Sample Questions to Ask During an Informational Interview You will not have time to ask all of the questions that you will want to ask the interviewee. Remember to focus on the ones you feel will be most useful to you personally. Pick10-15 to use as a guideline but leave room for the possibility that other questions will develop from your conversation. x What is your job like? o A typical day? o What do you do? What are the duties/functions/responsibilities of your job? o What kind of problems do you deal with? o What kinds of decisions do you make? o What percentage of your time is spent doing what? o How does the time use vary? Are there busy and slow times or is the work activity fairly constant? x Why did this type of work interest you and how did you get started? x How did you get your job? What jobs and experiences have led you to your present position? x Can you suggest some ways a student could obtain this necessary experience? x What are the most important personal satisfactions and dissatisfactions connected with your occupation? What part of this job do you personally find most satisfying? Most challenging? What do you like and not like about working in this industry? x What things did you do before you entered this occupation? o Which have been most helpful? o What other jobs can you get with the same background? x What are the various jobs in this field or organization? x Why did you decide to work for this company? x What do you like most about this company? x How does your company differ from its competitors? x Are you optimistic about the company’s future and your future with the company? x What does the company do to contribute to its employees’ professional development? x How does the company make use of technology for internal communication and outside marketing? x What sorts of changes are occurring in your occupation? x How does a person progress in your field? What is a typical career path in this field or organization? o What is the best way to enter this occupation? o What are the advancement opportunities? o What are the major qualifications for success in this occupation? x What are the skills that are most important for a position in this field? x What particular skills or talents are most essential to be effective in your job? How did you learn these skills? Did you enter this position through a formal training program? How can I evaluate whether or not I have the necessary skills for a position such as yours? x How would you describe the working atmosphere and the people with whom you work? x What can you tell me about the corporate culture? x Is there flexibility related to dress, work hours, vacation schedule, place of residence, etc.? x What work-related values are strongest in this type of work (security, high income, variety, independence)? x If you job progresses as you like, what would be the next step in your career? Kori Ryerson Though these a.

1. Sample Questions to Ask During an Informational Interview
You will not have time to ask all of the questions that you will
want to ask the interviewee. Remember to
focus on the ones you feel will be most useful to you
personally. Pick10-15 to use as a guideline but leave
room for the possibility that other questions will develop from
your conversation.
x What is your job like?
o A typical day?
o What do you do? What are the
duties/functions/responsibilities of your job?
o What kind of problems do you deal with?
o What kinds of decisions do you make?
o What percentage of your time is spent doing what?
o How does the time use vary? Are there busy and slow times or
is the work activity fairly
constant?
x Why did this type of work interest you and how did you get
started?
x How did you get your job? What jobs and experiences have
led you to your present position?
x Can you suggest some ways a student could obtain this
necessary experience?
x What are the most important personal satisfactions and
dissatisfactions connected with your
occupation? What part of this job do you personally find most

2. satisfying? Most challenging?
What do you like and not like about working in this industry?
x What things did you do before you entered this occupation?
o Which have been most helpful?
o What other jobs can you get with the same background?
x What are the various jobs in this field or organization?
x Why did you decide to work for this company?
x What do you like most about this company?
x How does your company differ from its competitors?
x Are you optimistic about the company’s future and your future
with the company?
x What does the company do to contribute to its employees’
professional development?
x How does the company make use of technology for internal
communication and outside
marketing?
x What sorts of changes are occurring in your occupation?
x How does a person progress in your field? What is a typical
career path in this field or
organization?
o What is the best way to enter this occupation?
o What are the advancement opportunities?
o What are the major qualifications for success in this
occupation?
x What are the skills that are most important for a position in
this field?
x What particular skills or talents are most essential to be
effective in your job? How did you learn
these skills? Did you enter this position through a formal
training program? How can I evaluate

3. whether or not I have the necessary skills for a position such as
yours?
x How would you describe the working atmosphere and the
people with whom you work?
x What can you tell me about the corporate culture?
x Is there flexibility related to dress, work hours, vacation
schedule, place of residence, etc.?
x What work-related values are strongest in this type of work
(security, high income, variety,
independence)?
x If you job progresses as you like, what would be the next step
in your career?
Kori Ryerson
Though these are good sample interview questions, we will need
to revise them
to focus on writing in the interviewee's discipline.
Kori Ryerson
Kori Ryerson
Kori Ryerson
Kori Ryerson
Kori Ryerson
You will not have time to ask all of the questions that you will
want to ask the interviewee. Remember to

