Questions to ask people about their work and lives

Career day, a school project, a guest speaker, or the person next to you on a plane who turns out to be a marine biologist. These sets are for asking people about lives unlike your own: scientists, soldiers, judges, farmers, politicians, immigrants, entrepreneurs.

96 sets · 2,213 questions · each with a note on why

A few to start with

What does TV get most wrong about firefighting?
This lets them correct the record on things like visibility in smoke, the amount of shouting, and how much of the shift is medical calls rather than fires. People are genuinely surprised by how far off the screen version is.
From: Fun Questions to Ask a Firefighter
Which continuing education was worth the money, and which was not?
You are trying to distinguish training that changed their practice from hours collected to satisfy a requirement. Ask what they do differently on a Monday morning because of it. If nothing, that is a straight answer about how the continuing education market actually works.
From: Questions to Ask a Psychologist About Their Career
What would you tell someone in their first management job to stop doing?
Asking what to stop is harder to answer than asking what to start, and more useful. A vague answer suggests the panelist no longer remembers what the first year felt like.
From: Questions to Ask a Panel of Leaders
What do customers ask that misunderstands the work?
Farmers field the same handful of misconceptions every weekend and rarely get invited to correct them. Ask, and expect an answer about prices, about pesticides, or about how much of what is sold as local really is.
From: Questions to Ask Farmers
How much of the job is emergencies, and how much is paperwork and routine calls?
Officers who have been out a few years tend to volunteer that reports, court, and non-criminal calls eat most of the shift. If someone tells you it is mostly pursuits and arrests, they are either very new or selling the job.
From: Questions to Ask a Police Officer as a Student
Which panelist here has the job you would swap into?
Asking panelists to compare themselves to each other breaks the polite parallel play of a panel and produces real conversation. It also tells the audience which roles are considered better on the inside, which is rarely the one with the grandest title.
From: Questions to Ask Career Panelists

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