30 Coffee Chat Questions That Turn Networking Calls Into Referrals

Ask a banker for 15 minutes and you have room for four or five questions, which is how many the University of Rochester's career center suggests preparing, as long as none of them is generic. That makes each question count. The best coffee chat questions ask about the banker's own path, work, and advice, which keeps the call specific and gives them a reason to remember you when referrals come up. Those answers also give you details you can use later in your applications and interviews.

I'm Stephen Turban, founder of WSG and a McKinsey & Company and Harvard alum. I went through McKinsey's on-cycle recruiting myself, and I've since guided dozens of students through it. By the end of this list you'll have questions for every stage of a call, know what each one tells you, know which closing questions open the door to a referral, and know which questions to leave out.

How to Pick the Questions for One Call

The University of Rochester's coffee chat guide suggests preparing four or five questions that aren't generic, so pick the ones that fit the person you're talking to. A good mix for one call is one from the first group, two or three from the work, firm, or recruiting groups, and one closing question. Most of these are written for an analyst or associate; with a more senior banker, the questions about their path, their group, and their advice (such as 1, 2, 12, 13, 18, and 25) tend to work best. For setting up the call, running it, and following up afterward, see our guide to investment banking networking.

Questions About Their Path Into Banking

These are good opening questions because they're easy for the banker to answer and get them talking about decisions they made themselves. The answers also show you which parts of a background actually mattered for someone who got the job, which you can compare with your own.

1. How did you decide on investment banking over the other paths you were looking at?

Hearing how someone else weighed the choice gives you better material for your own answer to why banking than reasons you've only read about.

2. What made you choose this bank and this group?

Their answer gives you firm-specific reasons you can check against your own, which is what you'll need when an interviewer asks why their bank.

3. Which classes, clubs, or jobs helped you most once you started?

This tells you what preparation paid off on the job, which is more useful than a list of what looks good on a résumé.

4. What do you know now that you wish you'd known as a sophomore?

Change the class year to match yours. It invites advice aimed at exactly where you are, from someone who was there a few years ago.

5. Did you join your group directly, or start in a generalist class and get placed later?

Banks do both: William Blair's summer analysts, for example, are assigned directly to a group, while other banks hire a general class and match people to groups later, as IB Interview Questions describes for Morgan Stanley's New York generalist track. The answer tells you whether you're applying to a group or to the bank as a whole, which changes how specific your answer to why this group needs to be.

6. How has your role changed since you started?

This shows you what the job turns into after the first year, and it often brings out the parts of the work the banker enjoys most, which makes for an easy, warm stretch of conversation.

Questions About the Day-to-Day Work

Once the banker's talking comfortably, move to the job itself. These questions get you details you won't find on a careers page, and those details are what make your interest in the job sound real when you write a cover letter or answer an interview question.

7. What kinds of work fill a typical week for you: pitches, live deals, or internal projects?

Asking about a week gets a more accurate picture of the work than asking about a day, because days can look very different depending on what's live. Use the mix they describe when you explain what you expect the job to be.

8. How does your team split the work on a live deal, and what does the analyst own?

The answer tells you what you'd actually be responsible for as a junior banker, which is the clearest view of the job you can get before you're in it.

9. What's a recent project you can talk about, and what did you do on it?

The words "can talk about" let them leave out anything confidential. You'll hear what a real piece of work looked like from the inside, and you'll have a specific detail to mention when you follow up.

10. Which skills matter most for an analyst in your group?

Whatever they name is what to keep practicing once interviews are over, so you start the job ready for the work.

11. What's the hardest part of the job, and how do you handle it?

This is where hours and workload tend to come up, so save it for the middle of the call, once the banker has been open with you. It asks for something concrete, and the second half shows you how people on that team handle the pressure.

Questions About Their Group and Firm

These questions help you tell one bank from another, which matters because you'll be asked why this firm. They work best when you've already read about the group's recent deals, so you can ask about something specific.

12. I read about your group's work on [deal]; is that typical of what you've been busiest with this year?

Building on your own research shows preparation, and their answer gives you something current to mention in an interview with that bank.

13. What's changing in your sector or product area that's shaping the deals you're working on?

A banker sees their market through live work, so their answer tells you which trends and deals to read up on before an interview with that group.

