”
5. Take ACTION. Taking action after conducting a successful informational interview is twofold. The first part is formulating a decisive next step with your interviewee. For example: “Could I send you my resume and cover letter to pass along through your employee referral program?” Part two is ENSURING your interviewee knows HOW they helped. For example: “David, I really appreciate your time. I now have a really great understanding of your company culture and what you love about (x organization). The information you provided is very valuable as I look for my next opportunity. Thank you for the offer to send my resume and cover letter through your employee referral system when I see a job opening I am interested in.” Providing this key feedback to your interviewee allows them to feel as good as you do about how you (both) did.

Informational interviews help us make important career decisions with greater clarity, especially when we are job searching or want to move our careers in an entirely different direction. Preparing well for an informational interview, employing active listening skills, and sharing feedback with your interviewee on how they helped are key to taking a decisive next step, which just might be identifying who you will interview – next!

Whether you know it or not, YOU are a brand, and your brand is out there. It is found in what you have written and shared about yourself, from your resume, to your LinkedIn profile, to what you post on your social media platforms.

Learning how to build and communicate your brand allows you to drive your career with greater confidence and enjoy greater professional and personal success.

If you are having trouble shaping your brand and getting clear on how others are receiving it, asking people for help is a great way to start.

Instead of: Treating your resume and LinkedIn profile like a career laundry list....

Try: Infusing both with your personal brand and asking other people for input.

1. Look at your resume and LinkedIn profile with fresh eyes. Take 10 minutes to read your resume and LinkedIn profile. How confident are you about these go-to marketing materials? Do they really sound like you and reflect who you are professionally? However you feel (e.g. deflated, assured, or wondering just who IS this person??) know that it is tough writing about your unique set of skills and experiences, especially if it’s been years since you have revisited your resume. Reading what you wrote about yourself – however long ago – is not an easy task but is essential to understanding what your resume and LinkedIn profile are saying about your brand, and what action you need to take.
2. Determine what stood out. What jumped out to you after you read these through? For example, your resume might need updating since your current position isn’t listed, or you noticed that you are using more cliché buzzwords than keywords to accurately portray your skills. Or, maybe your resume is missing key accomplishments. Your LinkedIn profile might be incomplete, or, you have concluded you need to figure out how to write a winning headline. You now have assessed both how you feel about your portrayal of your career history and what needs work.
3. Collect information on how others see you. This step is NOT about asking: “Can you critique my resume and LinkedIn profile?” This can result in the gathering of large amounts of information from varying viewpoints, and potentially make things even more confusing.

   Instead, do this: Identify three people you trust and ask this question: “What do you take away when you read my resume and my LinkedIn profile?” Let these trusted individuals provide feedback based on this open-ended question. Take notes as you listen, and determine if it’s mismatching or is in line with what you have assessed about your brand. Gathering other people’s feedback about your LinkedIn profile and resume is great intel, since it arms us with words we can use to better describe ourselves, and others might remember something you accomplished or a skill you have that you have omitted that you can now include.

4. Take action. Now is the time for action. For example, you might ask one of these same people to write a recommendation for your LinkedIn profile. You might have more words that accurately represent your brand since you have taken notes from listening to what trusted individuals have shared about you. For example, instead of using words like “hardworking” or “dedicated” or “experienced” you might now be armed with new words that are a much better fit – and represent your brand – like “proficient” or “resourceful” or “entrepreneurial.” You might have been reminded of an accomplishment that is not on your resume.

Your resume and LinkedIn profile are always a work in progress – as is your brand. Whether you are job hunting or happy working for your wonderful employer, it’s always important to understand how you are representing yourself. Getting clear on how others are receiving your brand by asking for help is a great tactic to ensuring your go-to marketing materials sound like you.

If you have ever thought “I would love to make a big career move!” you are not alone. What often comes next, however, is: “I could never do it, though.”

But….what if you did?

Taking a big career leap (BCL) is not the same thing as other professional goals such as aiming to meet your annual performance metrics, or challenging yourself to go to more networking events, or, give more regular feedback to your team members.

Taking a big leap is life changing. It can be daunting. You might not know where to start. You might be unsure if you have the resources. It might not be the right time in your life.

But with exploring and moving it forward bit by bit – it just MIGHT be possible.

Instead of: Shelving your BCL because the timing is wrong, you will fail, or the best one: “What will people think!?” ....

