Preparing for the Informational Interview
This activity aims to prepare students for an informational interview.
Discuss
It is important to prepare for our informational interview. Preparing includes figuring out who we want to interview, knowing the questions we want to ask, and practicing! Let’s start with figuring out who you want to interview.
If you remember from Lesson 1, you completed a My Network worksheet. Between your network and your instructor’s network [Instructors may need to use their network for this benchmark] think about who the best person might be to talk to for an informational interview. Start by looking at your list and ask yourself a few questions:
- Who has a job you’re interested in?
- Who could give you advice or connect you with someone else?
- Who is friendly and would probably be willing to help?
It could be someone you already know, like a family member, teacher, or neighbor, or someone they could introduce you to. Pick someone whose job you’re curious about and remember—it’s just a conversation to learn more. It’s okay to ask!
[Note to Instructors: You will need to gauge how much support an individual needs to set up an informational interview. Some may be able to set it up on their own, others may need you to reach out and schedule it. Depending on the group size, your students’ interests, and time available, you will want to consider if each student will have a 1:1 informational interview or if the group will complete an informational interview together with one person.]
Resource
Once you know who you will interview, what questions do you want to ask them? What do you want to know about their workday or what they do? Use one of these worksheets to come up with at least five questions. Here are two different worksheet options to choose from.
Option 1: Pick Your Questions. In this worksheet, students can circle a question from a list of questions they would like to ask in the informational interview.
Option 2: Create Your Own Questions. In this worksheet, students can research and write their own questions.
Regardless of which option you choose, use the Career Learning Note Catcher tool to take notes.
Click and Explore
If students would like more examples of questions, below are a list of resources that give examples of questions you can ask in an informational interview to help get started.
- Interview Tips: Informational Interviews | Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities
- Contains a link for the Guide to Informational Interviewing which provides information about preparing, setting-up, interviewing, and follow-up. It provides sample scripts for reaching through a phone call or email. Several links are included with informational interviewing questions.
- Informational Interviews | Community Life Guide – Employment First
- Here you can download and print a two-page list of questions to write in answers.
- Informational Interviews | Career OneStop
- This link includes ways to prepare for an introduction along with a list of sample questions to ask.
- Informational Interviewing | University of Dayton
- Includes a simple checklist for preparing along with a list of questions.
- Sample Networking Questions | Hiatt Career Center
- Printable list of questions broken down in questions related to exploration, exploring internship or job opportunities, and learning more about the organization.