What is one question a candidate should ask in an informational interview?
To help you ask the right questions in an informational interview, we asked CEOs and experienced recruiters this question for their best insights. From inquiring about required skills to finding out how success will be measured, there are several tips that may help you ask relevant questions to get insider information about the job you are interested in.
Here are eight questions to ask in an Informational Interview:
- What Are The Required Skills for This Role?
- How Is The Company Able To Meet The Needs of Customers?
- Why Did You Decide to Start Working In This Industry?
- What Is One Thing You Wish You Would Have Known Going Into This Field?
- If You Were to See Me Doing This Job Effectively Tomorrow, What Would That Look Like?
- What’s The Last Change You Made Based On Employee Feedback?
- How Would You Describe The Perfect Person For This Job?
- How Will Success Be Measured?
What Are The Required Skills for This Role?
Asking this question will help give you the information you need about someone’s job. It gives you an idea of where you need to start, what you need to work on, and the path to get to where you should be. Depending on the role and how long that person’s been in that position, the answer may vary, but it will give you a general perspective on the job as a whole. No matter what, asking this question is essential to take the jump to work toward your career goals.
Joe Spector, Dutch
How Is The Company Able To Meet The Needs of Customers?
A question that a candidate should ask in an informational interview is how the company is able to meet the needs of its customers. By asking this question, the candidate can better understand how the company operates and how it can help meet their specific needs. Additionally, the candidate can get a sense of the company’s culture and how it values employees.
Paw Vej, Financer.com Ltd
Why Did You Decide to Start Working In This Industry?
A great question to ask in an interview is “why did you decide to start working in this industry”. This gives you insight into your interviewer’s personality and helps you decide if you have the same motivations. Usually this question is asked by the interviewer so it might catch them off guard when the interviewee asks. This is great because you’ll likely get a more genuine answer.
Brandon Brown, GRIN
What Is One Thing You Wish You Would Have Known Going Into This Field?
Asking the right questions in information interviews can help you get the most information possible for your time with the person you are interviewing. A great question to ask is: What is one thing you wish you would have known going into this field? Asking the person you are interviewing to reflect on their career and come up with something that they wish they would have known going into the field can help you manage expectations and learn how to prepare yourself for the industry. This question is valuable because, coming from someone who has grown in the industry, they are able to provide valuable insight that typically only comes from real-life experience. In the answer look for actionable skills or educational components and what to expect from working in the industry.
Jeffrey Pitrak, Transient Specialists
If You Were to See Me Doing This Job Effectively Tomorrow, What Would That Look Like?
A powerful persuasion technique is to get someone to visualize the outcome you want. Ask your prospective employer something like, “If you were to see me doing this job effectively tomorrow, what would that look like?” The key here is to use the word, “see” to trigger your interviewer to create a mental image of you in the workplace. The word, “effectively” creates a frame that triggers positive emotions around the visualization. Later, when the hiring manager goes through the stack of applicants, their mental image of you will stand out and you’ve got a better shot at a second interview or offer.
Dennis Consorte, Snackable Solutions
What’s The Last Change You Made Based On Employee Feedback?
A candidate should ask the interviewer about the last change the company implemented based on employee feedback and the impact it had. Their answer will give you insights into the company’s culture and management style. Employees gravitate toward employers who value their opinions. This support lends itself to more productive employees by helping foster an environment of teamwork and open communication.
Jordan Duran, 6 ICE
How Would You Describe The Perfect Person For This Job?
“How would you describe the perfect person for this job?” — is a question worth asking during an informational interview. Its primary purpose is to learn the person’s characteristics the recruiter believes will best fit the role. You know which skills you can identify with and which you need to work on. This allows you to be better prepared for future interviews (if any) and, in the long run, to prepare for your job. In addition, you learn what expectations the employer has of you and what not to do to disappoint them. As a result, you have the opportunity to show yourself as the ideal employee the recruiter is looking for.
Agata Szczepanek, MyPerfectResume
How Will Success Be Measured?
When you are in an informational interview, you should ask how success will be measured for the position that you’re interviewing for. Even if you feel like you have a good grasp of what the role will entail, if you aren’t aware of how the person in that role is being measured in regards to success, it can be difficult to understand if you’re a good fit.
Brett Sohns, LifeGoal Investments
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