Try: Exploring your BCL – and then decide if it can be done.

1. Name it. Write it down. Say it out loud. Give your BCL room to stay. To take up space. Not shooing it away mentally is going to help you keep your dream present and make you more comfortable with the idea. AND keep that exciting energy – the hope of possibility – alive with it.
2. Deliberately explore it. I had a coaching client who hired me to help with making a BCL, which, in her case, meant leaving corporate life to start her own business. We spent our initial sessions exploring: What services would she be offering? How would she get her first client? What would she name her company? What would her pitch be to potential clients? What was her timeline? Staying in this deliberate exploration phase brought to life not only what was possible, but what she had already been imagining.
3. Identify what you have learned. This step is important. For my client, a key takeaway was that she didn’t have some of the information she would need to make her BCL. For example, she needed to ensure that she would not be required to sign a non-compete agreement if she left her company, which might inhibit her from getting the client she had identified in the exploration phase.
4. Challenge yourself. After taking the time to stay with your BCL, keeping it present and exploring the possibility of it, it’s time to move forward. Take one action. ONE step in the direction of that leap. For my client, one next step was to write the home page of her website and find someone to design her logo. Whatever the next step is, no matter how small, take it. The important thing is to DO IT.
5. You get to decide. You have cleared a path and can see your BCL very well be may be possible. And not as scary or as challenging as you originally thought. It takes time, clarity, and a lot of mental strength to really go for that next big move with your career. The good news is always this: your career is yours, and no one else’s. It’s for you to forge, be creative with, and take it to new heights – if you want to and when you’re ready. You know better than anyone else if the leap is right, or, right for you right now.

We can build our professional careers in a series of small moves or in one big leap, like my client who started her own business. If you are considering a big leap – go for it. Don’t shrink from it. It may be much more possible than you ever thought.

And my client? Well, she started her new business so quickly after we started working together even I was surprised! But, it told me how ready she was to take that BCL all along.

Developing self-confidence is not an easy task, especially when it comes to our careers.

When we are applauded for the assignment we did well, the client we made happy, or the job we successfully won, it makes us feel really good about ourselves. When others see and note our good work and success, it feels even better. That’s called external validation.

But how do we do this for ourselves?

Instead of: Your confidence being bolstered only by what others think and say about you…

Try: Looking inward to grow your self-confidence – on your own.

1. You did a great job: Own the moment. If you have ever done a great job on something -- from meeting a tight deadline, to launching a brand-new initiative, to getting your kids to school equipped with everything they need AND making it to work on time (yes, this counts as a great job!) -- you know that certainty that reverberates from within. It’s a moment in time where we feel our feet planted firmly on the ground, our head clear with the knowledge that we knocked it out of the park, and we KNOW we are simply the best and the sky’s the limit. Take time to write this down: What does this feel like? How did you get to this amazing place of confidence and certainty? What does it make you feel like doing NEXT? Own this moment and bask in it: You made this happen, no one else.

2. You nailed that presentation: Celebrate how YOU choose to! You just aced that presentation in front of your boss after hours of preparation and practice. You are amazing and you can do anything! Instead of waiting for others to celebrate, take time to do this for yourself in the way that feels meaningful to you. Do you want to be with friends? Hang out with colleagues? Go to the gym? Celebrate with a good meal, a shopping spree, extra time with your family or your pet? Steering the celebration will give you a sense of ownership over the accomplishment, which will do wonders for your self-confidence.

3. You just won the job: Keep that momentum going! Congratulations! You have so many people waiting to hear if you got the offer, accepted the offer, when you will start, what perks come with it, and so on. This is a great time to keep the momentum going that you have already generated from all of those interviews, follow-up conversations, assessments you took, negotiations you took part in….don’t let it flame out.

Start evaluating short term goals or the problems to solve that you discussed with your manager during your interview. Make a list of who you want to meet and network with in your new role. Look more deeply at things within the company that interest you and decide how you will act on them, from diversity programming to community involvement to leadership opportunities. Now is the time for you to keep building on what you won. That boost of confidence comes from not just winning the job, but from recognizing all you will contribute to your new employer.

Confidence can come easily when others validate us for what we are doing well. This is so true when it comes to our careers. But lasting self-confidence is found inward, if only we take credit for all that we do well, the achievements we accrue, and knowing that WE made them happen … not someone else.

Why look to someone else for their vote of confidence when you can look right within YOU?