Questions to Ask in an Informational Interview
For a student or career changer who has 20 to 30 minutes with someone working in a field they are considering. The questions follow the order of the conversation: their path, the work itself, the field, getting in, advice for you and next steps. Each has a note on what the answer tells you or what to ask next, and since only a handful will fit, the guide covers how to choose.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Their path
What job got you into this field, and how did you land it?
Why ask it
The job that got them in is the one you are trying to get next, so their route is worth more to you than their current title. Listen for whether it came through a posting, a person or luck. If it was a person, the meeting you are sitting in is the same method.
What drew you to this field in the first place?
Why ask it
Set their reason beside your own. If they came for what you are hoping to find, ask whether the job delivered it. Plenty of people arrive for one thing and end up valuing another, and the gap between the two tells you what the work really offers. It is easy to answer, so it works well in the first few minutes.
How much of what you studied or trained in do you still use in the job?
Why ask it
If the answer is almost none, the field is more open to people from other backgrounds than its job postings suggest. If they lean on it every week, ask which part, because that is the part to learn first.
What do you wish you had known before you started in this field?
Why ask it
Give them a moment, because the first answer is often a pleasantry and the second is the real one. The useful answers are specific: how long the low-paid years last, how much of the job is selling, which early choices are hard to undo. Whatever they name, ask how you could find it out now, from the outside.
If you were starting your career over, what would you do differently?
Why ask it
Most people name a choice: staying too long in a first job, skipping a qualification, turning down a move. For you that choice is still ahead. If they say they would change nothing, ask what they would tell a younger relative to do, which is easier than admitting a regret to a stranger.
What were the two or three decisions that took you from your first job to the one you have now?
Why ask it
A career told as decisions is easier to learn from than a list of titles, and asking for two or three keeps the answer short. Find out what they were choosing between each time, since you are likely to meet the same forks.
Was there a job along the way that looked like a detour and turned out to matter?
Why ask it
A detour that paid off tells you which outside experience the field quietly rewards, and a career changer needs to hear exactly that. If your own background resembles their detour, say so and ask how they would describe it to an employer.
Is the way you got in still open, or would you have to do it differently today?
Why ask it
Routes close. The training program or the first employer that took them on may be gone, and here they have to update their own story for the present. If it has closed, what they would do instead is the answer you came for.
What made you choose this kind of employer over the other kinds in the field?
Why ask it
Most fields offer several versions of the same job: agency or in-house, large firm or small, public or private. The same title can mean a generalist in a small shop and a narrow specialist in a big one. Their reasons lay out the trade-offs, and what they gave up is as useful to you as what they got.
Have you ever seriously thought about leaving the field, and what kept you in it?
Why ask it
What nearly drove them out is the field's real downside, and what kept them is its real reward. Ask it gently, and only once the conversation has warmed up. If they deflect, move on.
What does the next step up from your job look like, and do you want it?
Why ask it
You learn what sits above them on the ladder and whether people at their level want to climb it. Hesitation, often about managing more and practicing less, is a preview of a choice you would face later.
Looking back, what should you have checked before accepting your first job in the field?
Why ask it
People rarely volunteer this, and it turns into a checklist for your own first offer: who trains you, what work juniors are given, how long people stay. Write it down in their words.
The work itself
What are your main responsibilities, and which of them takes up most of your time?
Why ask it
The first half gets you the job as its description would list it, and the second half gets you the proportions. A role that sounds like strategy can turn out to be mostly scheduling and email. If one duty fills most of the week, ask whether that holds for a beginner or only at their level.
What did you actually do yesterday, from the time you started to the time you stopped?
Why ask it
Ask about a typical day and you get the tidy version. Yesterday is harder to tidy: it still has the approval they chased for an hour and the task no job posting mentions. If yesterday was unusual they will say so, and describe a normal day beside it.
What surprised you most once you were doing the job?
Why ask it
Their surprise marks the gap between how the work looks from where you are sitting and how it is. It can be a welcome one, such as more freedom than they expected, or an unwelcome one, such as more paperwork. Ask whether newcomers today would get the same surprise.
How does your week split between working alone, working with colleagues and dealing with clients or the public?
Why ask it
The split often matters more than the subject. Work that sounds ideal can wear you down if it is mostly meetings and you do your best thinking alone, or the reverse.