14. How does your group usually win new clients?

Listen for whether the group competes through industry relationships, a particular product, or a track record in one kind of deal. That can tell you which of your own experiences to bring up: anything client-facing for a relationship-led group, your analytical work for a product group, or any exposure to that kind of deal for a group known for it.

15. Who do you work with most, and how much do you see senior bankers and clients?

Team structure shapes what you'd learn and who'd teach you. A team where analysts work closely with senior bankers and clients is a different job from one where most contact runs through associates.

16. What was your training like when you started, and what did you have to learn on the job?

If most of the learning happened on the job, that's a sign to arrive with your Excel and accounting basics already solid.

17. What's something about the culture you only noticed after you joined?

A broad question about culture usually gets a broad answer. This version asks for a specific observation, which is more likely to tell you something real.

18. What kind of person tends to do well in your group?

The answer shows you what the group values, which helps you judge whether you'd do well there before you decide which groups to aim for.

Questions About Recruiting

Ask about recruiting once the call is going well, so the conversation doesn't feel like it's only about getting a job. Peak Frameworks' coffee chat guide puts recruiting questions, and questions about hours and lifestyle, in its "only if call is progressing well" group.

19. What was your own recruiting process like at this bank?

Their experience tells you the stages and timing to expect, and where they think they stood out.

20. Has anything about how your firm recruits changed since you went through it?

If their answer differs from what's on the careers site, such as a new online test or an earlier first round, adjust your prep to match.

21. What did you do to prepare for interviews that helped most?

If they name a resource or a practice habit, it's a good one to try early, since it helped someone who passed that bank's interviews.

22. What would you want to see on a résumé from someone applying to your group?

This tells you what to emphasize, and it naturally leads into the later questions about your own background.

23. Is there anything in my background you'd expect an interviewer to ask me about?

A banker who's interviewed candidates can spot the parts of your story that need a clear explanation, such as a switch in major or a gap in finance experience.

24. When does your group start meeting candidates from my year, and is there an event I should be at?

Deadlines are on the careers site, but a banker can tell you when the group actually starts getting to know candidates and which events its bankers attend.

Questions That Lead to a Referral

The end of the call is where a good conversation turns into a next step. These questions ask for advice and introductions, both easy for the banker to say yes to, and they leave a clear reason to stay in touch. How and when to ask for the referral itself is covered in our guide to running a coffee chat that gets you referred.

25. Knowing my background, what would you focus on between now and recruiting?

Peak Frameworks suggests closing with a request for advice based on your situation. It's personal advice you can act on, and acting on it gives you a reason to write back later.

26. Is there anyone else on your team, or someone with a background like mine, you think I should talk to?

Each introduction gives you another conversation at the same bank, and more people there who know your name before applications open.

27. Who runs recruiting at your bank for my school, or for your group, and would it make sense for me to reach out to them?

Peak Frameworks lists the person who runs recruiting among the contacts a coffee chat can lead to. That person can tell you about events, timelines, and how applications are reviewed.

28. Would it be OK if I kept you posted on how recruiting goes?

A yes here gives you permission to follow up later with news, which keeps the conversation going without asking for anything.

29. Would you mind taking a quick look at my résumé before I apply?

This asks for a small, specific favor. A banker who has seen your résumé and given you feedback already knows your candidacy, which can make a later referral an easier ask.

30. When I apply, is there anything I should do on my end, like letting you know?

This is the question closest to asking for a referral, phrased so the banker can say how they'd like to help. Ask it in one sentence, and only when the call has gone well.

Questions to Leave Out of a Coffee Chat

Leave out questions a quick search answers, questions about pay, technical questions, and anything personal, because each one either wastes the banker's time or makes the call about the wrong thing. Rochester's guide names these:

• Anything a quick search answers: the bank's main groups, its recent headline deals, or the application deadline. Look these up before the call and use them to ask a better question.

• Salary, vacation, and compensation: asking a banker about these can make them sound like your main interest.

• Technical questions: save these for interview prep, where you'll get practice answering them yourself.

• Anything overly personal or controversial: keep the call about their work and your recruiting.