Phillip Levine of "Ask The Expert" suggests that people who have been out looking for
jobs and have become so fearful of getting a "no" that they actually become paralyzed
can benefit from informational interviewing.
Informational interviews enable job-seekers to get in front of employers and regain
self-confidence as well. Levine notes that with informational interviewing you can’t
be rejected but you can learn a great deal.
He tells this story: "Caroline, a computer programmer client of mine had reached the
stage where she was going for interviews and expecting a 'no.' As a matter of fact,
she was now avoiding interviews if possible. She was becoming gun-shy. Forcing her
out to further interviews was not the answer. The rejections were affecting her
personal self-confidence and self-esteem. This is a situation in which job seekers
become frustrated and continue to heap more pressure on themselves for interviews --
and the more pressure they feel the less well they perform. It becomes a terrible
spiral.
"Caroline had to break out of this and so I suggested informational interviewing.
It was a method to stay in front of employers yet take the pressure off. Instead of
a strict and formal job interview she was now seeking informal discussions with
employers regarding job, company details and the types of people an employer looks
for. This process was helpful, to keep her moving forward.
"She was actually gaining more information, but in a very relaxed manner.
Instead of asking for a job in which case she might receive a rejection, she was
only seeking information about jobs. As a matter of fact, she was doing more of the
questioning and the employer was doing the answering. (If there was a job possibility
she could always go back later and formally apply.)
"The process didn’t directly result in a job for Caroline, but her self-confidence
returned. She gained contacts, which eventually turned into decent job leads."
