Coffee Chats

Learning Goals

Understand what a coffee chat is and why it’s incredibly useful
Develop a plan for before, during, and after a coffee chat
Have a comprehensive guide to look back to when you reach each step in the process

What is a Coffee Chat?

A coffee chat, also commonly referred to as an informational interview, is a casual and informative conversation between two individuals, usually in a relaxed setting like a coffee shop or over zoom and lasting roughly 30 minutes. The main goal of a coffee chat is for one person, often referred to as the “interviewer,” to gather insights, advice, and information from the other person, known as the “interviewee,” about their job or career.

You will be the “interviewer” in your coffee chat, and you will be interviewing professional software developers about their day-to-day work and career.

With your partner, brainstorm why a coffee chat might be useful for you and where you are in your software development career.

Some Benefits of Coffee Chats

Real-world Context: Coffee chats help bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge gained in class and real-world applications. Interviewees will share real world examples that illustrate how coding skills are used in actual projects and workflows.

Networking: Engaging in coffee chats allows you to expand your professional network. Building connections with experienced professionals can lead to mentorship opportunities, potential job referrals, and a broader understanding of the industry landscape. But it’s key to note, the tone of the coffee chat should not be job seeking, even though there is a fair chance it might help lead to a job.

Interview Preparation: While you are not the one interviewed in this context, coffee chats still develop your comfort level talking with an unknown professional and help the actual interviews feel less scary.

Let’s do a slack waterfall. Right now, how nervous are you feeling about having a coffee chat?

From 1(Not nervous at all, only excited) to 10(Incredibly nervous, this is the most stressful class activity I can imagine).

❓What questions or fears do you have about having a coffee chat?

Before

Finding an Interviewee

The first step to having a coffee chat is to find someone to chat with.

There are many places to look!

Current Connection who Works as a Developer: Maybe there is a “loose tie” or someone you’re not close with, such as a high school acquaintance or past coworker who you could reach out to. Or, if you already talk to a developer regularly, such as if they are a sibling, you could ask them to introduce you to someone they know.
Someone You Share Something in Common With: LinkedIn is excellent for finding folks you have something in common with. Maybe you both went to Turing or a coding school in general, or you both worked at the same library, or live in the same city, or you can see from LinkedIn you share a connection, or if you attended college you can look for fellow alumni.
Cold Outreach: You’d be shocked how often strangers are happy to chat if you demonstrate your genuine interest in speaking with them in particular. You can think about your dream company or industry and find someone who works there on LinkedIn.
Networking Events: Most cities have in-person tech meetups and those can be great places to meet developers and ask them if they would chat with you. You can also look into online networking options.

Does the person you reach out to need to work in C# or .NET? No, you can still gain a lot of value from talking with any developer. However, if you do find someone working in C# or .NET I would definitely reach out to them. That chat has a higher likelihood of leading to a future job offer.

Asking for a Coffee Chat

So you’ve found someone you want to interview, how do you go about making the ask?

I’m a big fan of the message structure introduced in the Muse article How to Ask for an Informational Interview (and Get a “Yes”) and making your message as personal as possible.

Start by Asking for Help: It’s a proven fact that people love to feel like they are helping others. So, if you literally start by saying, “I’d love your help,” or “I hope you’ll be able to help me out…” your chances of getting a positive response go up significantly.
Be Clear: Ask for something very specific, and make it as easy as possible for the person to say yes. Saying, “I’d love to know more about what you do and how you got your start” is okay, but doesn’t tell someone how much of their time you’re after or what you’re really suggesting. Instead, try something like, “Would you be available for a 20-30 minute zoom coffee chat to share your experiences working as a developer at company name here and any advice you may have?”
Have a Hook: A great way to increase your chance of landing the interview is to demonstrate why you really want to meet with this person. Do you admire their career path? Do you think the work they’re currently doing at company X stands out as the best? Maybe you have a shared connection and think they would be a great voice of wisdom. Don’t be afraid to share why you are specifically reaching out to this person. The more personalized your ask feels, the greater chance of success you’ll have.
Introduce Yourself: This is similar to having a hook, the person is much more likely to say yes to chatting if they know who you are! A one sentance bio is all it takes and be sure to mention anything you and the potential interviewee have in common.
Be Very Considerate: Remember that, in asking for an informational interview, you’re literally asking someone to put their work on hold to help you. Show your contact you understand this by saying, “I can only imagine how busy you must get, so even 15-20 minutes would be so appreciated.”
Make Sure You Don’t Seem Like You’re Looking for a Job (Even if You Are): If you sound like you’re really just looking for a job, there’s a good chance this person will push you to HR or the company’s career page. So be sure to make it clear that you really want to talk to them, to learn about their career history and perspective on the job or industry. After you meet and make a great impression is when you can mention the job hunt.

