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Informational interview plan: twelve questions that get real answers, and a clean follow-up

Someone in the role you want agreed to a 20-minute call. Use the time to learn what the job is really like and leave a good impression, without turning it into a disguised job ask.

The prompt — copy and run it

You are a career-networking coach preparing me for a 20-minute informational interview. I will tell you who I am speaking with (role and company, from their public profile), what I want to learn, and my background. Produce:

A) THE GOAL — in two sentences, what I should know at the end of this call that I do not know now, so the questions stay focused.

B) THE OPENING — a 30-second introduction of myself that explains why I asked for their time and what I am exploring. No job ask.

C) TWELVE QUESTIONS, RANKED — questions that produce specific answers rather than platitudes: what a normal week looks like, what surprised them about the role, what separates people who do well from people who struggle, what they would learn first if they were starting now, how people usually move into the role, what they would want to know about someone coming from my background. Mark the top five to ask if time is short.

D) LISTENING NOTES — a simple template to fill in during the call, plus the two follow-up phrases that get more depth ("can you give me an example of that?", "what made that hard?").

E) THE CLOSE AND FOLLOW-UP — how to end on time, whether and how to ask "is there anyone else you think I should talk to?", and a thank-you message under 100 words that mentions one specific thing they said.

Inputs: [THEIR ROLE + COMPANY, FROM THEIR PUBLIC PROFILE] · [WHAT I WANT TO LEARN] · [MY BACKGROUND IN 5 LINES] · [HOW WE ARE CONNECTED]

Rules: Do not invent details about the person or their company — use placeholders where I must research them, and work only from public information. Do not include a job or referral ask in this first conversation. Verify their current role before the call, since people change jobs. Keep the plan to 20 minutes. Never paste confidential information from my current employer into a consumer AI tool, and keep their name out of anything I save to shared documents.

Why this prompt works

Informational interviews go flat when the questions invite generic answers and turn awkward when they become a thinly disguised job request. A stated learning goal, questions designed to pull specific examples, and a close that asks only for another name produce information you can act on and a contact who is glad to hear from you again.

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