Coffee chat questions for IB: what to ask an analyst, a VP, and a cold contact
Questions sorted by who is answering them, the ones that end a conversation, and the follow-up cadence that turns a chat into a referral.
A coffee chat is not a friendship and it is not an interview. It is a fifteen minute conversation with two jobs: you learn something about the group that is not on the website, and the person on the other end finishes the call willing to say your name to someone else. Everything below is built around those two outcomes. If a question does not serve one of them, it is filler, and filler is what makes these calls forgettable.
The one rule that matters more than any specific question: they should talk about eighty percent of the time. Most students get this backwards. They prepare a pitch, deliver it, and leave having learned nothing and given the other person no reason to remember them. Your preparation should go into questions, not into a monologue about why you love markets. Ask something specific, then stay quiet long enough for a real answer.
Questions by who you are talking to
The same question lands very differently depending on who is answering it. A first year analyst can tell you exactly what the last month felt like. A VP cannot remember it accurately and will not enjoy being asked. Sort your questions by seniority and by how well the person knows you.
The recent alum analyst
This person is one to three years ahead of you and is the most useful contact you have, because they remember the process and they are close enough to it to still care.
| Ask | What the answer tells you |
|---|---|
| What did your recruiting timeline actually look like, month by month? | Whether you are early, on time, or behind for your cycle |
| What surprised you most in your first six months? | The gap between how the job is sold and how it runs |
| Which technical questions did you actually get asked? | What to focus on, from a real interview rather than a question bank |
| How did you end up in this group specifically, versus generalist? | Whether group placement is chosen, assigned, or negotiated |
| What do you wish you had spent more time on before you started? | The prep that pays off after the offer, not just before |
| Who else in the group would be worth talking to? | The referral, asked sideways so it is easy to answer |
The associate or VP
They have perspective an analyst does not, and less patience for questions they consider lazy. Ask about the business, not about the lifestyle.
| Ask | What the answer tells you |
|---|---|
| How has the deal mix in the group changed over the last few years? | Real sector and product trends, straight from someone staffing them |
| What separates the analysts who get strong reviews from the rest? | The actual evaluation criteria, which are rarely what students assume |
| How much client exposure does an analyst here get relative to peer groups? | Whether the group's pitch about responsibility is real |
| What made you stay at this bank rather than move? | Honest culture read, without asking "how is the culture" |
| When you interview candidates, what makes someone stand out? | Their personal scorecard, which you can then meet |
The cold contact who has never heard of you
You have no relationship and about ninety seconds of goodwill. Do not spend it on a question they have answered fifty times.
| Ask | What the answer tells you |
|---|---|
| I read that your group advised on [specific deal type]. What does an analyst actually do on something like that? | That you did homework, which is most of the point |
| I am deciding between targeting [group] and [group]. How would you think about that at my stage? | Gives them a concrete problem to solve, which people enjoy |
| What would you want to see from someone applying to your group this cycle? | A direct answer you can act on |
| Is there anyone else you would suggest I speak with? | The only referral ask that works cold |
The alum you barely know
The school tie buys you the meeting and nothing after it. Use it explicitly once, then move to substance.
| Ask | What the answer tells you |
|---|---|
| How much did coming from our school help or hurt in the process? | Whether you need to compensate for a non target, or coast |
| Who from our school is at the bank now? | A warm second contact, which is the whole reason this call is valuable |
| What did you do on campus that mattered, and what did not? | Where to spend the limited hours you have |
| Would you be open to a quick check in later in the cycle? | Permission to come back, which you want in writing |
The questions that end chats
A few questions reliably cool a conversation. They are not offensive, they just signal that you have misread the situation.
Compensation. You will find the numbers elsewhere, and asking makes the entire call look transactional. Hours, asked directly. "How are the hours" invites either a defensive answer or a war story, and neither helps you. If you genuinely want to know what the week looks like, ask an analyst what a normal Tuesday involves.
"Can you refer me," asked cold. A referral is something people offer once they have decided you are worth their reputation. Asking for it in the first conversation forces a no. The version that works is asking who else you should talk to, which lets them help you without spending credibility.
Anything technical. A coffee chat is not the place to demonstrate that you can walk through a discounted cash flow. Save it for the interview, where it counts and where they are actually evaluating you. Asking a VP to quiz you reads as a misunderstanding of what the call is.
And the broad ones: "what do you do all day," "what is the culture like," "do you enjoy it." These are answerable by anyone about any job, and the answers are useless.
The system around the chat
The questions are maybe a third of it. What separates people who convert chats into offers is the mechanical part that happens before and after.
Before, about twenty minutes of work. Find their profile, note how long they have been in the group and where they were before, and find two or three transactions the group has worked on. You do not need to understand the deals deeply. You need one specific reference so your first question cannot have been sent to anyone else.
The last five minutes. This is where the call either produces something or does not. Two things to get done. Ask who else would be worth speaking to, phrased so declining is easy: "Is there anyone else in the group you would suggest I reach out to? No worries at all if not." Then ask permission to come back: "Would it be alright if I checked back in later in the cycle?" Almost nobody says no to that, and it converts a one time call into a relationship you are allowed to maintain.
Within twenty four hours. A short note, four sentences at most. Thank them, reference one specific thing they said so it is obviously not a template, say what you are going to do about it, and stop. Do not attach a resume unless they asked. The note is not a second pitch, it is proof you were listening.
Every two to three months after that. This is the part almost everyone skips, and it is where the value is. A short update when something real happens: you took the class they suggested, you got an interview, the cycle opened. People help candidates they have watched make progress. A single conversation eleven months before recruiting is worth very little. Four touches across that year is a person who will pick up the phone for you.
That cadence is exactly what the IB Atlas networking tracker is built to hold, free, so a follow-up you meant to send in October does not surface to you in January.
FAQ
How many coffee chats should I do?
There is no correct number, and chasing a count is how people end up with fifty forgettable conversations. Depth beats volume: a smaller set of contacts you actually follow up with will produce more referrals than a long list you spoke to once. Prioritize the banks and groups you would genuinely accept an offer from.
What if I have nothing in common with them?
Then lead with the work rather than the connection. A specific question about their group is a better opener than a strained link about a hometown. The shared background helps when it exists, but it was never the reason the call was going to be useful.
Should I send my resume?
Not unless they ask. Sending it unprompted turns a conversation into an application and puts them in an awkward position, because now they either have to do something with it or ignore it. If they want it, they will ask, and that ask is a good sign.
How long should a coffee chat be?
Ask for fifteen minutes and mean it. Watch the clock and offer to let them go at the fifteen minute mark. If they want to keep talking they will say so, and the fact that you respected their time is itself memorable.
The follow-up cadence in this guide is what the IB Atlas networking tracker is built to hold, free, so a chat you meant to follow up on does not go cold.
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