Ideally, you are able to get the person’s email from their LinkedIn profile or another means. You can also put your message in a connection request on LinkedIn as long as it’s under 300 characters.

It’s tough to condense all five points to 300 characters, but something similar to the following should work:

“Hi Zoe!

I am currently a student at Turing, halfway through the Launch course. I see you also attended Turing and are working in .NET! Would you be up for a 30-minute coffee chat to help me learn what it’s like to work as a developer at Orchard? I would so appreciate it! “

Scheduling a Coffee Chat

You’ve found someone who is happy to chat with you, congrats! Now you need to find a time. I recommend starting by asking something simmilar to “What are some times in the next week that you are free for a 30 minute video chat?”. Make sure you two clarify timezones! If you are going to meet in person you can also ask if they have a coffee shop near them that they prefer, but most likely you will be meeting online.

Once you agree on a time, your interviewee may offer to create a video chat link. If they do not, a good option is to create a google calendar event with Google Meet. Zoom is also free for meetings under 40 minutes.

Coffee Chat

Researching the Person and Their Company

You want to show up as a prepared interviewer and that means researching a bit about the company and your interviewee.

As the muse article 5 Tips for Non-Awkward Informational Interviews suggests: “Jot down a few key facts about the industry and her current or previous employer, see if you can find any articles she’s written or interviews she’s done, and try to find a few similarities between the two of you. If you’re well prepared, your interviewee will not only be impressed with the legwork you’ve put into the meeting, but will be flattered you took the time to learn so much about her. And that’s always a great way to start a conversation.”

Preparing Your Questions

Since you are the interviewer, you want to be prepared with a list of thoughtful questions.

Remember your goal: To gather insights, advice, and information from the other person about their job or career, and to come across as someone they would want to work with.

With your partner: Brainstorm/Research potential questions you might ask. When we come back together your instructor will call on each group to share.

Example Questions

At Turing we do a lot of peer code review and it has been incredibly valuable, what does the code review process look like on your team?
Technical capabilities aside, what soft skills do you see as important to be a great developer?
What’s your typical day or week like?
What is your favorite part about your job?
What are the most challenging aspects of your job?
What advice would you give to someone in my position just starting out as a developer?
Can you walk me through your development process, from a ticket or task to code on production?
Do you usually only work with other developers or are there folks in other roles you work with regularly?

Questions Specific to Your Interviewee

What’s it like working for a company in the ___ industry?
I see that you’ve worked at a both the small company ___ and the much larger company _____ I’d love to hear more about how those two roles were different.
How did you choose to work at ______?

Follow Up Questions

You mentioned _____ can you say more about that?
You mentioned _____ what does that mean?
To make sure I’m following, is what you’re saying _____?

Questions that start with “How” and “What” are great in general and will lead to better answers than yes/no questions.

During

Starting the Conversation

Often times the start of a conversation can be the most awkward and it’s nice to prepare and practice what you might say to kick off a conversation.

Here’s what I like to start with:

Thank them for meeting with you
Say a couple of sentences about you and why you are excited to chat with them (keep this short!)
Pivot to the other person and ask an open-ended question that gets them talking

Here is one example, but definitely make it your own!

“Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me! I’m currently 5 months into the Turing Launch program and I’m loving it and I’ve grown so much as a developer, but from class time alone it’s hard to get a picture of what it’s really like to work on a development team and I know each team is unique. So I’m eager to learn more about what your day-to-day is like and any advice you have for a budding developer like me. I see on your LinkedIn that you worked at <enter company here> then transitioned to <enter company here>, could you share more about how you came to work at <enter company here> and your journey as a developer so far?”

Taking Notes

It’s recommended to have a notebook open and take notes of key takeaways.

Watching the Time

When you have about 5 minutes left before your meeting is scheduled to end, casually mention that you want to be “mindful of their time” and note the time you have left. This gives your interviewee the opportunity to either extend the interview, or transition to a graceful conclusion. Either way, they’ll appreciate your respect for their time and your professionalism, which is a great way to conclude an interview.

After

Sending a Thank You Message

As the above Muse article shares, “Always send a thank you note. Always. Your interviewee should never wonder how much you appreciated the time she took to share her hard-earned knowledge with you. Remember, you never know what doors she could open for you one day.” The more personalized your message the better. It’s best to include some detail from your coffee chat that you found particularly impactful.

✅✅ Deliverable ✅✅

You will be paired up with a developer (most likely a Turing Alumn) for your first coffee chat. Once your instructor makes the introduction, you will be responsible for scheduling a time to meet, meeting and asking great questions, and sending a thank you email.

Send the following in a message to your instructors.

The initial message you sent to your interviewee.
The thank you email you sent to your interviewee.
Your answers to the following questions:
- What question that you asked led to the most valuable response? What was the question and what did your interviewee say?
- What do you want to do similarly in your next coffee chat?
- What do you want to do differently in your next coffee chat?