Questions to ask a mentor or about a career

How did you handle the financial side of school, given that most programmes do not allow working?

A practical planning question rather than a personal one. Ask about loans, savings and how long the programme actually ran, since the gap in income is the part people underestimate.

From: Questions to Ask a CRNA When Shadowing

What did the hiring process and academy involve?

The path usually includes a written test, physical standards, a background investigation, a polygraph or psychological screening, months of academy, then field training. Ask how long the whole thing took, since the wait between application and hire surprises most applicants.

From: Questions to Ask a Police Officer About Their Career

Did you have a mentor, and what did they do for you that a book could not?

Separates real mentorship from the word being used loosely. The revealing answers involve someone saying an uncomfortable thing at the right moment, or putting a name forward in a room the person was not in.

From: Questions to Ask a Panel of Professionals

What part of the job would you not have believed before you started?

Open enough to get something unrehearsed, and it often surfaces the things brochures leave out: how much of the week is administrative, how often people stop coming without saying why, how long change takes, how rarely you find out what happened to someone.

From: Questions to Ask a Psychologist About Their Career

Would you move cities for the right job? Where's the line?

Far better explored before a real offer arrives with a deadline. You are looking for the actual limits: distance from family, places he would refuse, and whether your own job appears anywhere in the calculation.

From: Questions to Ask Your Boyfriend About His Career

What did you expect the job to be, and what has it actually been?

Opens with the gap between the brochure and the work, which most doctors are glad to talk about. The size of the gap they describe is more informative than any list of pros and cons.

From: Questions to Ask Doctors About Their Career