Which part of the job do you look forward to, and which part do you put off?
Why ask it
Everyone has both, and the part they put off is usually permanent: the reporting, the billing, the chasing. Ask yourself whether that task would bother you as much as it bothers them.
What does a hard week look like in this job?
Why ask it
Pressure takes different forms: deadlines, difficult people, long shifts, or carrying other people's bad news. People tolerate these very differently, so the form matters more than the amount. Find out how often a week like that comes around.
What is it like to work at your company, and how typical is that of the field?
Why ask it
The second half matters because one employer is easy to mistake for a whole profession. Listen for what they describe without being asked: the pace, how decisions get made, whether people stay. They owe their current employer some loyalty, so expect the polite version and leave it there. What they say about how other places differ is usually franker.
What project or problem has most of your attention right now?
Why ask it
People talk more freely about live work than about their job in general, so this often brings the most concrete answer of the meeting. Notice what kind of problem it is: technical, a matter of money, or a matter of persuading someone. Some of it will be confidential, so take whatever outline they offer and do not dig.
What separates someone who is very good at this work from someone who is just competent?
Why ask it
What they name is rarely in a job description: judgment about what to leave out, say, or the ability to calm a client. That skill is the one to stay on, starting with how a beginner builds it.
Which skills are assumed on day one, and which do employers expect to teach?
Why ask it
Knowing the difference keeps you from spending a year on something an employer would have taught you in a month. If they mention specific tools or methods, get the exact names so you can look them up.
How much of your work do you decide for yourself, and how much arrives already decided?
Why ask it
Autonomy varies widely between fields and almost never shows in a posting. Ask how it was in their first year too, because that answer is the one that applies to you.
How do you know you've done a good job: a number, a client, or your manager's opinion?
Why ask it
How the work is judged shapes how it feels. A number is clear and never lets up, while a manager's opinion is gentler and harder to predict. Decide which you would prefer to live with.
How does the work fit around the rest of your life: evenings, travel, being reachable?
Why ask it
With no job on the table they have no reason to dress this up, which is the advantage of this kind of meeting. Fields go both ways with seniority: in some the hours ease, in others the phone never stops. Find out which this one is.
Who do you work with most closely, and what do those people do?
Why ask it
The people around them hold jobs you may never have heard of, and one of those may suit you better or be easier to enter. Write the titles down and look them up afterwards.
What does a mistake look like in this job, and what happens when someone makes one?
Why ask it
In some work an error costs money, in some it costs safety, and in some it is fixed by the afternoon. The answer shows both the stakes and how forgiving the culture is toward beginners.
How long does it usually take a beginner to feel competent, and what shortens it?
Why ask it
Hearing that the first year confuses nearly everyone stops you reading normal struggle as a sign you chose wrong. What shortens it tends to be specific: a good supervisor, a certain kind of project, asking for help sooner. Those are things to look for in a first employer.
What kind of person tends to be unhappy in this work, even when they are good at it?
Why ask it
Being able to do a job and being suited to it are different things, and this is about the second. If the description sounds like you, do not argue with it. Ask where those people moved on to, because that may be the better target.
The field
What are the main specialties, and how early do people have to choose one?
Why ask it
In some fields you pick in the first year and it sticks, and in others you can move around for a decade. Knowing which kind this is tells you whether the choice of first job is as heavy as it feels.
Where do you see this field heading over the next five years?
Why ask it
Nobody can forecast a field, and that is fine: what you learn is what insiders are getting ready for. Ask what they are doing about it themselves, such as learning a tool or moving toward a specialty, because their own bets tell you more than their predictions. If the answer is gloomy, ask which parts of the work they expect to hold up.
Where is the field hiring more than it used to, and where is it cutting back?
Why ask it
You want to aim at the part that is growing, and people inside see the shift before it reaches the news. It is one person's view, so ask the next person you meet the same thing and compare.
Where does the money for this work come from, and what happens to jobs when it gets tight?
Why ask it
Clients, grants, public budgets, subscribers and advertisers all behave differently in a bad year, and it helps to know which one your pay would depend on. If they describe hiring freezes or short contracts, weigh that before you spend money retraining.
