informational interview
/ˌɪnfərˈmeɪʃənl ˈɪntərvjuː/
CommonA casual conversation where you ask someone about their career path, job, or industry, with no hiring decision on the table.
Can feel uncomfortable when one side clearly wants it to lead to a job offer and the other knows it won't. The term itself sometimes signals a hidden agenda.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Did an informational interview with a PM at Google last week. She was so helpful. | Had a casual career conversation with someone at a company of interest. | linkedin, 2024 |
| 02 | He said he wanted an informational interview but spent 40 minutes asking me to review his portfolio. That's not what that is. | The person misused the framing to get free work rather than career advice. | x, 2023 |
| 03 | Switching into UX from marketing. Running informational interviews with 10 designers this month. | Using conversations with practitioners to research a career change. | reddit, 2024 |
| 04 | The informational interview turned into a real interview. He liked me enough to push my resume to the hiring team. | A no-pressure career conversation converted into an actual job opportunity. | reddit, 2024 |
Use it when
- You want to learn about someone's career path or industry before committing to it.
- You are changing careers and want insider perspective on a new field.
- You want a foot in the door at a company before any jobs open up.
Do not use it when
- You are actually asking for a job referral from the start.Use “warm intro” instead.
- There is an open role you want to apply for directly.
Origin and context
The term gained widespread use through career counseling and business school culture in the 1990s and 2000s. Became standard career advice vocabulary promoted by books and university career centers.
- First seen
- 1990s
- Confidence
- medium
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Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/informational-interviewUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0