Networking questions

Small talk questions!

  • Where are you right now?
  • Have you been working mostly from home or from you office?
  • I love your background! Where did you get that picture/poster?
  • How do you know [person who introduced you]?
  • I noticed you went to [XYZ university], my [friend/family/colleague] went there and says great things! Do you visit often?
  • I noticed you went to highschool at [school], are you from [state]?

Personal questions about their career:

  • How did you get introduced to company? Can you tell me about your hiring process?
  • What does your day-to-day involve? How has it changed since you first started at [company]?
  • What was your most recent role before this one?
  • Do you have any mentors who you model your career after?
  • Looking back at your career, what are pivotal moments played a big part to getting you to where you are today?
  • What do you see yourself doing in 2 years? 5 years? 10 years?
  • How does your org structure work? How do you work with your direct reports and how do you work with your manager?

Company-focused questions:

  • I've learned as much as I can from the internet and articles, but i'd love to hear about [company] fro you?
  • What is the origin of [company]? Who are the founders and how did it all begin?
  • Who are your target customers? Who are the people who love your products the most?
  • How do you think you customer base will evolve over the coming years?
  • Why do you think people really love your product? What is the best part about it?
  • How does your product make people feel?
  • In which markets does your product do best?
  • How do you think the market you operate in will change over the coming years?
  • What is your company's culture like? Casual or professional? Laid back or focused?
  • What do you think is your company's most important initiative right now?
  • Looking back at the last couple of years, what do you think you might have done different?
  • Looking upcoming years, what makes you most nervous and most excited?
  • Who are your largest competitors?
  • Who are your investors?