When to use it
Use it when exploring a career change, a new industry or a target organisation.
How to apply it
- Identify someone doing work you want to understand.
- Ask for 20 to 30 minutes, making clear you want advice, not a job.
- Prepare four or five focused questions about their work and route in.
- Keep to time and ask who else you should speak to.
- Send a thank-you message within a day and update them later on what you did.
Tip: Asking for a job during the conversation tends to close doors; let any opportunity come from them.