Career Conversation Planner
Prepare questions for a conversation with someone who does work you want to explore.
- Outline
- 4 guided steps
- Practice
- 12 writing prompts
- Keep your work
- Save or download
Before you begin
Use the conversation to learn about someone’s work, daily responsibilities, and career path. Choose what you want to understand, prepare a few open questions, and agree on how much time they can offer.
Your working draft
0 of 12 prompts answered
Save & downloadWork through one step at a time. Progress counts answered prompts, not the quality of your work. Save or download when you’re ready.
Step 1 of 4
Define what you want to learn
Choose one uncertainty that a person with relevant experience could help you understand. Do basic public research first so the conversation can go beyond facts available on an organization website.
Step 2 of 4
Choose and invite thoughtfully
Start with people in your existing network, alumni communities, faculty, or introductions you receive. Make a brief request that says how you found them, why their perspective is relevant, and the modest amount of time you are requesting.
Step 3 of 4
Choose your main questions
Prepare more questions than you expect to use, then prioritize four or five. Favor questions about the person's experience, daily work, tradeoffs, preparation, and advice. Let follow-up questions arise naturally.
Step 4 of 4
Record what you learned and follow up
Immediately afterward, record what you learned, what remains one person's perspective, and your next action. Send a brief thank-you. Ask permission before attributing, publishing, recording, or sharing anything they told you, and keep sensitive details private.
Use what you’ve written
Explore a skill from your conversation
Look up an occupation you discussed, choose a skill to practice and plan a small way to show your progress. Explore skill prompts
Read the complete worksheet
Define what you want to learn
Choose one uncertainty that a person with relevant experience could help you understand. Do basic public research first so the conversation can go beyond facts available on an organization website.
- Role, field, or work setting you are exploring:
- What do you already know from public sources?
- One uncertainty you want this conversation to reduce:
Choose and invite thoughtfully
Start with people in your existing network, alumni communities, faculty, or introductions you receive. Make a brief request that says how you found them, why their perspective is relevant, and the modest amount of time you are requesting.
- Person and the connection or public context you share:
- Why is their perspective relevant to your question?
- Your two-sentence request for a 20–30 minute conversation:
Choose your main questions
Prepare more questions than you expect to use, then prioritize four or five. Favor questions about the person's experience, daily work, tradeoffs, preparation, and advice. Let follow-up questions arise naturally.
- What surprised you after entering this work?
- Which skills do you use most often, and how did you build them?
- What would you suggest I explore next to test my interest?
Record what you learned and follow up
Immediately afterward, record what you learned, what remains one person's perspective, and your next action. Send a brief thank-you. Ask permission before attributing, publishing, recording, or sharing anything they told you, and keep sensitive details private.
- Most useful takeaway and why:
- Claim to verify with another source or perspective:
- Thank-you detail and one concrete next action:
Keep learning
An original InternshipDeadlines worksheet. These sources offer further guidance; their inclusion does not imply endorsement.