How to ask for an informational interview

Your first message to someone in a civilian field should ask for one thing: 15 or 20 minutes of advice, not a job. The referral ask comes later, in a separate message, once that person knows you.

Networking starts with asking people for advice. Later, a few may introduce you to someone who hires.

You may also hear a confident percentage for how many jobs come through networking. Don't lean on it. The federal survey that tracks job searching asks only unemployed people which methods they used in the past four weeks, so it can't show which one got anyone hired. In 2025, 23.7% of unemployed jobseekers had contacted friends or relatives. That's an 11-month average, because October wasn't surveyed.

What the government's own career guides do agree on is the method. Ask for advice before you ask for anything else. Keep the ask short, follow up on a schedule, and thank people. Here is one first message, before and after those rules.

What an informational interview is

An informational interview is a short conversation with someone who works in a field you're considering. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says these meetings usually last 20 to 30 minutes, and their purpose is not to get a job. CareerOneStop, the Labor Department's career site, says 15 to 30 minutes, and says to keep the focus on information, not a job offer.

In the Transition Assistance Program's employment workshop, the Labor Department (DOL) puts it in four words: don't ask about openings. Ask what the work is like, how the person got into it, and who else you should talk to. DOL's workshop has you plan three or four questions. BLS lists more sample questions than one meeting allows and suggests choosing about 10 that interest you most, open-ended rather than yes-or-no.

One BLS question is useful when you lack the field's usual credentials: do you know anyone in this career with my kind of background, and how did that person get the job?

End on time, and end with two questions. BLS says to thank your host and ask: "Can you suggest other people I could speak to? And may I mention your name when I speak to them?" The answers become your next messages. One conversation isn't enough to decide on a field. BLS says to hold at least a few in an occupation before you decide.

Who to ask first

Start with people you already know, even if none of them works in the field you want. CareerOneStop's veterans section says your first contacts don't need to know about job leads. They only need to know other people who might. Its starting list includes members of your unit, including those who got out before you, and staff at your transition office. It also names relatives, friends, neighbors, classmates, and former coworkers and supervisors.

DOL calls asking these people for introductions the easiest way to grow a network. It also suggests your schools and your local American Job Center.

CareerOneStop sorts contacts by what they can do for you, which gives your list three tiers:

• People you know. Most are what it calls Linkers, who connect you to people closer to the employers you want.
• People in the field. Sources know a business from inside: whether it's hiring, who decides, which skills matter and what it pays.
• People who can recommend you or hire you. Recommenders can get you in front of a hiring decision maker, the person directly involved in hiring.

Write names, not categories. Make the list long enough that a "no," or silence, just moves you to the next name, which is how BLS says to treat it.

Writing the first message

BLS names three ways to set up an informational interview: an introduction from someone you both know, a letter or email, or a phone call. People are more willing to talk with someone they have a connection to, so an introduction beats a cold message. In a written request, mentioning how you found the person's name adds credibility.

A written request carries four things, in this order:

• Who sent you, or how you found their name.
• Who you are and why you're writing, in a line or two. Writing to a fellow veteran? DOL's model opens with the shared military background.
• The ask: 15 or 20 minutes, a window such as the next two weeks, and a plain statement that you aren't asking for a job.
• When you'll follow up. BLS says to name a day and then be sure to make that contact.

Offer a phone call. BLS notes that a phone interview gives you speed and convenience over meeting in person.

LinkedIn on a free account

A free LinkedIn account limits these messages. As of October 2026, LinkedIn's help page says a free account can add a personal note to up to three connection requests a month, and each note can be up to 200 characters. Some of LinkedIn's older help pages still say five. Premium members can personalize every request.

Here's a fictional note that fits, at 194 characters: "Mr. Okafor, I'm leaving the Army in March after 9 years on unit networks and moving into network administration. Could I ask you a few questions on a 15-minute call? Not asking about jobs. Tasha"

Once someone accepts, messaging them is free. To message anyone else, you need InMail, a Premium feature, with two free exceptions: the person is a Premium member who has turned on Open Profile, or you're both in the same LinkedIn group, where you can send a message request. LinkedIn limits how many Open Profile messages you can send.

So spend your three notes on people you have no other way to reach, and ask your existing connections for contacts at the companies you're targeting, as CareerOneStop's veterans section suggests. LinkedIn also limits invitations for every member, free or Premium. If you hit that limit, the restriction usually lasts a week, and withdrawing pending invitations won't lift it.

With Premium Career you get 5 InMail credits a month and can hold up to 15. A credit comes back if the person accepts, declines or replies within 90 days. Members can turn InMail off.

