One of the best ways to get ahead is to learn how others achieved their career goals and what strategies they used. Most successful people are successful for a reason, and they’ll be happy to share their insights with you.
Knowing the right questions to ask someone about their career will help you get the answers you’re looking for.
We’ll explain:
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Why ask career questions to someone successful?
If you admire someone and think you want to have a similar career, it’s useful to talk to them to fully understand what they do and whether you’d suit their role. Asking good career questions will help you get to know them – and yourself.
If you’ve got a mentor, it’s good practice to prepare questions to ask your mentor about career development. However, you don’t need a formal mentorship agreement to learn from someone.
People are always keen to help, so don’t be afraid to grab that coffee, write that email or ask for that video call to pick the brains of those you admire.
Top ten career questions to ask
Some good career questions to ask someone you admire include:
1. What do you love about your job?
Get straight to the point. Find out what makes them tick and you’ll be closer to working out if their job would excite you.
2. What’s the best career decision you’ve ever made?
Learn from their career journey and find out which move was the most important one. You might want to follow a similar path.
3. What’s the worst career decision you’ve ever made?
Often, our mistakes teach us as much as our successes do. Ask someone about their bad decisions to learn from their mistakes.
4. What would you be doing if you were me now?
Asking for tips on what to do now is one of the most valuable career advice questions to ask. Times change and industries move fast, so past career journeys won’t always be relevant. Asking someone you admire for their advice on what to do right now is a great idea.
5. How do you organise your time?
Grab the opportunity to get some guidance on time management. Chances are, they’ll have picked up terrific tips during their career.
6. What do you think is your greatest strength?
We know that asking someone their greatest strength sounds like an interview question. However, asking a mentor or another person you look up to about their abilities is extremely useful. You’ll learn where their skills lie (and potentially the areas you need to improve).
7. What do you think is your greatest weakness?
It’s just as important to ask about weaknesses as strengths. You want to know about which areas are challenging.
8. How do you make decisions?
To climb a career ladder, you’ll usually need to be a good decision-maker. Ask them about how they make decisions and pick up some handy hints.
9. What do you read?
Sometimes it’s good to ask something unusual. Asking someone about what they’re reading will help you learn about who they are as a person. Plus, they might have a great recommendation to add to your To Read list!
10. What do you think are the secrets behind getting to where you’ve got to?
You want to know every trick in the book. Finding out what a successful person thinks is key to success could help you unlock an even brighter future.
Key takeaways
Our list of career advice questions isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a great place to start.
Whether you’re chatting with a mentor or someone else you admire, make sure you talk to them about their interests, abilities and decisions. It’s also worth asking them for tips.
Good luck!
Not sure what you want to do? Find out with our career path test.
If you're on the fence about what career path to pursue, don't worry. Our career path test matches you with sectors and roles that line up with your interests, so you’ll go into a field you'll love.