How is new technology changing the entry-level work in particular?
Why ask it
Junior tasks are often the first to be automated or reshaped, and the junior job is the one you would be applying for. Ask what beginners do now that they did not do a few years ago.
How much does location matter: is the work concentrated in a few cities, or can it be done from anywhere?
Why ask it
Where the work sits has shifted with remote working, so what was true when they started may not be true now. Check how it applies to beginners in particular, since arrangements made for senior people do not always extend to new hires.
Where do people who start in this field tend to be after ten years?
Why ask it
The entry job is temporary, and the range of places it leads is what you are really choosing. Ask where the people who moved on went as well, since that shows how well the skills travel if you change your mind.
Which employers have a reputation for training people well?
Why ask it
Early on, a place that trains you properly can be worth more than one that pays a little better. People in the field know which employers turn out good people, and the names they give you become a target list.
Are there kinds of employers a newcomer should be careful about?
Why ask it
They may answer in general terms, and that is fine, so do not press for names. Even a hint such as watching how long junior staff stay gives you something to check before you accept an offer.
What pay range should a newcomer expect around here, and how does it move over the first five years?
Why ask it
Ask about the field's range, never about what they earn, and leave it until late in the conversation. Pay varies by city and employer, so treat their figure as one data point and check it against postings that list salaries.
Is there a professional association, community or event where people in the field actually gather?
Why ask it
A room full of people in the field is a faster way to meet them than writing to strangers one at a time. Ask whether students and newcomers are welcome, and whether membership is worth paying for at your stage.
What should I read or listen to so I pick up how people in the field talk and what they worry about?
Why ask it
A trade publication, a newsletter or a podcast teaches you the vocabulary, and using the field's own words in a cover letter makes you sound like a future colleague. Ask for one or two names, not a list. Telling them later that you read what they suggested is an easy opening for your thank-you note.
Getting in
How do entry-level jobs in this field usually get filled: postings, referrals, recruiters or internships?
Why ask it
If most beginners come in through referrals or internships, sending applications to postings is the slow road. The answer tells you where to put your effort for the next few months.
What makes an entry-level candidate stand out to the people who hire in this field?
Why ask it
If they have hired, or sat in on hiring, you get the view from the other side of the table. Push past 'enthusiasm' and 'fit' by asking about the last beginner who impressed them and what that person had done. If they have never been involved in hiring, ask what they think got them picked.
Which job titles should I be searching for at the entry level?
Why ask it
A small question with a large payoff. The title you have been typing into job sites may not be what the industry calls its beginners, so write down the exact wording they give you.
Where do openings get posted that an outsider would not think to look?
Why ask it
Many fields have a niche job board, an association list, a newsletter or a handful of recruiters that carry most of the junior openings. One good source can replace hours of scrolling general job sites.
When in the year does hiring happen, and how far ahead do people apply?
Why ask it
Some fields recruit on a fixed calendar many months ahead, and others hire whenever someone leaves. If there is a cycle, missing it can cost you a year, so get the months.
Is a specific degree, certificate or license truly required, or is it one route among several?
Why ask it
Some requirements are legal and some are habit, and they differ by country, state and employer. Ask before paying for a qualification, and ask whether employers ever fund it after hiring.
Would more study change where I start, or only delay when I start?
Why ask it
People inside know whether a further degree moves you up a rung or simply postpones the first one. If they took the course themselves, whether they would do it at the same point again is worth more than any prospectus.
Which courses, internships or campus activities would you tell a student to put first?
Why ask it
For a student, this turns the rest of your time in school into a plan. Ask what the strongest recent graduates they have worked with had done before they arrived, and whether it was a class, a placement or a job on the side. If you are choosing next term's courses, name the options and let them pick.
What could I do in the next three months that an employer would count as real evidence?
Why ask it
The three months force a concrete answer: a project, a portfolio piece, a volunteer role, a short course. If all you get is 'get some experience', ask what kind and where beginners find it.
How much does a portfolio, writing sample or public work count compared with a resume?
Why ask it
There are fields where nobody reads the resume until they have seen the work. If this is one, find out what a strong beginner's sample looks like and how many pieces are enough.
What do interviews in this field tend to test, and how do people prepare?
