Category: teaching

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How Informational Interviews Help You Learn About Possible Career Paths

A young woman learns about different career paths through informational interviews

There’s been a big shake-up in the workplace in the past two years, and you might be asking yourself how you may be able to transfer relevant skills and experience to a different industry. Perhaps you’re looking to work in the same general field, but are curious about possible career paths in different organizations. Or, maybe you’re seeking career progression for the sake of better pay, greater responsibility or both. 

Wherever you find yourself in your career path, it’s always beneficial to have more information before you make any professional changes. Informational interviewing can help you learn more about any possible career paths you may be considering.

What Is Informational Interviewing?

In an informational interview, you ask a knowledgeable professional for information about their career. That’s right – you become the interviewer. These discussions tend to be informal in nature and should not be seen as an opportunity to ask for a job. Most likely, the professionals you ask to share their career path story will not work in HR and will not be looking to dole out any favors to someone they just met. 

The person you speak with will, however, be excited to explain their professional journey, daily tasks they are responsible for and any advice they deem applicable to your particular career goals. 

While this counsel is useful, if it doesn’t directly result in landing a job then why should you spend time setting up these informational interviews?

What Are The Benefits Of Informational Interviews?

The knowledge you gain from informational interviews will be invaluable as you begin mapping out possible career paths. The interviewee will be able to share the realities of the workplace not only through their personal experiences but possibly even through their own network connections. 

If you chose a mid- or senior-level professional to interview, you might learn how they climbed to the top and some practical tips on how to land your first position in this journey. Additionally, the professional might be inclined to share how they  might have done things differently if they could restart their own career path. 

Ultimately, you may realize the industry or organization does not belong on your own career path; one or two interviews can save you potentially years of learning the hard way! At the very least, you now have a new business connection who can point you in another direction or set up an interview with someone in their network.

Informational interviews provide indispensable knowledge when researching possible career paths and bring you one step closer to landing a new job.

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3 Valuable Questions to Ask in a Job Interview

You’ve met with the hiring manager, nailed the job interview and wowed them with your experience. At the end of the meeting, the HR rep will ask if you have any questions for them, and it will benefit you to be prepared. Here are three questions to ask in a job interview.

1. What are the current and ongoing major initiatives this department is working on?

By asking this question you can gauge your potential contribution to the company should you be hired. If the department has few current projects, it may signify a lack of growth or upward mobility at the company, so it can be beneficial to you to determine how useful you’ll be at the business. 

2. How would you describe the work environment and company culture?

Filling a job opening requires finding a candidate who will be not only a good fit for the company, but thinks the company is a good fit for them. Employment is a two-way street so be sure to know as much as you can about the company’s culture, values, day-to-day activities and work environment. 

3. Can you tell me a little bit about the history of this position?

Knowing the history of the job you’re applying for can help you glean out important details that may give away clues to why the position is vacant. If the previous employee left because the work had become too stressful, this may help you make an educated decision about taking the job. If there are no potential red flags, this question can help you learn valuable history that will help you perform well in your new position.

Gauging the level of anticipated activity at the company, learning about the work culture and finding out about the history of the position will help you make an educated decision about each position you interview for. It will also demonstrate your interest in the position and can influence a hiring manager to choose you over your competition. For additional tips to help you in your job search, check out our blog today.

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Do You Have A Business Interview Coming Up?

The economy is beginning to turn around and companies are looking to hire additional staff. If you are currently seeking the perfect employee for your business, here are some tips to help you master the essentials of an interview. 

Know what questions you can and cannot ask. We all know there are certain questions you can’t ask while interviewing a potential hire, but did you know that these questions extend to more than just asking about things like age and race? Some questions, like inquiring if the interviewee has a reliable form of transportation or the ability to get a babysitter on short notice, may not be illegal but can be considered offensive or come off a little too friendly. HR World has put together a great list of the questions you should not be asking and provides great alternatives in the event the answers pertain to the job. 