LinkedIn gives eligible veterans, spouses and active-duty members facing a near-term job transition a one-time, 12-month Premium subscription, but only through three nonprofits: Hire Heroes USA, Student Veterans of America and Hiring Our Heroes. You have to take part in one of their career services, it's first come, first served, and you can't already have Premium. That's LinkedIn's rule as of October 2026. DOL's March 2026 workshop guide says veterans simply receive a free year, and flags that as subject to change.

DOL also says to use an email address you'll still have after you separate. For setting up the profile itself, see the LinkedIn guide for veterans.

Following up, and when to stop

DOL says to send a thank-you within 24 hours. BLS says within a few days, the sooner the better, and that a paragraph or two is enough. After meeting any new contact, DOL says to follow up by email within 24 to 48 hours. After a job fair, send an email or LinkedIn request within 24 hours.

If someone doesn't answer your request, follow up on the day you said you would. BLS's rule of thumb is three attempts at making contact. After a failed third attempt, move to the next name on your list. BLS gives a number of attempts, not a number of days between them. If someone answers but can't meet, ask whether they know anyone else who might help.

A few weeks after a conversation, DOL suggests sending an update on your search. When you land a job, it says to thank everyone who helped and ask how you can help them in return. CareerOneStop adds two habits: thank anyone who connects you with someone, every time, and keep track of who you've contacted and what you discussed.

Asking for a referral

In DOL's and CareerOneStop's guides, a referral from your network is an introduction: someone you know connects you with someone they know. DOL's sample asks former supervisors and colleagues for any direction or referrals they'd share. CareerOneStop calls the contacts who can do more Recommenders. They're willing and able to get you a meeting with a hiring decision maker, by passing along your résumé with a recommendation, writing a letter or serving as a reference.

Ask after you've talked, not before. DOL says networking isn't the same as asking for a job, that it should help both people, and that you don't want to be the person who only gets in touch during a job search. So the referral ask is a separate, later message, to someone who knows you or your work.

Make it specific and easy to pass on. CareerOneStop says to tell contacts where you need help, then ask whether they know anyone they'd be willing to connect you with. DOL says to include a short description of yourself and why you want the introduction, so your contact can forward it without rewriting it.

Federal jobs

Federal hiring limits what an insider can do for you. Under 5 U.S.C. 2302, a federal official may consider a recommendation only if it rests on the recommender's personal knowledge or records and speaks to things like your work, ability, qualifications or character. The same law bars giving anyone a preference or advantage that no law, rule or regulation authorizes, to improve their chances.

Federal ethics rules allow an official title on a requested recommendation based on personal knowledge of your ability or character, if you worked together in federal employment or the recommendation is for a federal job. So the useful federal contact is someone who has seen your work, such as a former supervisor now in federal service.

Each covered federal agency also has a Veterans Employment Program Office, or an official with full-time responsibility for it, under Executive Order 13518. Part of its job is counseling veterans about jobs at that agency.

Federal contractors

Companies with covered federal contracts must list their job openings with the state workforce agency's job bank or the local employment service. That system then gives protected veterans priority referral to those jobs. Executive and senior management jobs, jobs filled from within and jobs lasting three days or less are left out.

The recently separated protected-veteran category covers the three years after discharge or release from active duty, for veterans whose service ended under conditions other than dishonorable. It also includes disabled veterans, active duty wartime or campaign badge veterans, and Armed Forces service medal veterans. The way in is your state's job bank or an American Job Center.

Free programs that make introductions

There are more than 2,000 free American Job Centers. Find one through CareerOneStop's locator or at 1-877-US2-JOBS (1-877-872-5627). Veterans and eligible spouses get priority of service there, and in other DOL-funded job programs. DOL's workshop guide says a center's staff already have a network you can use.

Two kinds of veterans' staff work through those centers. Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists give individualized career help to veterans facing barriers to employment. Local Veterans' Employment Representatives (LVERs) do outreach to employers on veterans' behalf, and that is their legal job. An LVER is a sensible person to ask which local employers are hiring veterans.

If you're still in, the Labor Department's Employment Navigator and Partnership Program offers one-on-one career help to transitioning service members and their spouses. You qualify within two years of retirement or 365 days of separation, if you're in TAP at one of its listed installations. Navigators work there and through a virtual center open weekdays, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Its approved partners for mentoring and networking include American Corporate Partners, Hire Heroes USA, Hiring Our Heroes, Still Serving Veterans and Troops2Logistics.