Why ask it
Formats differ a great deal: case problems, technical exercises, a presentation, a trial shift. Knowing the format months ahead lets you practice the right thing, and how they prepared for theirs is a ready-made plan.
Would starting in a neighboring role be a sensible way in, and which ones lead across?
Why ask it
An adjacent job can be a stepping stone or a label that sticks. What counts is whether they have personally seen someone make the move, and how long it took.
Is it realistic to start part-time, freelance or as a volunteer while keeping my current job?
Why ask it
For a career changer who cannot afford to quit, this decides whether the move is possible at all. Some fields have side doors like these and some only hire full-time. A flat no is still useful, because it tells you to save before you jump.
How do employers here tend to treat someone who enters mid-career?
Why ask it
Ask specifically about starting level and pay, and whether earlier experience is counted or ignored. The answer differs between employers, so ask which kinds are known to be open to it.
Advice for me
What advice would you give someone trying to break into this field today?
Why ask it
This is the broadest question on the list, and it earns its place by letting them say whatever they think matters most, which may be something you did not know to ask about. The risk is a general answer such as 'network' or 'be persistent'. When you get one, ask what that looked like when they did it, or what the first step would be this month.
From what I've told you about myself, which part of the field would you point me toward?
Why ask it
Describe yourself in a few sentences first, or they have nothing to go on. Their suggestion may be a niche you did not know existed, so ask why they picked it and what the entry job there is called.
Which parts of my background would count here, and which should I stop leading with?
Why ask it
Career changers tend to lead with what they are proudest of, which is not always what transfers. Hearing which of your experiences an insider finds relevant tells you how to rewrite the top of your resume.
What is the biggest gap between where I am now and a first job in this field?
Why ask it
You are asking for the blunt version, so do not defend yourself when it comes. Write it down, thank them, and ask how people usually close that gap.
Would you be willing to look over my resume and tell me where someone hiring in your field would stumble?
Why ask it
Say plainly that you want criticism of the document, not for it to be passed along. Have a copy ready but hand it over only if they say yes, and if time is short, offer to take comments by email later.
If you were in my place, would you go for this, and what would make you hesitate?
Why ask it
Asking about hesitation gives them permission to voice doubts they would otherwise keep to themselves. Their view rests on twenty minutes with you, so take it seriously without treating it as a verdict.
Is there a way for an outsider to watch this work being done: shadowing, an open day, sitting in on something?
Why ask it
An hour of watching can settle what several conversations leave open. Confidentiality, safety or client rules keep outsiders out of many workplaces, so take a no without pressing. Ask whether anything public comes close, such as a hearing, a demo day or a recorded talk.
What is a realistic timeline from where I am to a first offer?
Why ask it
A rough answer in months or years lets you plan savings and study, and it may be longer than you hoped. It depends on the market where you live and on how many hours a week you can give it, so tell them both before they answer.
Is there anything I've said today that would worry an interviewer?
Why ask it
They have just listened to you describe yourself, which makes this a free rehearsal. You may be talking about escaping your current job more than about wanting this one, and only a listener can tell you.
When someone asks you for a conversation like this, what makes it a good use of your time?
Why ask it
Whatever they say improves every informational interview you do after this one, and it shows you know their time is a favor. Save it for late in the meeting, when they have seen how you run one.
Next steps
We're at the time I asked for. Do you need to go, or do you have a few more minutes?
Why ask it
Calling time yourself shows you meant the twenty minutes you asked for. Many people will offer more. If they need to go, skip straight to asking who else you should talk to, and thank them.
Is there anything I haven't asked about that I should have?
Why ask it
You wrote your questions from outside the field, so you will have missed whatever an outsider cannot see. This hands them the gap to fill, and people often use it to say the thing they had been waiting to be asked. Leave a pause after it. If they say you covered everything, go on to who else you should meet.
Of everything we've covered, what would you want me to act on first?
Why ask it
A good conversation leaves you with a page of notes and no order. Their pick tells you what they think matters most, and doing it gives you something specific to report when you write to them later.
Are there two or three people you think I should talk to next, and may I mention your name?
Why ask it
One meeting becomes several here, so protect this question if time runs short. Get permission before you use their name: a note that opens with someone the reader knows is harder to ignore. If they offer an introduction, send a short paragraph they can forward.
