Hi Friends,

So I do a lot of mentoring these days. I find it intrinsically rewarding and also very helpful for writing this newsletter. I always get ideas for new articles from my conversations with fellow informational interviewers! Just last week, someone I asked me a very good and very foundational question: how do you write an e-mail asking someone for an informational interview?If you read last week’s newsletter, than you know I included Anne-Helen Peterson’s excellent “How to Write an Email” article. Hers is great and I highly recommend it. Today, I’m going to do my version. I hope it helps!

Happy E-mailing

Emma 

P.S. — You can sign-up for office-hours with me if you feel like you need more personalized help! 

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How to write an e-mail asking for an informational interview

E-mail writing is a fine art. Or at least it can be. A great email is clear, concise, compelling and authentic. Great e-mails get responses. They motivate and inspire the recipient to respond and do whatever it is you are asking them to do. A great e-mail—and especially a great e-mail exchange—can show a potential employer or colleague how easy you are to work with. I’m serious. People who can nail an e-mail exchange are invariably also pretty high-functioning and a pleasure to work with.

Here are some things you’ll want to include in an e-mail asking for an informational interview:

1. Tell the recipient why you are reaching out to them specifically and what intrigues you about them or their organization.

2. Explain who you are and how that could be relevant to them in no more than two sentences.

3. Ask for something specific that is easy to say yes to

Here’s is an example of a real e-mail asking for an informational interview. I have changed the identifying details of the recipient and the sender. But the person who received this letter responded within a day and agreed to do an informational interview.