A job title can sound appealing while revealing very little about an ordinary Tuesday. An informational interview gives you a chance to ask someone who does the work what their days actually contain.
It is a learning conversation, not a recruitment interview. CareerOneStop’s guidance makes that distinction explicit: the purpose is to understand a field or organisation through someone’s experience, rather than to seek an immediate job offer. Its page is aimed at military transition, but the basic conversation format can help other career changers too.
Make the request easy to understand
Explain what you are exploring, why their experience is relevant and how much time you are requesting. Keep the scope modest. “I’m comparing two possible career directions and would value a short conversation about your day-to-day work” is clearer than a broad request to become your mentor.
Respect a refusal or a lack of response. Do not repeatedly contact someone through different channels to obtain a conversation they have not agreed to have.
Ask for an example of the working day
Instead of “Do you like your job?”, ask what tasks occupied them yesterday or what a typical project requires. Follow up on the balance between meetings, individual work, customer contact and administration. A specific account gives you more to compare with your own preferences.
Ask which parts surprised them when they entered the field. The answer may reveal work that rarely appears in promotional descriptions or job titles.
Explore the route in without assuming it is universal
Ask how they entered the role, then distinguish their personal route from the requirements employers use now. Qualifications, local licensing and hiring practices may vary. Verify any requirement through current official or employer information before paying for training.
A useful follow-up is: “Which skills would you expect a newcomer to demonstrate, and how might they show them?” That can reveal a practical next research step without asking the person to design your entire career plan.
Make room for trade-offs
Ask what makes the work difficult, what varies between employers and which expectations newcomers often misunderstand. You are not collecting reasons to reject the field; you are trying to replace an idealised picture with a more complete one.
Keep questions respectful and avoid pressing for confidential pay details, client information or internal disputes. If discussing compensation, ask where reliable market information can be found rather than expecting someone to disclose their own arrangements.
Review what you learned before making a decision
After the conversation, separate three things in your notes: what the person described, what you inferred and what you still need to verify. One person’s experience is valuable, but it is not a representative survey of an occupation.
Compare it with another perspective and a current role description. Perhaps you learned that the work involves more documentation than you expected, or that a particular qualification needs further checking. Turn that into a specific next step.
If you follow up, keep it brief and appropriate to the conversation. An informational interview has succeeded when you understand the work more clearly, even if the conclusion is that a different direction deserves your attention.