Consulting Coffee Chat: Part 2
Part 2: Questions to ask during an informational interview
Now, per my previous article on cultivating the right mindset by understanding the three key contexts underlying the not-so-formidable informational interview, you should know two things:
What preparatory research to do
That you can relax, assume positive intentions, and try to bring your best self
Let’s talk about the nitty-gritty questions to bring to the table.
Introductions have to come first, especially if you’ve taken the big leap of faith and reached out to strangers. Thank your interviewee for their time, and then, if you have an elevator pitch, start with that. Keep it really short though: you really just need to explain why you picked them out in particular, which is usually a combination of your interest (how you came to learn about consulting, any consulting-type experiences you’ve had, the types of jobs you’re applying for, etc.) and their characteristics (their company and/or their role, their work history, etc.)
To really warm up and establish rapport, ask them some general personal questions. You want to get them talking about themselves, which usually makes people more comfortable. For example:
Can you tell me more about your career path and how you got to where you are today?
But as much as they’re interesting, you do want specific nuggets that will directly help you with your job search and career exploration. Dig deeper into your interviewee’s consulting experience, and/or ask about the specific firm they’re currently working at (or previously worked for):
Walk me through what your last week looked like. How did you spend your time? What did you do? Who did you talk to? What were you trying to accomplish?
What is the average length of your projects?
What is the average size of teams staffed for projects at your firm?
What do you enjoy most about your work?
What are the biggest challenges you face in your role?
Where possible, ask for specific examples (“tell me about your schedule last week”). There’s a good chance that, when you do this, people will still give general examples (“a typical week looks like this”). It’s easier for the interviewee to speak in general terms; it’s more valuable to you to hear specifics so you can actually start imagining what life would be like in their shoes. Asking someone to walk you through their schedule can be more illuminating than you think. You’ll get a sense of how much time they spend in client meetings, internal meetings, traveling (if any), working in PowerPoint, working with others, working on non-client initiatives, etc. You might also get a sense of how much flexibility there is; for example, if they had a doctor’s appointment in the middle of the day, or paused work at 4pm to pick up their kids and resumed again at 8pm (or didn’t!) - that’s all information that helps you visualize what that life could be like were you to get the exact same job.
It’s easier for the interviewee to speak in general terms; it’s more valuable to you to hear specifics so you can actually start imagining what life would be like in their shoes.
Asking about the “facts and figures” of project work - average duration, size of team, size of client firm, level of client’s team (as in, C-Suite? Middle management? Truthfully, depending how well you know the corporate world and specific industries, this one can be hard to parse anyway.) - can help you roughly gauge what type of consulting firm this is, if that’s something you’re still trying to figure out. The type of firm greatly impacts the lived experience of being an employee. While every firm is “unique” in its own way or is a “blend” of this-and-that type of consulting, the “facts and figures” can be a useful tell.
Note that asking people what they enjoy the most or what their biggest challenges are will probably yield you answers that aren’t directly applicable to you. After all, those are subjective questions and you will get subjective answers - without the rest of your interviewee’s life experience to compare it against! Those are also questions that require more context than they’ll be able to paint for you in your conversation to fully digest and understand. Softball questions, but open-ended, which means it’ll at least keep them talking.
If you’re really going for a clear-eyed view of what the future could look like even beyond this immediate job, or you’re looking to concretely understand what skills are leveraged and honed in this role, ask:
What kinds of roles do you feel confident taking on if you were to leave your current firm and/or exit consulting?
Note it’s not about what their aspirations and interests are; it’s about what they feel confident they can take on (and get the job for) with their existing consulting resume. Because you want to know what you can put on your resume if you get this job…and which doors that’d open up for Future You!
If there’s time to get philosophical, you can pick their brain on something more nuanced. Again, these are open-ended questions that invite your interviewee to share both something about themselves, and something about the job and/or industry. With luck, you’ll also get nuggets of good advice - along the “things I know now that I wish I knew then” lines.
What were some things that were surprising to you as you started your career in consulting? Why?
How has your perspective on consulting as a career choice changed? If so, how? (If not, in what ways have you found experience to confirm your previous assumptions before entering the industry?)
What has the process of being and growing as a consultant been like for you, was it what you imagined, and now looking back what advice would you have given yourself as you were entering this field?
What skills have you valued the most at different stages of your career, and why?
In your opinion, what makes someone a good consultant?
Express your gratitude generously. Both at the end of your conversation, and in a fairly immediate follow-up thank you note. Email, LinkedIn message, whatever the medium - send that post-call thank you note and specifically mention one or two things that really stuck with you.
Before you end the conversation, if you have specific objectives, make polite yet direct asks, be it a referral or an introduction. If you feel like you made a genuine connection, you can ask if they wouldn’t mind if you reached out again in the future. And then do - even if it’s not career-related! If you come across anything that reminds you of this conversation, you can always drop a quick note saying, “Here’s something that brought our conversation to mind; thank you again for taking the time to share your experience with me!” That’s textbook networking - congratulations!