Informational interview questions that get specific answers

The best informational interview questions ask about the person's own recent work, not the industry in general. "Walk me through what you did last Tuesday" gets a more useful answer than "What is a typical day like?" Pick six to eight questions from the bank below, put the one you most need answered near the top, and leave room to follow up on anything surprising.

Most informational interviews last 20 to 30 minutes, according to UC Berkeley's career center. That is enough time for a short warm-up, two or three topics and a closing question. It is not enough for a list of twenty.

Here is a hypothetical example. Marco is a founder considering software for independent hotels. He has booked 25 minutes with a hotel operations manager. He needs to know how the front desk handles overbookings and who would approve buying a new tool. He picks two warm-up questions, four questions about the work, one about decisions and two closing questions.

Warm-up questions

Start with something easy that also tells you how to read the rest of the conversation.

• What does your role cover, and how long have you done it?
• What kind of organization is this: how big, and who are its customers?
• What were you doing before this job?

Questions about the work itself

These are the core of most informational interviews. Ask about specific recent events and follow them.

• Walk me through the last full shift or week you worked. What took most of your time?
• What went wrong most recently, and what did you do about it?
• Which tasks do you spend time on that you think should take less?
• Who do you depend on to get your work done, and who depends on you?
• What tools or systems do you use every day? What do you do outside them, in spreadsheets, chat or on paper?
• What would surprise someone new to this job in their first month?

GOV.UK's interview guidance recommends focusing on stories and real examples rather than how things "should" happen, and following up with simple questions like "When was that?" and "Can you tell me more about that?" Those follow-ups often matter more than the next question on your list.

Questions about how they got here

These matter most if you are exploring the career yourself. Kansas State University's guide lists several, including how they got into the field and what skills matter most.

• How did you get into this field? Would you take the same route today?
• Which skills turned out to matter more than you expected?
• What do you like most about the job, and what do you like least?
• What should someone starting out read, learn or try first?

Questions about how the industry works

Founders, investors and anyone switching industries usually need these. Keep them tied to the person's own experience.

• Tell me about the last time your team bought a new tool or service. Who suggested it, and who approved it?
• Which suppliers or partners do you rely on most? What happens when one of them lets you down?
• What changed in your work over the last two years? What caused it?
• Which numbers does your manager look at to judge how your team is doing?

If you are in a field you know little about, our guide to expert interview questions for an unfamiliar industry goes deeper on mapping how money and decisions move.

Closing questions

• Is there anything I should have asked but didn't?
• Who else would be good to talk to about this? May I mention your name?
• Can I follow up by email if I have a short question later?

K-State's list includes asking for further contacts and whether you can use the person's name. A good introduction is often the most useful thing you leave with.

Questions to rewrite or skip

Asking for a job turns the conversation into something the person did not agree to. Asking whether they would use your product invites a polite guess. Both give you less than a story about what they actually did.

Before the call

Circle the three questions you most need answered and ask them first. Afterward, write down what you learned and the one question you still have, which usually tells you who to talk to next. If you need that next person to be someone outside your network, the informational interview guide covers how to ask, and Instant Expert can find people whose work matches your question, such as operations professionals in hospitality for Marco. You review them, it sends the invitations and you pay for each call that gets booked.