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Informational Interviews: How to Follow Up

Your dialogue isn’t over when the appointment ends. To maximize your conversation, it’s important to follow up with your host. Sending a quick note immediately after your conversation is standard practice. Additional follow-up will set you apart from the pack and enable you to build a relationship with your host.

After your conversation

Within two days of your conversation, send a personalized email to your host. The best thank-you messages are short and sweet, but be sure to do the following five things:

  1. Convey a genuine sense of appreciation for your host’s time

  2. Demonstrate you’ve absorbed and thought more about specific topics from your conversation

  3. Describe how you will follow your host’s advice and the steps you plan to take toward them

  4. Include any information you promised to send (referrals, articles, etc.)

  5. Mention that you look forward to following up again (once you land your next role, make the decision you discussed, or reach another milestone, etc.)

Further down the road

Send a note a month after your initial conversation to create a dialogue outside of your appointment. Consider sending an additional note when:

  • You land your next role—thank your host for the help and guidance along the way (bonus points if you include ways you might partner with or be a resource for your host in your new position)
  • You complete (or make significant progress) toward a task related to your original conversation
  • You connect with someone your host referred to you
  • You come across an article or event that’s relevant to your conversation You’ll find most people will be delighted to hear from you and these continued communications will help turn your appointment into a genuine relationship.