What Questions Should You Ask in An Informational Interview?

The key to Informational Interviewing is to draw as much information from your resource as possible. To do this, you will have to tailor your questions to each individual you interview. There are some basic questions, however, that can be used as a model. Once you have the groundwork done you can adapt your inquiries to fit each individual you interview.

Typically you will want to ask professionals about:

• their chosen career field
• the organization they work for, and
• their personal insights or experiences.

Following these three basic categories will help you start forming questions.

Questions about a Specific Career Field

1. What are the main responsibilities associated with work in your field?
2. Please describe a typical day, week, month.
3. What interests and skills are needed for successful employment in this field?
4. What are the advantages of working in this field? Disadvantages?
5. What salary and benefits can I expect?
6. What education and experiences will I need to break into your field?
7. What type of work schedule does this field require?
8. Have licensing requirements been established by national professional organizations?
9. Are jobs in this field limited to any particular geographical area(s)?
10. How do people find out about job openings in your occupation?
11. What opportunities exist for advancement and/or lateral movement?
12. What are the emerging jobs in this field?
13. What is the current outlook for new college graduates in your field?
14. Are you satisfied with your field? How could it be improved upon?
15. What do you see happening to your profession in the next ten years? Twenty years?

Questions about a Specific Organization

1. Please tell me more about your organization and its purposes.
2. Is your organization growing, shrinking or maintaining its current size?
3. How does your organization compete or cooperate with other organizations within this field?
4. How do you think your job would be different if you worked in a larger or smaller organization?
5. How is your organization funded?
6. What is unique about your organization?
7. In the future do you think your organization will be needing more employees in your field?
8. What is your job security within this organization?

Questions about Personal Insights and Experiences

1. What field did you prepare for and expect to enter originally?
2. How did you get where you are in your field?
3. If you needed to leave your present job, to what other jobs could you apply your skills?
4. Would you advise someone else to enter your career field?
5. What would you have done differently in your own career?
6. Do you like your job?
7. Are there personal rewards from the work you do?