Turning a Classic Networking Tactic Into A Job Lead

More than a decade after the convenience of online fact gathering caused the informational interview to fade, a new generation of job seekers is rediscovering the networking tactic.

Ethan Harkleroad, a recent accounting graduate of the University of San Diego, has used informational interviews to decide on a career, secure four internships, and establish contacts with mentors.

In their most basic form, informational interviews establish contacts to subject-matter experts such as CFOs, professors, or authors, and provide answers to career- or work-related questions. The interviewer seeks and arranges the contacts and comes up with and asks the questions out of curiosity, not to apply for a job. Informational interviews usually last 30—60 minutes.

Before digital search tools such as Glassdoor, Google, and LinkedIn, informational interviews were the best way for job seekers to get a taste of what it would be like to work for different accounting firms and industries, start a rapport with company executives, and build on contacts should a job opening come up.

Millennials are learning that informational interviews are still valuable in a digital world. Harkleroad said that the information he gets from those he talks to is more valuable than what he can find online.

“You learn about their experiences, their challenges, and what they would do differently,” he said. “Every time I go to one of these interviews I get way more than I bargained for.”

A CLASSIC NETWORKING TACTIC WITH A DIGITAL TWIST

Harkleroad shares his penchant for informational interviews with other accounting graduates and, as research by accounting and finance staffing firm Accountemps suggests, other Millennials. Young professionals are resurrecting the networking technique with a digital-native twist. They research and connect with executives through, for example, LinkedIn, and may conduct the interview over Skype or FaceTime, said Bill Driscoll, Accountemps district president.

Thirty-six percent of the more than 2,200 CFOs Accountemps polled in large U.S. metropolitan areas said informational interviews are much more common today than 10 years ago. About one-third of the respondents said they get requests for informational interviews at least once per month.

Asking for and scheduling informational interviews makes a lot of sense for college students who, like Harkleroad, are at the beginning of their careers. But what about accountants who have worked in the profession for a while?

INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS WORK FOR CPAs WITH EXPERIENCE

Mark Astrinos, CPA/PFS, has worked as an accountant in the San Francisco area for about a decade, first in auditing and consulting, then in tax and compliance, and now as a financial planner for high-wealth individuals in Silicon Valley.

“Every time I made a career change, I would take as many people out to lunch as I could and pick their brains,” he said. “It was scary to make these changes. The advice I received was very helpful.”

People he asks to talk to are generally happy to spend a half-hour or an hour answering his questions, he said. Most recently he interviewed a financial planning expert, who’s also an author and had written an intriguing article. To schedule an informational interview, Astrinos asked a friend to introduce him to somebody who worked at the same organization as the author. Within a week, the author emailed him to set up a time for a 20-minute phone call.

Informational interviews also remain a good way to impress an executive and develop a job lead, the survey found. Eighty-four percent of the CFOs Accountemps polled said they would probably alert someone who impressed them in an informational interview about a job opening.