4. focus on the ones you feel will be most useful to writing about
writing in your discipline. Pick10-15 to use as
a guideline but leave room for the possibility that other
questions will develop from your conversation. [Only about 5 of
your interview questions should be genera/not about writing.]
Kori Ryerson
Kori Ryerson
x With the information you have about my education, skills, and
experience, what other fields or
jobs would you suggest I research further before I make a final
decision?
x How is this industry affected by the economy?
x What can you tell me about the employment outlook in your
occupational field? How much
demand is there for people in this occupation? How rapidly is
the field growing? Can you
estimate future job openings?
x What obligations does your employer place on you outside of
the ordinary workweek? What
social obligations go along with a job in your occupation?
o Are there organizations you are expected to join? Are there
organizations you suggest I
join?
o Are there other things you are expected to do outside of work
hours?

5. x What is the salary range for various levels in this field? Is
there a salary ceiling?
x From your perspective, what are the problems you see
working in this field?
x What are the major frustrations of this jobs?
x What interests you least about the job or creates the most
stress?
x What are the educational requirements for this job? What
other types of credentials or licenses are
required? What types of training do companies offer persons
entering this field?
x Does your work relate to any experiences or studies you had
in college?
x How well did your college experience prepare you for this
job?
x What courses have proved to be the most valuable to you in
your work? What would you
recommend for me?
x What weight does grades/GPA hold for obtaining a job in this
field?
x What abilities or personal qualities do you believe contribute
most to success in this field/job?
x What are the typical entry-level job titles and functions? What
entry-level jobs are best for
learning as much as possible?
x Who else do you know who is doing similar kinds of work or
using similar skills? What other
kinds of organizations hire people to perform the functions you
do here? Do you know of other
people whom I might talk to who have similar jobs?
x Do you have any advice for someone interested in this

6. field/job? Are there any written materials
you suggest I read? Which professional journals and
organizations would help me learn more
about this field?
x What kinds of experience, paid or unpaid, would you
encourage for someone pursuing a career in
this field?
x What special advice do you have for a student seeking to
qualify for a position in this field?
x Do you have any special words of encouragement or warning
as a result of your experience?
x How would you assess the experience I’ve had so far in terms
of entering this field?
x If you feel comfortable and it seems appropriate, Would you
mind taking a look at my resume?
Linguistics 305W Project 2 Prompt
The purpose of this profile is to describe how writing is used in
your profession. Your article should give details
about the role of writing in your interviewee’s work to let other
students in your major know what to expect
upon graduating. The profile should briefly explain other
aspects of the professional’s job, but the main focus should
be writing in this discipline.
Project #2: Professional Profile
Rough Draft due Thursday, June 5th Final Draft due
Monday, June 9th

7. For this project, you will need to contact and interview someone
who is currently working in your professional or
academic field. Ideally, this individual currently holds a job
that you would like to have when you graduate.
Your interview will be written as a profile article for a
department newsletter distributed to other students in your
discipline. (format: newsletter, audience: fellow SDSU students
in your major)
Your feature article will need to include the following:
1. An appropriate introduction that
a. identifies the person you interviewed,
b. conveys a sense of the interviewee and his or her work,
and
c. conveys the purpose of the article.
Read the introductions to the example profiles in your text on p.
211, 216, and 238. What do these introductions have in
common? Check p. 237-238 for techniques for beginning a
profile article.
2. A description of the nature of the work the interviewee does.

8. This could include a description, for example, of a
typical day (or typical duties, responsibilities), the most
stressful part of the job (or the most rewarding, most
difficult, most boring, etc.).
3. A description of the role of written language in your
interviewee’s work.
What kind of writing does your interviewee have to do in order
to be successful on the job? How much
writing is involved and what kind is most frequent or most
important?
4. Advice from your interviewee for students planning to enter
the field.
5. A prediction concerning the future professional lives of
students in your field (i.e., those who will read the
article). Include a discussion of the role writing will play in
your professional/academic future. To do this, reflect
on the information you learned in the interview and supply
relevant examples.
6. Support for your statements from quoting or paraphrasing the
comments of your interviewee.

