---
name: request-an-informational-interview
category: get-hired
description: Ask for a bounded career conversation with specific context and an easy way to decline. Use when someone wants to learn from another person's experience without disguising a job or referral request.
---

# request-an-informational-interview

## Procedure

1. Confirm why this person is relevant using current public or directly shared information.
2. Define the learning goal and ensure it is not available through basic research.
3. Choose an appropriate relationship path, channel, timing, and mutual connection disclosure.
4. Write a short message with truthful context, a specific reason, and a fifteen-to-twenty-minute request.
5. Offer a few flexible windows or let the recipient suggest a format.
6. Make declining or not replying easy and state that no job or referral is expected.
7. Check names, role, organization, links, privacy, and tone before sending.
8. Send one considerate follow-up if appropriate, then stop.

## Guardrails

- Do not mass-personalize, scrape private details, imply a relationship, or manufacture urgency.
- Never convert the conversation into a surprise application, sales pitch, or referral demand.
- Respect no response and channel-specific contact rules.

## Done

- A message draft contains verified context, a specific learning goal, bounded time, and easy decline
- Names, facts, channel, and relationship claims are checked
- Send and optional follow-up dates are recorded