Latest / The Marketing Career Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Jobs, Skills, and Career Growth / How Marketing Generalists Use Informational Interviews
Transcript
- Lucas: You know, we talk a lot on this show about the latest job-search tactics — side projects, internal podcasts, AI portfolio builders. But sometimes the most effective tool is also the oldest one, and people just use it wrong. Luna: I have a feeling you mean informational interviews. Because when I hear 'informational interview,' I think of a student asking a VP for thirty minutes of their time with zero preparation. Lucas: Exactly. That's the bad version. The good version is one of the highest roi moves a mid-career marketer can make, especially in 2026 when the job market is still competitive but employers are desperate for people who show genuine curiosity. Luna: So what does the good version look like? Give me a concrete example. Lucas: Let me tell you about Priya. She was a marketing generalist at a mid-size B2B company, wanted to move into product marketing at a SaaS startup. She didn't apply cold. She spent two weeks doing informational interviews with five people at her target company. Luna: Five people? That's a lot of coffee chats. Did she know them beforehand? Lucas: Not a single one. She found them on LinkedIn — not just the hiring manager, but the product marketing lead, a senior PMM who'd been there a year, a peer on the growth team, and even a customer success manager. She sent short, specific messages referencing something they'd posted or a project they'd worked on. Luna: Okay, so the outreach was tailored. That's step one. What happened in the actual conversations? Lucas: She didn't ask 'what's it like to work here?' She asked pointed questions: 'How does your team decide which features to market first?' 'What's the biggest challenge you're facing in Q3?' That kind of thing. She wanted to understand the real dynamics, not the company's boilerplate culture deck. Luna: And did they answer honestly? I feel like people sometimes give polite, surface-level responses. Lucas: Some do, but if you ask specific, non-threatening questions — about process, not personalities — people usually open up. Priya learned that the product marketing team was struggling with cross-functional alignment, and that they valued someone who could bridge engineering and sales. That became the core of her narrative. Luna: So she gathered intelligence. But how did she convert that into a job offer? Lucas: Two things. First, after each conversation, she sent a thank-you note that included a small insight she'd gained — not flattery, but evidence she'd been listening. Second, she wrote a LinkedIn post summarizing the top three challenges she heard across all five conversations — without naming anyone — and tagged the company. The post got a lot of engagement, especially from people inside the company. Luna: That's smart. It shows she's thoughtful and that she can synthesize information. Did she get an interview out of it? Lucas: The hiring manager saw the post and reached out to her directly. She ended up interviewing for a product marketing manager role — and she was prepared because she already knew the team's pain points. She could say, 'I've heard alignment is tough, and here's how I'd approach it.' She got the offer. Luna: That's a great story. But I imagine most people don't execute it that well. What are the common mistakes? Lucas: Biggest one: treating it as a job interview. You're not asking for a job. You're asking for advice. If you come across as desperate or transactional, people will shut down. Second mistake: not doing enough research beforehand. If you ask a question that's easily Googled, you look lazy. Luna: I'd add a third: not following up in a memorable way. Most people send a generic thank-you email and that's it. Priya's LinkedIn post was what made her stand out. Lucas: Right. And there's data on this. According to a study by the networking platform Ten Thousand Coffees, people who do three or more informational interviews before applying are about fifteen percent more likely to get an interview, compared to cold applications. The conversion rate from informational interview to job offer is roughly one in seven. Luna: Fifteen percent doesn't sound huge, but when you consider that the average cold application response rate is around two percent, it's a massive improvement. Lucas: Exactly. And it's not just about the numbers. The quality of the conversations gives you a huge advantage in the actual interview. You know the language the team uses, the challenges they're facing, even the personalities. You can tailor every answer. Luna: So for a marketing generalist who wants to pivot into a specific niche — say, product marketing, growth marketing, or brand — informational interviews are basically a way to test-drive the role without committing. Lucas: Right. And you can do them while you're still employed. Priya did all her conversations over lunch breaks or after work. It's low risk, high reward. Luna: One thing I wonder about: how do you find the right people to talk to? If you're a generalist, you probably don't have a huge network in the specific area you want to move into. Lucas: You start with your second-degree connections on LinkedIn. Look for people who have the job title you want, at companies you admire. Then refine by looking at their recent posts — if they're posting thoughtfully about their work, they're more likely to say yes to a conversation. Priya targeted people who had recently shared a blog post or commented on industry news. Luna: So they've already demonstrated they're willing to engage publicly. That's a good filter. What about the ask itself? What's the right message? Lucas: Short, respectful of their time, and specific. Something like: 'Hi, I'm a marketing generalist exploring product marketing. I loved your recent post about feature launch strategies. Would you be open to a fifteen-minute chat about how your team approaches cross-functional alignment? I'd love to learn from your experience.' No mention of a job, no resume attached. Luna: Fifteen minutes is a good ask. It's low commitment. And if the conversation goes well, you can always extend it or ask for a follow-up. Lucas: Exactly. And here's a pro tip: after the call, send a short note summarizing one thing you learned that you'll apply. That makes the interaction feel valuable to them, too. Priya did that, and two of her contacts later became internal advocates when she applied. Luna: That's the dream scenario — having someone inside the company rooting for you before you even submit your application. Lucas: Right. And honestly, if this episode has sparked something you've actually used or plan to use, that's the kind of practical value we're aiming for. It's also why listener support matters — keeps the show ad-free and focused on what works. If today was worth a coffee to you, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to keep these conversations going. And we really appreciate it. Lucas: So back to the strategy: one more thing Priya did that I think is underrated. After she got the job, she sent a handwritten note to each of the five people she'd interviewed, thanking them again and letting them know she'd joined. That's how you build a long-term network. Luna: That's classy. And it probably makes those people even more likely to help her in the future, or to refer her to other opportunities. Lucas: Exactly. Informational interviews aren't just about getting one job. They're about building a reputation as someone who's thoughtful, prepared, and grateful. That pays dividends over a career. Luna: So for our listeners who are marketing generalists thinking about a pivot: start small. Pick one company, find two or three people, send those tailored messages. Don't overthink it. Lucas: And remember, the goal isn't to ask for a job. It's to learn. If you approach it with genuine curiosity, the job part often takes care of itself. Luna: Alright, I'm convinced. I might try this myself, actually. Lucas: Let me know how it goes. And if you have a success story, we'd love to hear it — maybe we'll feature it in a future episode.