-- REINDEXED 2020-08-08)
A key element in preparation for a successful informational interview is being prepared with appropriate questions ready to ask.
Since you have a limited amount of time for the interview, typically less than 30 minutes, being very well-prepared is a necessity.
Do NOT expect that you will be able to ask all or even half of the questions listed below.
The questions listed below are grouped by subject: the person, the job or profession, and the employer, plus questions for new grads to ask.
Prioritize the questions that are most important to you, and expect that you will probably be able to ask only 5 to 10 questions in the short amount of time for the interview.
Hopefully, you know why you asked the person for the interview, so you have (had?) a goal in mind when you started. As you progress in your informational interviews, you may learn things that will add new concerns or, at least, additional things to consider or questions to ask.
The best strategy is to start with people you know. You will be more comfortable asking the questions and you will also start to collect the names of people you don't know. Then, move on to people you don't know.
To make the best impression and also to collect the most useful and relevant information, prepare in advance to ensure that the opportunity isn't wasted.
For example, assume you are a woman interviewing a woman who was in middle management at your target employer, your goal could be to learn about how women are treated in the organization. So, you would ask questions like these: How many women are in senior management? Are they treated with the same respect as senior male managers? Are women promoted as often as men? Are women paid as well as men?
Yes, you can do research to answer some of these questions -- like how many women are at the VP level in the company, and you can note if they are in "line" or "support" roles. Knowing that the woman you are interviewing was a middle manager, not a VP, you can be sure that she has some experience, insight, and opinions on this topic. And, if you are a woman who wants to be a VP in this organization (eventually), this information will be very helpful for you.
Prepare questions (see below) focused on your goal to help you gain the most useful information from each interview. Remember, this isn't a 2-hour discussion. At most, it is 15 or 20 minutes. Stay focused on your objective, and be very respectful of the favor your interviewee is doing by giving you some of their time.
Prepare as many questions as you can that are relevant to the person and their career, and then prioritize your questions.
Focus on asking "open-ended questions."
Open-ended questions are those questions which cannot (usually) be answered by a simple "yes" or "no." An open ended question should result in the most useful information, providing you with ideas that you may not have even considered (or thought to ask about). They typically start with words like "why..." or "how..."
At the beginning of the interview, ask this question:
This is not an open ended question, and the only one I recommend. But, it is a question you should ask. If you receieve a "no" as a response (very rare), respect it. You might want to follow up with a "Why?" response to see if you can provide some reassurance in case the person has had some bad experience. But don't push too hard. You need the person to feel comfortable to be frank with you.
If you can't take notes during the interview, write down as many things as you can immediately after you leave the interview.
Then, ask these kinds of questions (more below):
At the end of the interview, ask these questions. Typically these questions are best left for the end of the discussion, but the answers can be extremely important to you so allow at least a couple of minutes at the end of the interview to ask them. These questions give you insight into things you probably hadn't been considering (but should). Be sure to ask these questions in every interview
And, last but NOT least:
If you make a bad impression on the person you are interviewing, that impression may permanently close a network "doorway" for you. Done well, informational interviews expand your professional network and can be an excellent foundation for your career.
Everyone should ask questions like the questions below. You very likely don't have time to ask all of these questions, so ask the ones (five to ten) that are the most important to you and most relevant to your goals.
To establish some rapport at the beginning of the interview, particularly if you don't know the person well (or they don't have a LinkedIn Profile), ask a question or two about their background and experience like these:
This will give you an idea of where the person is in their career and how informed they are about this profession/job or employer.
From the person with the job or profession you may want next, you want to learn the answers to some of these questions:
Ask more questions as they occur to you, and, certainly, ask follow-up questions if someone provides you with a new idea or concern.
If you are interviewing a current employee, don't ask questions that could be answered by a review of the employer's website. That's a disrespectful waste of their valuable time.
When you are interviewing someone who works (or worked) for the employer you may want next, you could ask:
Learn as much as you can about a potential employer, understanding that a current employee, particularly one who doesn't know you well (or has any reason to trust you) may not be completely open about the negative aspects of working where they currently work.
Whether you are currently attending or recently graduated from college or graduate school, these questions are relevant to your specific situation. The answers will help you choose your target employers, and craft your best plan for getting hired:
The answers to these questions can help you to determine your fit for an employer, taking into consideration the opinions of other employees.
You get the idea. These questions can be your starting point. Not all of these questions may be appropriate for every interview, and you will hopefully think of many more you can ask as the interview progresses. Collect information! Know the information you would like to collect from each person, and ask questions that help you understand more about the profession, job, employer. Then, be sure to ask for the name of someone else who might also be interested in helping you.
Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Facebook, LinkedIn.
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