Informational Interviews: Best Questions to Ask
About this video
Jeff Su explains how to run informational interviews or coffee chats that give an inside view of a target company and surface unposted opportunities, arguing the quality of your questions determines whether you are forgotten or introduced onward and vouched for. He groups questions into three categories that together signal genuine curiosity beyond superficial benefits. First, tasks and responsibilities: ask what aspect of the job they find most rewarding instead of the weak ’tell me about your day-to-day,’ and ask how their performance is measured — their KPI — because review metrics give a concrete, black-and-white picture of the workload. Second, career path: ask how they began their career to see the non-linear twists and turns, ask what characteristics a recent new hire they enjoyed working with had, and ask what they found most surprising about the role as a polite way to learn the downsides. Third, industry knowledge: ask what publications to subscribe to — he cites eMarketer for marketing and Bloomberg for finance as examples of industry-specific resources — and ask what current events or trends to be aware of, which also lets you naturally show homework you have done. He closes with a non-negotiable final question to ask every time: based on what we discussed, is there anyone else you think I should talk to, to expand your network and increase the surface area for luck.
Key takeaways
- Cover three categories in every chat: tasks and responsibilities, career path, and industry knowledge
- Replace ‘day-to-day’ with ‘what do you find most rewarding?’ and ‘how is your performance measured / what is your KPI?’ for concrete answers
- Ask about a specific recent hire they liked and what was surprising about the role to get specific examples, not generic advice
- Ask for publications to follow and current trends to discuss — it proves serious interest and lets you display your own research
- Always end with: ‘Is there anyone else you think I should talk to?’ — referrals compound your chances of reaching the role
Episode details: published October 14, 2020 · 6:11 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Jeff Su’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.
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