Is there someone whose view of the field differs from yours that I should hear?
Why ask it
One person gives you one angle. This asks for a counterweight: someone at a different kind of employer, at a different stage, or who left the field. Most people can think of a friendly opposite.
Is there anything I can do for you in return, even something small?
Why ask it
You may have more to offer than you think: a student's view of how their employer comes across on campus, an article they would like, a reaction to their recruiting page. Mostly they will say no, and asking still makes the meeting less one-sided.
May I let you know in a few months how this turned out?
Why ask it
Lighter than asking to stay in touch, and easy to say yes to. It gives you a reason to write again, and a note saying you took their advice and what came of it is one people enjoy receiving.
How to run an informational interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Asking for the meeting
Who to ask
Start with people one step removed from you: graduates of your school, former colleagues, a friend's manager, someone who spoke at an event you attended. People a few years into the field are often the most useful, because they remember getting in and their route is still current. Senior people know the field better but may describe a door that has since closed.
What the message should say
Four things, in a short paragraph: who you are, how you found them, what you want to learn, and how little time you are asking for. Say twenty minutes and mean it. Offer a call or video as readily as coffee, suggest a couple of windows, and leave the choice to them. Do not attach a resume.
Say that you are not asking for a job
One plain sentence does it: you are trying to understand the field, not asking about openings. That lets them say yes without wondering what they will be asked for. Most people are happy to give advice and uneasy about being put on the spot over a vacancy.
If they do not reply
Send one short follow-up after a week or so, then let it go. Silence usually means a full inbox, not a judgment on you. Write to several people at once so that no single reply matters too much.
Fitting it into twenty minutes
How many questions fit
A full answer with one follow-up usually runs two to three minutes. Take a couple of minutes off each end for hello and goodbye, and twenty minutes holds six or seven questions, fewer if they are a storyteller. Half an hour adds three or four more, not ten. Prepare about ten, mark the five you most need answered, and accept that the rest will go unasked.
A running order
- 1Two minutes: thank them, then say in three sentences who you are and what you are weighing.
- 2Five minutes: two questions from Their path.
- 3Eight minutes: three from The work itself, The field or Getting in, whichever you know least about.
- 4Three minutes: one from Advice for me.
- 5Two minutes: ask who else you should talk to, and thank them.
Leave out what you could have looked up
Read their profile, their employer's site and a few job postings in the field beforehand. A question that a search would answer wastes the meeting. Save the time for what only a person can tell you: what the work is like, how people really get in, and what they would do in your place.
Choose by what you need to decide
A student choosing between fields needs The work itself and The field. A career changer who has already decided needs Getting in and Advice for me. Skip whole groups without guilt, and let a good answer run even if it costs you two questions.
Why you do not ask for a job
It changes what they can say
The moment you ask about a vacancy, they stop being a guide and become a gatekeeper who has to be careful. Candid talk about pay, bad employers and the dull parts of the work dries up. Advice is what you came for, and it is what they are free to give.
It breaks the terms of the meeting
They agreed to a conversation about the field. Turning it into a pitch makes them less likely to help you later, and less likely to say yes to the next person who writes to them.
If they bring up an opening themselves
Sometimes they do. Then it is fair to say you would be interested and to ask how they suggest you go about it. Let them set the next step, and send a resume only if they ask for one.
Other ways to lose their goodwill
Running past the time you asked for, talking more than you listen, arguing with their advice, and asking what they earn. Keep your own introduction short, take notes, and watch the clock yourself so they do not have to.
Following up
Write within a day
Send a short thank-you while the conversation is fresh. Name one specific thing they said and what you plan to do about it. That detail is what shows you were listening.
Make introductions easy
If they offered to introduce you, send two or three sentences about yourself that they can forward as they are. If they gave you a name to contact directly, say who suggested it in your first line, and let them know afterwards that you got in touch.
Keep notes and compare
Straight after the meeting, write down the job titles, employers, terms and names you heard, plus anything that surprised you. One person's account is one account. After five or six conversations your notes show where people agree, and those are the points to rely on.
Report back
A few weeks or months later, send two lines on what you did with their advice. It takes a couple of minutes, and people remember those who do it. That is how these meetings sometimes lead to a job without your ever asking for one.