Record your impression of the interviewee. Depending on how many interviews you are conducting, it can be difficult to keep all the information straight. A helpful method to remember each candidate and your impressions of their interview is to take down any notes you feel are relevant to the position they are applying for. 

Follow through with references. Calling references on a resume can be time consuming and mentally exhausting if you try to do it with every resume. The trick is to call after you have met with the individual and you’ve decided they are a contender. If you are wondering what the best questions to ask the reference are, here are some ideas to guide you. 


Knowing the essentials of interviewing is the foundation of hiring a good employee and creating an exceptional team. If you need help staffing your business, let us handle the interviewing process for you.

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How To Give Constructive Employee Feedback With Care

Nobody likes giving an employee negative feedback and, unless everything is going perfectly, giving constructive criticism can be pretty rough on both the employer and the team member. Unfortunately, ignoring problems and hoping they’ll just disappear will be worse in the long run.

The good news is there are a few key tips that can help make the review process fairly painless for you and the employee, and likely to yield tangible results.

Set The Stage For Sharing Employee Feedback

Here are a few things you can do to help the initial sit-down go smoothly.

Avoid Surprises

A meeting without notice can cause an employee to feel intimidated and put them on the defensive when you provide feedback. Schedule the meeting ahead of time and let them know what you want to talk about. This will give the employee some notice and time to prepare.

Keep It Private

Don’t provide individual employee feedback in a group setting. Constructive criticism should be given privately so that an employee doesn’t feel singled out. Public and rushed feedback can quickly devolve into destructive criticism.

Make Sure Your Employee Feedback Is Effective

Giving employee feedback is useless if you don’t present it to them in the right way. In order to make sure that improvements are easy to identify and follow-through on, consider these tips from LinkedIn.

Be Specific, Not General

Specific critiques are far more actionable than general employee feedback, and also easier to deal with. For example, don’t tell an employee they need to run their meetings more efficiently – that’s too broad. Instead, tell them to have an agenda sent out before each meeting and to stick to it.

Be Descriptive and Helpful, Not Evaluative and Punitive

Let’s say an employee turns in a report that has errors within it. If you’re in a rush you might be prone to criticize them for the errors and tell them it’s not up to standard. But taking a moment to be helpful can go a long way. Point out the errors and ask the employee how they might avoid them in the future. This turns criticism into a coaching session.

Own Your Feedback

Don’t give in to the temptation to pass the blame for the feedback to someone who isn’t in the room, or an unnamed force like “management.” Instead, stand behind your words and make it clear to the employee that they are yours by using phrases like, “That’s how I see it,” or “In my view.”

Address Issues, Not the Employee

Don’t tell an employee they are bad at a certain task. Instead, point out the specific errors they have made. There’s a psychological reason behind this. If you tell a team member they are “bad,” it reinforces a fixed mindset and makes it harder to move beyond.

Alternatively, openly discussing the errors and allowing a chance for them to be remedied reinforces a growth mindset and shows that the employee can excel at a task instead.

Employee Feedback Should Be a Dialogue, Not a Monologue

Consider opening your sessions with a question like, “How do you think the meeting went today?” This allows them to open up and share their thoughts, which will help you refine your employee feedback on the fly. 

The employee should also be given the chance to explain his or her reasoning behind their actions and ask their own questions about how to improve. Hearing their perspective can help you tailor your future feedback with them.

Recap at the End of the Meeting

Before the conversation is over, inquire about what the employee heard and give them a chance to tell you in their own words that the message was received.

Follow Up, Don’t Forget

You don’t want to give constructive employee feedback and then never bring up the issue again. Instead, make it a goal and track how the person is improving in that area so their weakness transforms into a strength. If your feedback was important enough to deliver, it’s important enough to follow up on.

Whether you’re an employer seeking out a new employee or a candidate seeking a new position, we want to help you succeed! Click here to check out our current job listings and contact us if you have any questions or are interested in applying.