My Favorite Informational Interview Questions
If you’re exploring careers and interested in learning more about a particular job or career field, then I believe the following list of questions are the best questions to ask during an informational interview. In fact, this is the list of possible informational interviewing questions that I recommend to my students.
The 16 or so questions below will likely be too many to ask during an informational interview, especially if your interview is scheduled to be around the typical 45 minutes or so.
For the best results with your informational interview, you’ll want to choose your questions carefully and consider including other questions based on your individual situation, the person you are interviewing and your own particular goals that you seek from your interview. In other words, don’t simply use the questions I’ve listed below – be selective.
- What is your job title, and what is the name of your company/organization? How long have you been doing this job?
- Briefly, can you let me know how you got to where you are today?
- On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being “A LOT” and 1 being “NOT SO MUCH”), how much do you enjoy your job overall? Why or why not?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how good are you at what you do in your job? Why or why not?
- What are your responsibilities, and what is a typical day like?
- What skills are required and recommended for your job?
- What are 3 things that you enjoy most about working at your company/organization?
- What are the 3 most challenging aspects of working at your company/organization?
- Can you share any general salary information, such as the range for entry level positions? [Note: As this question sometimes can be awkward to ask, I will often research the salary range in advance and then ask something like: According to glassdoor, the range for a public high school teacher in the Northern California Bay Area is between $$$ and $$$. Do you think that that’s accurate?]
- What resources, such as websites or professional associations, would you recommend that I check out to learn more about this career? [Note: Research the associations and organizations in advance so that you are knowledgeable about the more popular ones. You can then ask an even more focused question as well as make a great impression by showing that you’ve done your homework.]
- What kind of opportunities are there for advancement, and do you have any tips in this regard?
- If I wanted to start in this career area, how would you recommend that I go about pursuing this career path? [Again, the more you can research this question in advance, the more targeted your question can be, not to mention show that you are serious about this career.]
- If you had a chance to do it all over again, what would you have done differently?
- Is there anyone that you think I should speak with about my career exploration, and if so, can I use your name?
- Would it be all right if I kept in touch with you? Is email fine?
- Would you be able to review my resume, either now or I can email it to you. [I like to consider asking this question only if there is a good rapport present throughout the informational interview.]