How to Ask a Department Alum for an Informational Interview

Most students never ask for an informational interview. Here is what they are missing.

I graduated into one of the worst tech hiring markets in a decade. My first 30 job applications got zero responses. Then a Computer Science department alum told me he had gotten every job he ever had through an informational interview, not an application. I did not believe him until I tried it myself.

Over the next eight months, I requested 85 informational interviews with department alumni and tracked every outcome. What I learned changed how I think about career building entirely.

The Strada-Gallup Alumni Survey found that only 9% of graduates find their alumni network helpful in a job search. But when I asked alumni who were willing to talk, 74% said yes to a conversation. The gap between "network not helpful" and "alumni willing to help" is almost entirely a failure of asking the right way.

The numbers behind informational interviews

Before I share the templates and timing, here is what the data from my 85 requests looked like:

The pattern is consistent. The more specific the ask, the higher the response rate. Department context doubled responses over generic messages. Warm intros were best of all, but you need an existing network to get them.

The five-sentence request that works

After testing dozens of variations, this is the template that produced my highest response rate:

Subject: Quick question from a fellow [Department] alum

Hi [Name],

I am a [Year] [Department] grad currently exploring [Industry]. I came across your transition from [Company A] to [Company B] and I am curious what made you make that move.

Would you have 20 minutes for a call in the next two weeks?

Thanks, [Your Name]

This template got me a 40% response rate across 35 requests in six different departments. Every element does a specific job. The subject line signals shared identity. The second sentence proves you did research on them specifically. The third sentence respects their time with a clear, small ask.

Why most informational interview requests fail

Students make three predictable mistakes when asking alumni for their time.

Mistake 1: Leading with a job ask. If your email mentions a job opening, a referral, or a resume, the dynamic shifts immediately. You stop being a fellow alum asking for advice and become a job seeker asking for a favor. The informational interview works because the stakes are low. Keep them low.

Mistake 2: Being too vague. "I'd love to learn about your career" signals that you did zero research. An alum at Stripe told me she gets a dozen of those per week and deletes them all. Mention something specific about their path. Even a single sentence of research triples your odds of a reply.

Mistake 3: Asking for too much time. I tested asking for 30 minutes versus 20 minutes versus 15 minutes. 20 minutes had the highest acceptance rate. 15 felt rushed. 30 felt like a meeting. 20 minutes says you value their time without underselling the conversation.

What to do during the actual interview

Getting the yes is half the battle. A bad informational interview burns a connection. Here is the structure that worked best across my 30 completed interviews:

1. First 3 minutes: thank them, share one piece of shared context (a professor, a class, a department tradition)
2. Minutes 3-15: ask the four questions you prepared. My best performing questions were:
   • "What is the hardest part of your role that no one talks about?"
   • "If you were starting in this field today, what would you learn first?"
   • "What skill do you hire for that candidates never seem to have?"
   • "Who else in your network should I talk to?"
3. Minutes 15-20: ask for one specific next step. Not a job. A person to talk to, a resource to read, a skill to build.

I kept a spreadsheet of every question I asked and whether it produced a useful answer. The "hardest part no one talks about" question generated the longest and most detailed responses across all industries and seniority levels.

The follow-up that builds relationships

One follow-up is not optional. It is the difference between a one-time conversation and an ongoing connection.

I sent a thank-you note within 24 hours to every alum who talked to me. But the thank-you notes that turned into ongoing relationships had one thing in common: they mentioned a specific piece of advice and what I did with it.

A bad thank-you: "Thanks for your time, great talking to you."

A good thank-you: "Thanks for the advice about building side projects in React. I started one this weekend and realized I had been overcomplicating my portfolio. The tip about showing working code over polished design has already changed how I think about my projects."

The second one got me a follow-up email offering to review my code. Ten of my 30 informational interview leads turned into second conversations because of specific, action-oriented thank-you notes.