Questions to Ask in an Informational Interview When Comparing Career Paths

Ask both people what they worked on last week, how they entered the role, and what conditions would affect your ability to do the work. Use the same core questions in both informational interviews so you can compare the answers. Save a few minutes for whatever you learn that you couldn't have predicted from the job descriptions.

The goal is to decide which path deserves your next hour of research or practice. You can make that decision without committing to a career change.

Decide what would change your mind

Write down one decision and the uncertainty holding it up. For example, a retail shift lead comparing purchasing coordination with logistics dispatch might ask, “Which role would use my scheduling experience while letting me plan around fixed evening commitments?”

That question gives you a reason to ask who handles a late shipment, when that work happens, and what a new hire owns. “Do you like your job?” could start a good conversation, but it gives you little to compare.

Talk to someone who does each job at a level close to the one you could enter. A director can explain how a team is organized. A coordinator who joined last year can tell you what landed on their desk in week one. If you still need to set up the conversation, use the informational interview request guide.

Pick three or four questions for a 20-minute call

UC Berkeley Career Engagement recommends preparing open-ended questions and keeping to the agreed time. Use the prompts below to build a short list. If an answer matters to your decision, ask for an example before moving on.

• Daily work. “What took up most of your time last week?” If the answer is broad, try “Can you walk me through one task from when it arrived to when you handed it off?”
• Schedule and constraints. “Tell me about the last time something urgent came in near the end of your shift. Who handled it, and when?” Ask whether that coverage arrangement applies to their team or to other teams they've worked on as well.
• Entry route. “What did you have to learn in your first month, and what experience were you expected to bring?” If they joined years ago, ask what they saw a recent hire come in knowing.
• Evidence of fit. “I've built weekly staffing schedules and handled last-minute changes. Where would that experience help on your team?” Follow up with “What task would still be new to me?”

Spend the first two minutes explaining what you're comparing and why you asked this person. Use the next eight minutes for the work and schedule, then seven for entry and fit. In the last three, check one thing you may have misunderstood and ask where you could verify it. End at the agreed time.

Put the answers side by side

Use the same fields for each conversation. Write down what the person observed separately from what you concluded. The following notes are fictional.

Path A. Purchasing coordinator at a regional distributor

• Work example. The coordinator spent Tuesday matching late supplier confirmations to open purchase orders and asking vendors for revised delivery dates.
• Schedule evidence. The buyer handled vendor escalations after the coordinator's shift on this team.
• Entry evidence. The coordinator had inventory experience before joining and learned the purchasing system on the job. They suggested practicing how to reconcile a purchase order against a changed delivery schedule.
• Open question. Do nearby employers expect coordinators to have used a particular purchasing system already?

Path B. Dispatcher at a local carrier

• Work example. A driver called out midshift. The dispatcher reassigned stops and notified customers whose delivery windows changed.
• Schedule evidence. This team rotated Saturday evening coverage. The dispatcher had also worked at a carrier with a separate evening crew.
• Entry evidence. The dispatcher used store scheduling as an example in their interview. Learning route constraints took practice.
• Open question. Do nearby carriers offer a fixed shift at the level I'd enter?

The shift lead has a reason to explore purchasing first. The vendor follow-up is new, and the purchasing team described a handoff that fits the lead's schedule. The lead can compare three local purchasing listings for required software experience and try a sample order-reconciliation exercise. Dispatch stays on the list if a fixed-shift opening turns up.

Check what explains conflicting answers

Suppose another purchasing coordinator says their team stays late during inventory close. Ask how often that happens, who covers it, and whether it was spelled out in the job posting. Record the two arrangements with their employer context. If your availability is a hard limit, confirm the actual schedule with the employer before investing in the application process.

When the disagreement is about a qualification, check current postings for the same level and ask a recent hire or recruiter how the team evaluates it. One person's route into the field can suggest a possibility. The requirements of an opening are a separate question.

Copy this comparison worksheet

Fill in one copy for each path. Keep any unresolved deal-breaker visible when you pick the next step.

Path, employer or team, and role level:
What I need to decide:
Example of work from a recent week:
Schedule or other constraint, with a concrete example:
What a recent hire brought and what they learned:
My experience that transfers, and one gap:
What I still need to verify and where:
My next action and what would change it:

After the call, send a thank-you that names what you learned. When you're ready to look for openings along the path you chose, Personal Reach can help you find relevant jobs and prepare outreach drafts you can review and edit. Use what you learned to check that each draft describes the work you want and the experience you actually have.