How to prepare for informationalish interview?

[v]

So I'm looking for a new job.  My friend M (who is has fantastic connections) knows and has been awesome about reaching out to people on my behalf.  She reached out to her colleague, J, who is the U.S. head of what she does (she is in an in-house counsel position in another country), because I guess J had mentioned before that he was hoping to hire someone in the coming months.  J was like "Wow, great resume but I have no clearance to hire -- I'm hoping to maybe convince the company to hire in the fall."  I didn't expect much from that, but hey -- nice of both of them anyway.

So it is now fall.  J just emailed me and said that he would like to meet me for coffee for 30-40 minutes next week when he's in town for a meeting.  He said that he doesn't have approval for a position but hopes to have approval soon.  So here I'll be going to meet him (yay!), I don't really know what he'd be hiring for exactly (I mean, a lawyer who does the type of stuff I do I guess, but there are lots of facets of that and I don't know which one).  Any tips on how to prepare for this?  It's hard with no job description!

Also, this wasn't exactly out of the blue -- M told me two weeks ago that she talked to J and he said he might call me because he is hopeful that the position will come through.  BUT -- apparently he has resumes on his desk from other people with either less experience or who work at firms that pay less than mine, so he said to M that he hopes that he can get approval to hire someone who would cost what he thinks I would cost.  So M thinks I should be able to address salary if it comes up.  Really hard to do without even knowing what kind of position this is.  Tips on how to dodge that without sounding like I am?  (Note: I asked M because I imagine her position is similar to what this might end up being, but she works in a magical paradise where in-house counsel earn as much or more than they did at firms, but the market is different in the U.S.  So...).

Thanks for any advice!  Also, JFC this is a long, boring post.

[LoveTrains]

I have no advice but I wanted to say good luck.

[v]

Thanks so much!

[rikki]

How was your interview this morning? I was thinking of you!

[Deleted]

Sept 30, 2014 15:02:12 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

I can't imagine he'd expect you to have any idea what the requirements of the job are given there's no actual position to even describe yet. I would treat this as a two-way conversation for both of you to learn more. I wouldn't be embarrassed to ask what he's looking for--what expertise would he like the person to have, what the responsibilities are, what are the pain points that need to be addressed, etc.

I'm excited for you that some possible opportunities are coming your way!

Ita. Most of my recent work has come from a coffee meeting where there isn't an exact role created but my skillet is needed. We usually just talk about what they need / want and how can I help (or not).

Good luck!! How exciting to have some new opportunities.

[Deleted]

Good luck. I would be prepared to just informally describe your skill set. Maybe you have some good examples of things you have done at your current company that you could have prepared just so you have key points to refer back to. Be prepared to say why you want to leave. Ask questions about his work and the company so you can have him talk to you and continue the conversation naturally versus him interviewing you and asking all the questions.

[v]

Thanks so much!

RockNVoll -- it does seem like suddenly opportunities are coming, which is making me feel very hopeful (knock on wood)

rikki -- I think it went well? (knock on wood) I really liked the people I met with and I think I'd really like the work. So I'd really love the position. Competition is so fierce for positions like that one though, so I am trying to not get my hopes up because who knows how I stack up.

[laurensmomma]

I would ask what his vision for the position is. He has to have some idea of the role expecations of the opening, otherwise it would be too early to even do an informational meeting. I would also ask about company culture and similar questions like that. I don't personally think you need to wait until the formal interview to get a better feel for what the company is like.

[cheezer]

My thoughts would be to have your elevator pitch down pat (which obviously you do because you're doing formal interviews as well) and be able to articulate what you're hoping for in a job. My knowledge of the positions you're looking at is low so a specific area of law or how your skillset will translate.

I'd have questions about the industry in general and where the company is going as well as how their legal department works.

Good luck! When I was doing informational interviews I was looking for a much more entry level position so I don't have a ton of advice.

[v]

Sept 30, 2014 17:47:36 GMT -5 @chloe77 said:

I'll PM you.

Thanks so much!