What Is a Coffee Chat? How to Ask for One, What to Talk About, and 30 Questions

A coffee chat is a short, informal conversation, usually 15 to 30 minutes, where you get to know someone professionally. It might happen over an actual coffee, on a video call, or in an office kitchen. The point isn't to land a job that day. It's to start a relationship that can matter later.

This guide covers coffee chats in the three places students actually have them: at school, during recruiting, and inside the company once you're an intern. You'll also see what our own data on 1,282 intern LinkedIn profiles says about how networks differ by field. If you want a structured question list for exploring a career path, our informational interview questions guide is the companion to this one.

TL;DR

• A coffee chat is a short, informal conversation, usually 15 to 30 minutes, to get to know someone professionally and build a relationship.

• In Extern's analysis of 1,282 public LinkedIn profiles of recent interns, investment banking and consulting interns had a median of about 1,000 connections, compared with 667 for Big 4 accounting interns.

• Coffee chats happen in three places: at school, during recruiting, and inside the company once you're an intern.

• Below are 30 coffee chat questions sorted by those three scenarios, plus short email and LinkedIn templates.

• The follow-up matters more than the chat itself. Thank them the same day, then check back in with an update.

Externships are short, remote professional experience programs where you work on real projects for real companies, with guidance from people in the field. The Lean Startup Co. Corporate Strategy Externship, the Pinterest Gen Z Consumer Behavior Externship and the HP Tech Ventures Deal Sourcing & Startup Analysis Externship give you real work to bring up in your next coffee chat. Explore all Externships.

What Is a Coffee Chat?

A coffee chat is an informal, one-on-one conversation where you get to know someone in your field, learn about their work, and let them get to know you. It's shorter and looser than an interview. Nobody's scoring you, though people do remember how you made them feel.

Coffee Chat vs. Informational Interview

People use the two terms almost interchangeably, and that's fine.

But there's a useful difference in focus. An informational interview is mostly about learning: you ask an expert structured questions to figure out whether a career fits you. A coffee chat is mostly about the relationship. It might be with an alum, a recruiter at a firm you're targeting, a classmate a year ahead, or a colleague two desks over at your internship.

From years of one-on-one career coaching with students, here's the pattern we see most: students treat a coffee chat like a test they have to pass. It works much better as a conversation you're curious about. You ask good questions, you listen, and you leave them glad they said yes.

What Does Our Data Say About Interns' Networks?

Interns in finance and consulting tend to have much larger LinkedIn networks than interns in software, data or accounting. That's one reason coffee chats come up so often in banking and consulting recruiting: relationships are built into how those fields hire.

1,282 Intern Profiles, by Field

In September 2026, Extern analyzed 1,282 public LinkedIn profiles of students who listed a 2024 to 2026 internship in investment banking, consulting, software engineering, data or Big 4 accounting, and a graduation year between 2025 and 2029. Here's what their profiles showed.

Three things stand out. Banking and consulting interns sit around 1,000 connections, roughly 50 percent more than Big 4 interns. Software and data interns were the least likely to list a club or student organization, while banking, consulting and accounting interns mostly did, which makes sense since campus clubs are where many coffee chats in those fields begin. And even in the lowest group, seven in ten interns had more than 500 connections.

A fair caveat: these are public profiles, so the data shows what successful interns look like, not what caused their offers. A big network doesn't get you hired on its own.

But it does suggest that in finance and consulting especially, the students who land internships tend to be the ones who've been having these conversations for a while.

How Do Coffee Chats Work at School?

At school, coffee chats are the easiest to get and the lowest pressure. You already share something with the other person, whether it's a campus, a club, a major or a professor.

Alumni, Upperclassmen and Professors

Start with people one step ahead of you: upperclassmen who just finished the internship you want, alumni in your target field, and professors who used to work in industry. Career fairs, club events and your school's alumni directory are the usual places to find them. Our networking guide for students covers where to meet people in more depth.

Questions 1 to 10 work well here:

1. How did you end up in your role?

2. What do you wish you'd known when you were in my year, and what would you have done differently with the time?

3. Which classes actually helped?

4. How did you find your first internship, and was it through a posting, a person or something else entirely?

5. What do recruiters from your company look for at our school?

6. Which campus clubs or organizations were most worth the time, and which ones would you skip if you did it again?

7. How do you stay in touch with people from school?

8. What's something about your job that surprised you after graduating, especially compared with what you expected as a student?

9. Who else from our school should I talk to?

10. Would it be okay if I reached out again after recruiting season, just to share how things went?

How Do Coffee Chats Work During Recruiting?

During recruiting, coffee chats are how students in finance, consulting and some tech roles get to know a firm before they apply. They're more targeted. You're there to learn what makes this firm and this group different, and to leave a good impression on someone who may be asked about you later.

