Using the informational interview to get an insight into the profession of a manager

Abstract

An informational interview, also known as the exploratory meeting or networking interview, “is a chance to pick someone's brain about a profession, business, or industry” (Decarie, 2010, p. 306). The purpose of the study was to explore whether, when modified, this assignment could benefit second-year management education students in understanding of the profession of a manager. This assignment provides students an opportunity to interact with a professional in a business setting on a variety of topics that help students understand what it is like to work in this industry, type of company, or a position. While informational interviews have been used in communication courses in management education programs, nothing is known about the use or usefulness of this assignment in other management courses. One hundred eleven students in a human resource management course were asked to complete a modified version of the informational interview assignment. Data were collected using a survey from 89 students. The results show that overall students learned more about the profession of a manager and got an insight into careers in the chosen industries and companies. Implications for teaching are provided along with the discussion of each main result.