Informational Interviews and Building Your Professional Network

Talking to strangers to get advice can sound intimidating, but more often than not, professionals are eager to share their experiences and help a fellow scientist. After all, they were in your shoes once!

 

Uncomfortable in networking situations?

Watch our five-part video series, Mastering the Discomfort of Networking, to build the confidence and learn the skills for approaching any networking conversation.

networking video series

 

Ground rules for contacting professionals

Do: Make your request brief—the reader should be able to read and respond to it in 2 minutes.

Avoid: Including too much background information about yourself in the request, making it take too long to read.

Do: State your connection early on.

  • "I saw that you were also in the Neuroscience Program at UCSF. I'm currently wrapping up my 5th year in the program."
  • "I noticed we are both connected to A. How do you know them? I first met A at Z."
  • "It was great meeting you at Z. I enjoyed our conversation about X, and appreciated your ideas about Y."

Avoid: Leading with a generic and impersonal opener.

Do: Be specific about your request.

  • "I'd like to learn more about your transition into medical writing after completing your PhD."
  • "I read your LinkedIn and am curious about your experience working at a start-up and big pharma."

Avoid: Using the less-specific "Can we talk?"

Do: Offer several times to chat in person or over the phone, and include how much time you are asking them for.

  • "Do you have 30 minutes next week for a coffee chat? A Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon would be great, but feel free to let me know what time works best for you."
  • "Would you be open to a 20-minute Zoom call sometime next week?"

Avoid: Being vague about the time and energy you're asking from them.

Preparing for an informational interview
Samples and strategies for following up after the conversation
Resources for making connections
  • Use LinkedIn to build your network by connecting with professionals in career paths or organizations of interest. Often you can do this through an already shared contact.
  • Join a professional society and attend their events to make connections with professionals with common interests and goals. For ideas on professional societies to join, check out our career paths pages. Find the career type you're interested in and look under "Find your community."
  • Volunteer at conferences
Networking Tips