There are many important questions to ask in public health informational interviews. Are you a student and don’t know where to start?
An informational interview is a meeting where you get to understand more about the path and real-world experiences of someone in your field or that you are interested in. Informational interviews are a key way to understand what you may or may not like in public health. It also helps show you how to navigate to where someone is in their public health career.. Additionally, this is a great way to network and build real relationships.
In a field like public health where your options are vast, informational interviews are a great way to get first-hand knowledge of what you may like and may not like to pursue in public health.
Informational interviews in public health are an invaluable asset to your learning. And the best thing is that people are always wanting to share about themselves and their journey getting there.
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(Related: 6 Things To Stop Doing As A Public Health Student)
General Knowledge Informational Interview Questions
These general knowledge questions are a great starting point when for starting your public health informational interviews. These questions can be used in many scenarios and give you valuable information on real-world public health careers.
- Can you tell me about yourself and career path up until this role? (Interrupt within reason to dig deeper into something interesting they said.)
- How did you become interested in the field? Do you still feel this same interest today?
- What’s a typical day like in your job?
- What does it take to be successful in your role?
- What type of problems do you deal with?
- What knowledge, skills/skillsets, and experiences are necessary for success in your position?
- What do you like most and least about your role?
- What do career advancements in this field look like?
- If you could rewind your career path, is there anything you would have done differently?
- How does your job affect your general life? Work-life balance?
- How relevant to your work was your undergraduate degree?
Job Interest Informational Interview Questions
If you’re more interested in knowing what the person’s job is like then these questions are great for you. These can help you better gauge the specific public health job, company, role, or field that you may be interested in entering into.
- What would you recommend I do at this point to get into this field?
- Is there anyone else you would recommend I talk to in this field?
- What kinds of courses are most valuable in order to gain the skills necessary for success in this position?
- Are there any certificates that would make me more competitive for a role like this?
- What makes a resume impressive in this role or company?
- What’s the company culture like here?
- What important key words/buzzwords should be included in my resume?
- Who else do you recommend I talk to about my interest?
- How do people generally get into this field, what are some common entry-level jobs?
- Given my experience and knowledge in [insert], are there any potential openings that you know of that I would be a good fit for?
- Do you know any other people or organizations that are looking for persons with my type of skillsets and education?
Negotiating Informational Interview Questions
If you are trying to find out more about a certain company or are having a conversation with the HR person or other member of staff. These questions can be helpful to get you better idea of what can be negotiated if you do get to the offer stage of a job interview.
- What’s the typical salary range for an entry level job in this company/industry?
- I’ve read that the salary range for this position is $xx,xxx-$xxx,xxx. Does that fit with what you see?
- What’s the typical salary range for [insert position]?
- Are there any negotiables I should be aware of for your company outside of typical things like salary and PTO?
- What is the budget allocated for professional development?
- Question about PTO and if this is negotiable.
Getting an MPH Informational Interview Questions
Getting information on Master of Public Health (MPH) programs if you are an undergraduate can be thoroughly valuable. Undergraduate students should take note of these questions and try to get information to know what MPH program will best suit them and their career aspirations.
- Are there any specific MPH programs you see persons in your company/industry coming from?
- Is there a specific concentration I should focus on?
- What was your experience with your MPH program, is it one you would recommend given my interest in [insert]?
- What do you think would help me be a top candidate for an MPH program?
- Are there opportunities for valuable internships and other experiences through this specific MPH program?
- Are there openings for graduate assistantships during the program?
- What sorts of financial aid, scholarships, and other supports are available?
“If you only have 15 minutes” Questions
Some informational interviews can be very short especially if you’re meeting with someone who is rather busy. These are the main questions I’d make sure to hit on if you do just have 15 minutes in your public health informational interview.
- Give me a quick overview of how you got to this position?
- What does your day to day look like? Favorite part of role/least favorite part of role?
- Why are you working in the field/posiiton you’re working in?
- What is the hardest thing about the work that you do?
- What are the most important skillsets for me to develop to be successful in this field?
- Do you have anyone else you can connect me to that you think chatting with will be valuable?
Other Tips
A public health informational interview is nothing more than a conversation where you are trying to gain more insights. So in proper conversation style, you should be prepared to ask follow up questions from what is happening in the conversation.
I don’t think I have to say this, but here it goes anyway – make sure that you are taking notes of the conversation. Write down what’s important, note follow up questions, what additional questions do you have to research, what new ideas are coming up? Take good notes so that you can refer back to them or ask others questions that came up from this conversation.
Make sure that you follow up after the conversation. Building lasting relationships does not have to be talking to the person every day, nor every week. Some valuable relationships, you may check in once a month or once a quarter. The important thing is that you are active in continuing to build the relationship because we all know opportunities come in likely and unlikely times.
Conclusion
Informational interviews are a key part of discovering public health more fully. People love to talk about themselves and share their path to getting there. Make sure to put yourself out there to get those informational interviews.
If you have don’t know where to start, these questions will be great to help you think about what you can ask in information interviews.
Which of these public health informational interview questions are you going to use?