American Corporate Partners runs a free, yearlong, one-on-one mentorship. Its staff hand-match each person with a mentor, and pairs are encouraged to talk monthly. You qualify with at least 180 days of active duty since September 11, 2001, Guard and Reserve included, or fewer if you were injured while serving or training. Some spouses qualify too, including spouses of veterans who left active duty in the past 12 months.

Hire Heroes USA gives free help from a dedicated career advisor to veterans of any era with a discharge above dishonorable, and to military spouses. Hiring Our Heroes, part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, runs hiring events and fellowships, including a 12-week internship for service members.

For more, DOL's VETS Resource Guide has separate lists for mentoring and networking. The April 2026 edition includes only programs that don't charge veterans for basic services, and marks Employment Navigator partners with an asterisk. A listing isn't an endorsement.

Employers with veteran employee groups

You can find employers with a veteran employee group without guessing. Under the Labor Department's HIRE Vets Medallion rules, an employer with 500 or more workers can win Gold or Platinum only if it has an employee veteran organization or resource group that helps new veteran hires with coaching and mentoring. A medium employer needs one for Platinum, but for Gold it's one of two options.

HIREVets.gov's awardee map filters by year, award level and employer size. Filter to large employers at Gold or Platinum, or medium ones at Platinum. Under the program's rules, new awards come each November. The National Labor Exchange, a free job search site DOL supports, can also filter openings to medallion employers. A member of a company's veteran group is a natural person to ask for an informational interview.

If you're still in uniform

If you're still serving, there's a line between networking and seeking a job. Under federal ethics rules, an informational visit with no talk of possible employment isn't seeking employment. Sending a company an unsolicited résumé is. So is any unsolicited message about possible work there, unless it only asks for a job application, and so is any answer other than no when a company raises a job with you.

Once you're seeking employment with a company, you must stay out of official matters that would directly and predictably affect its finances. The Defense Department's ethics office says these rules apply to all DoD personnel. Officer or enlisted, talk to your ethics counselor before any job-seeking contact with a company you deal with officially.

One example, start to finish

Example (fictional) Tasha Greene is an Army staff sergeant (E-6) who has spent 9 years maintaining radio and computer networks. Her expected honorable separation date is March 31, 2027, and she wants to work in network administration. In October 2026 she writes down 20 names: soldiers who got out before her, her transition counselor, a cousin, a neighbor, and her former platoon sergeant, Ray Dunn, who now works at a hospital. Most are Linkers. Only Ray knows anyone in hospital IT.

She's within 365 days of separation and takes TAP at an installation on ENPP's list, so she books an Employment Navigator appointment. With 9 years of active duty since 2001, she also qualifies for American Corporate Partners and applies for a yearlong mentor.

Her first email, the "Sent" version in the figure above, gets no answer, so she follows up on the Tuesday she named. Patel offers 20 minutes by phone. Tasha ends the call with BLS's two questions and gets two new names and permission to use Patel's name. Her two-paragraph thank-you goes out that evening, inside DOL's 24 hours.

In November she spends her three LinkedIn notes on network administrators she can't reach any other way. Two accept, and she messages them for free. One of Patel's names never answers, so after three attempts she moves to the next name on her list.

By January she has had three informational interviews in hospital IT and decides it's the field she wants. In February, Patel's hospital posts a network technician job. Tasha sends Patel a separate referral ask:

"Ms. Patel, thank you again for your time in November. Your hospital has posted a network technician opening, and it matches what you described on our call. Would you be willing to introduce me to the hiring manager, or tell me who I should talk to? Below is a short note you can forward as is. If it isn't a good fit to pass along, I understand."

The note below it reads: "Tasha Greene is leaving the Army in March 2027 after 9 years maintaining radio and computer networks. She's interested in the network technician opening and would value 15 minutes to learn about the team."

When Patel makes the introduction, Tasha thanks her the same day. After she separates, she also registers with her state's job bank. Counting three years from her discharge date, she's a protected veteran for federal contractors' priority referral until March 2030. When she's hired, she writes to everyone on her list who helped and asks how she can return the favor.

With a free OperationMOS account, the Networking Outreach Planner drafts an informational-conversation request, a referral ask or a follow-up from the target role and background you type in, for you to copy, edit and send yourself. It never sends anything, and saving a plan keeps the task, target role and company, not the message text. Its follow-up plan moves on after one follow-up; this guide follows BLS's rule of three attempts.

This guide covers networking messages, not the job application itself. For one-on-one help, veterans get priority of service at the free American Job Centers (1-877-872-5627), and transitioning service members at listed installations can book an Employment Navigator through the Labor Department within 365 days of separation or two years of retirement.