9. portion of project points
Rough Draft 30
Peer Edit 20
Final Draft 100
TOTAL 150
Linguistics 305W Project 2 Prompt
WRITER INTERVIEW GRADING RUBRIC:
CONTENT (50 POINTS)
(15) Present the purpose of the profile article. Identify the
interviewee and his/her job/position. Explain why the
interviewee’s job/position is relevant to the writer’s
professional interests. Discuss the importance of writing to
the interviewee’s job.
( 5) Provide a description of the nature of the work the
interviewee does.
(10) Describe the role of written language in your
interviewee’s work.
(10) Tell why the information you have presented is important
to you and your readers. This will concern the future
writing tasks students in your discipline have to look forward
to.

10. (10) Quote and paraphrase the comments of the interviewee.
ORGANIZATION (30 POINTS)
(10) Present information as a profile article for a student
newsletter for your discipline.
(10) Effectively use ways of organizing information (text
types such as explanation, definition, description).
(10) Use appropriate transitions between paragraphs and
amongst sentences.
LANGUAGE (20 POINTS)
(5) Appropriate and correct use of quotations from the
interviewee.
(5) Effective use of a variety of sentence structures. (Avoid:
Fragments, Run-Ons, and comma splices.
(5) Adherence to Subject-Verb Agreement rules.
(5) Verb consistency and proper usage of adjectives.
SCORE:

11. 150
LING%305W%
Project%#2%Profile%Interview%
!
%
DEPARTMENT%NEWSLETTER%ARTICLE%FORMAT%
!
Mandatory!Components!(What!you!must!include):!
1.%Article%title%
%
(Example:%Dr.%Edwin%McGavin:%A%Visionary%for%Politic
al%Science%Students)%
2.%Paragraphs%
%%%%S%No%indentations%for%paragraphs%
%%%%S%Single%spacing%for%paragraphs%and%double%spa
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%%%%S%Short%in%length%
3.%Columns%

12. %%%%S%Typically%2S3%columns%are%placed%on%a%page
%
4.%Lines%
%%%%S%Lines%help%break%up%the%organization%into%dif
ferent%sections%
%
(Example:%Lines%separate%the%name%of%the%newsletter%f
rom%the%paragraphs%and%from%%
titles.)%
5.%Newsletter%name,%department%name,%and%university%n
ame%
(Example:%Mathematics%&%Statistics%Department%Newslett
er;%San%Diego%State%University)%
6.%Heading%information%
%%%%%S%Your%full%name,%professor’s%name,%course,%p
roject%draft%number,%date%
%%%%%S%Note:%this%information%is%not%typically%inclu
ded,%however,%for%our%purpose,%you%will%be%%
required%to%include%these%elements%
Example:%% Marko%Lijubiac%
% % Professor%Shaffer%
% % LING%305W%

13. % % Project%#2%Draft%1%
% % 14%October%2010%
7.%Photo,%graphic,%or%logo%
%%%%%S%Note:%choose%at%least%one%of%these%items%t
o%include%
% Example:%%
%
8.%Page%numbers%
%
%
Optional!Components!(What!you!may!include):!
1.%Content%
%%%%S%Use%of%allusion%is%highly%visible%
%
(Example:%Students%at%SDSU%consistently%fill%Dr.%McGa
vin’s%office.)%
2.%Multiple%photos,%graphics,%and%logos%
3.%Website%address%
%
%

14. !
Cheng Li
Ruby Lv
Company management
June 3, 2014
Profile Interview for Linguistics 305W
Hello Ruby Lv
My name is Cheng Li and I am currently enrolled in Linguistics
305W and my next project includes interviewing a professional
who works in a position related to my business management
career path that I am interested in obtaining post-graduation.
I am contacting you because I would like to interview you for
this project. The main focus of the interview will be centered on
the use of writing for your position. The interview should take
between 15 – 30 minutes.
My Linguistics 305W professor suggests that I request a copy of
your resume for use in our project as well. If you are willing to
provide an electronic or printed copy, it would be very helpful.
Should you be available for an interview, please respond to me
by email at
[email protected]. I can meet you on Wednesday, June 4 at
10:00pm through the phone call. If another time works better
for you, please let me know. The interview must be completed
before Monday June 5th, 2014.
Your time and consideration are greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Cheng Li
Business Management Student
San Diego State University
[email protected]