Latest / The Comeback Career Podcast with Fexingo: Returning After a Gap, Stay-at-Home Re-Entry / How a Career Gap Can Help You Master the Informational Interview
Transcript
- Lucas: There's this idea floating around that after a career gap, your professional network just evaporates. People assume they have to start from scratch, cold emailing strangers who have no reason to respond. Luna: Right, and that's terrifying if you've been out for two or three years. You wonder, 'Who even remembers me?' Lucas: But there's a specific tool that flips that dynamic entirely. It's the informational interview — and I want to walk through how one person used it to go from a three-year gap to a senior role at a mid-sized ad agency in under four months. Luna: Okay, I'm all ears. Who are we talking about? Lucas: Her name is Priya. Before her gap, she was a marketing manager at a consumer goods company. Then her mother was diagnosed with a serious illness, and Priya stepped away from work for three years to be the primary caregiver. After her mother passed, she wanted to re-enter but felt completely disconnected from the industry. Luna: That's a tough spot. She didn't just lose professional contacts — the whole landscape probably shifted. Lucas: Exactly. But instead of sending out resumes into a black hole, she decided to treat her job search like a research project. She set a goal: have twenty informational interviews in six weeks. Not job interviews — just conversations with people in roles or at companies she found interesting. Luna: That's a high target. How did she even find the people? Lucas: She started with her existing LinkedIn network. Not the people she knew well, but the second-degree connections — friends of former colleagues, alums from her university who worked in marketing. She sent a very specific message. I've seen the template she used. Luna: What did it say? Because I think a lot of people get this wrong — they make it sound like they're asking for a job. Lucas: Exactly. Hers was disarming. She wrote: 'I'm exploring the marketing landscape after some time away and would love to hear about what you're seeing in your space. No agenda — just curious. Would you have 15 minutes in the next couple weeks?' She made it clear it wasn't a job interview. That lowered the barrier immensely. Luna: And did people respond? Lucas: About forty percent said yes. Which is actually high. But she was targeting the right people — not hiring managers, but practitioners. People in the trenches. They're usually more willing to talk because it's low risk for them. Luna: So she's having these conversations. What's the actual structure? I feel like if you're not careful, it's just small talk. Lucas: She had a five-step framework. First, research the person and their company — not to impress them, but to avoid wasting time on questions you could Google. Second, prepare three to four open-ended questions about their career, their industry trends, skills they think are undervalued. Third, let them talk — this is the hardest part for most people. Fourth, when the conversation naturally winds down, ask one specific question: 'Is there anyone else you'd recommend I speak with?' That's how you expand your network exponentially. And fifth, send a thank-you note within 24 hours that references one specific thing from the conversation. Luna: That last step is crucial. I've had people send me generic 'Thanks for your time' emails and I barely remember them. But if someone says, 'I really appreciated your point about the shift to performance marketing,' that sticks. Lucas: And Priya took it a step further. She kept a simple spreadsheet — name, date, key takeaways, and a column for 'how I can help them.' Not just what they could do for her, but what she could offer in return. Maybe she shared an article relevant to something they mentioned, or connected two people from different conversations. Luna: That reciprocity piece is huge. It turns the conversation from a one-way ask into the start of a real relationship. Lucas: Right. And a few weeks into this process, something interesting happened. One of her contacts mentioned that their agency was looking for a senior marketing strategist — a role that hadn't been publicly posted yet. Priya hadn't even thought about that company, but because she had built rapport, the contact encouraged her to apply. Luna: That's the hidden job market in action. Lucas: Exactly. She applied, referenced her conversation with the employee, and got an interview. The hiring manager later told her that her name had come up from three different people internally — all from her informational interviews. She hadn't asked anyone to put in a good word, but her genuine curiosity and follow-up had made her memorable. Luna: So she essentially built her own referral network from scratch. Lucas: She did. And I think there's a lesson here about how to handle the career gap in these conversations. Because at some point, someone will ask, 'So what have you been doing?' And Priya had a simple, honest answer. Luna: What did she say? Lucas: She said, 'I took some time away to care for a family member. It taught me a lot about prioritization and staying calm under pressure — skills I think transfer directly to managing complex campaigns.' She framed it as a strength without over-explaining or apologizing. Luna: That's perfect. She's not hiding it, but she's also not letting it define the conversation. Lucas: Right. And you know, honestly, talking about this reminds me why we do this show. If we've helped you think through a career move or decision, that's exactly what keeps us going. Luna: Yeah, and I'll say — a handful of listeners actually chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's literally what funds making episodes like this possible. Lucas: No ads, no sponsors, just listeners who find value in it. And we're grateful for that. Luna: Absolutely. So back to Priya — she ended up getting the job, right? Lucas: She did. She got an offer for senior marketing strategist at a seventy-person agency. The role was a step up from where she'd left off, and she negotiated a salary that was actually ten percent higher than her pre-gap role. The informational interviews had given her so much market intelligence that she knew exactly what the role was worth. Luna: That's the hidden bonus — when you do a bunch of these conversations, you build a mental map of compensation, company culture, and what skills are in demand. You're not walking into negotiations blind. Lucas: Exactly. And I think the most important takeaway is that informational interviews are a muscle. The first one is awkward. By the tenth, you're relaxed and genuinely curious. By the twentieth, you're having real conversations that feel less like networking and more like learning. Luna: So for someone listening who's a few weeks away from starting their own job search after a gap, what's the single actionable step? Lucas: Open LinkedIn right now. Find one person you used to work with, or an alum from your school. Send that low-pressure message. Schedule one conversation this week. Not to get a job — just to learn. The job will come from the compound effect of those conversations. Luna: And if the first few people don't respond? Lucas: Keep going. Priya had a forty percent response rate, which means sixty percent of people didn't reply. That's okay. You don't need everyone. You need a few people who are generous with their time, and they're out there. Luna: It's a numbers game with a human touch. I like that. Lucas: Alright, that's it for this episode. Next time, we're going to look at how to use volunteer roles to bridge a career gap — and why nonprofits are often more receptive than you'd think. Luna: See you then.