What is a Career Conversation and What Questions Should I Ask?

A career conversation, also referred to as an informational interview, helps you gather information, most often about a specific career or field that you are interested in pursuing. Informational interviews further help you in establishing a network of professionals in the field. Are you interested in becoming an architect but are not even sure what an architect does besides design? Are there different fields within architecture? You have so many questions!

Setting up a career conversation is simple. The steps include:

  • Find a professional in the field either through a web search or LinkedIn.
  • Reach out to see if they are willing to chat with you over Zoom or over coffee.

If you’re not sure how to reach out to someone you don’t already know, read Introducing: The Email Template That’ll Get You a Meeting with Anyone You Ask.

What questions should I ask?

Before your career conversation, you’ll want to prepare a list of questions. Here are a few examples to get you started.

  1. What is your career story?
  2. How and why did you choose this profession?
  3. What kinds of skills does someone need to succeed in this position?
  4. What is the interview process like?
  5. Why do you think you got this position?
  6. What activities outside of the field help you on the job?
  7. What have you learned from this role?
  8. Was your major in college relevant to your role? Why or why not?
  9. Do you have a mentor? How have they helped you?
  10. What are some of the challenges that you often face?
  11. What is the most surprising thing about your job or the field in general?
  12. What is one thing you wish you would have known before you started?
  13. Where do you see yourself in five (ten, fifteen, etc.) years?
  14. How flexible is your role?
  15. How has the role/field/industry/company changed since you started?

For an in depth description of each of these questions and why you should ask them read: Top 15 Informational Interview Questions to Ask (and Why).

More Helpful Resources

Need some more ideas? Check out these articles and videos. Good luck and happy learning!

By Stacy Saathoff, PH.D.
Stacy Saathoff, PH.D. Career Educator
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