Why people say NO when you ask for informational interviews or mentoring

Why people say NO when you ask for informational interviews or mentoring(noshortageofwork.com)

1 points by BrookeTAllen 11 years ago | 2 comments

I like helping people a lot but not so much if they are only trying to help themselves.

In 2004 I changed how I hire people and you folks discussed that (see: http://www.slideshare.net/BrookeAllen1/brooke-allen-has-a-be...)

Since then I've become more public about how the job market is broken and how it might get fixed.

A year ago when I retired from Wall Street finding ways of improving the market for work has become a major passion project of mine. I have connected with many people and helped them change how they hire or helped them with an article or blog post they are writing.

But one downside is that I often get requests from total strangers to help them get a job and - to be frank - I find these requests a imposition.

I did not understand why I felt this way until reading this piece by Nick Corcodilos.

Brooke (BrookeAllen.com)

jpg0rd0n 11 years ago | |

I agree that unsolicited requests are an imposition because there is no exchange of value. Whether or not it is a veiled job interview, for someone to ask for advice/time from someone else without even trying to first develop some kind of relationship is asking for something of value without offering anything in return.