Finance, Consulting and Tech

Bankers and consultants are busy, so do your homework first and keep it short. Questions 11 to 20 are built for these conversations:

11. Why did you choose this firm?

12. What's a recent deal or project you found especially interesting, and what was your part in it?

13. How is your group different from others here?

14. What does a strong summer analyst or intern do differently from everyone else in the class?

15. What surprised you in your first year?

16. How did you prepare for your own interviews, and what would you skip if you did it again?

17. What do you look for when you meet students?

18. How much does your team work across offices or with other groups, and how did you build those relationships when you joined?

19. What's the best advice you got as a junior?

20. Is there someone else on your team you'd suggest I speak with, ideally someone who joined in the last couple of years?

And timing matters. Many banks and consulting firms recruit a year or more ahead, so coffee chats often happen before applications even open. Our guides to investment banking internships for summer 2028 and the superday final round show what comes next.

How Do Coffee Chats Work Once You're an Intern?

Once you're an intern, coffee chats become one of the best ways to learn how a company actually works. Few students use them. Even fewer use them early.

Internal Coffee Chats With Colleagues

Reach out in your first few weeks to people beyond your immediate team: someone on a team you're curious about, a recent hire who started where you are, and, when the moment's right, one senior leader. Most people inside a company are happy to give an intern 20 minutes, partly because someone did the same for them.

Questions 21 to 30 fit internal chats:

21. What does your team work on?

22. How does your work connect to what my team does, and where do our projects overlap?

23. What did you wish you'd known in your first month?

24. What separates the interns who get return offers from the ones who don't, in your experience?

25. Who are the people everyone goes to for help?

26. What's a project you're proud of, and how did it come together?

27. How did you move into your current role?

28. What's one thing I could do this summer to make my manager's life easier, or to stand out in a good way?

29. Is there anyone else I should meet before the summer ends?

30. Can I follow up if I have questions about your area later?

So why does this matter so much? Because return offers often depend on more than your own project. Interns who know people across the company understand the work faster, get better feedback, and have more people who can speak up for them.

How Do You Ask Someone for a Coffee Chat?

Ask for a specific, small amount of time, explain the connection, and make it easy to say yes. Most people agree more often than students expect.

Email, LinkedIn and In-Person Asks

1. Lead with the connection. A shared school, club, team or mutual contact belongs in the first sentence.

2. Keep it short. Duke's career office recommends outreach emails of "usually less than 150 words" (Duke Career Hub).

3. Ask for 15 to 20 minutes. Smaller asks get more yeses, and you can always keep talking if it goes well.

4. Mind LinkedIn's limits. On a free account, you can add a personal note to up to three connection requests a month, and each note can be up to 200 characters (LinkedIn Help).

5. In person, just ask. At a career fair or club event, "Could I buy you a coffee sometime and hear more about your work?" is enough.

A short email for an alum:

Hi [Name], I'm a [year] at [School] and found you through our alumni network. I'm interested in [field] and would love to hear how you got started at [Company]. Would you have 15 or 20 minutes for a coffee or a quick call in the next couple of weeks? Happy to work around your schedule. Thanks, [Your name]

A LinkedIn note for a recruiting coffee chat (under 200 characters):

Hi [Name], fellow [School] student here, recruiting for [role]. I'd love to hear about your experience in [group] at [Firm]. Open to a 15-minute call this month?

And a message to a colleague at your internship:

Hi [Name], I'm the new summer intern on [team]. I've heard a lot about your work on [project] and would love 20 minutes to learn more. Coffee sometime this week or next?

What Should You Talk About (and Avoid)?

Talk about them first, then about you. A good coffee chat feels like a conversation, with you asking most of the questions and keeping track of time.

A Simple Flow for 20 Minutes

1. Open with thanks (1 to 2 minutes). Say why you reached out, in a sentence or two.

2. Ask about their story (8 to 10 minutes). Pick two or three questions from the lists above and follow their answers.

3. Share yours briefly (3 to 4 minutes). What you're studying, what you're curious about, and one thing you're working on.

4. Ask your one big question (3 minutes). The thing you most want their view on.

5. Close on time (1 minute). Thank them, and ask who else you should talk to.

What should you avoid? Asking a near-stranger for a job or a referral in the first conversation. Duke's guide puts it plainly: "don't directly ask for a job or a favor (resume review) if you don't know them." Skip questions you could answer with a quick search, too. On who pays: offer, since you asked, but many professionals will insist on paying for a student. Accept graciously.

How Do You Follow Up After a Coffee Chat?

Send a thank-you the same day, then check back in when you have something real to share. That rhythm is what turns one conversation into a relationship.

Turning One Chat Into a Relationship

Career offices like MIT's suggest thanking people within 24 hours (MIT CAPD). Mention one specific thing they said and what you'll do with it. Our thank-you email guide has templates.

Then keep the loop going. A short note a month or two later, saying you took their advice, applied to the program they mentioned, or met the person they introduced you to, is how people start rooting for you.

And that's where these chats pay off. A Federal Reserve Bank of New York study found that "a referral is used somewhere in the hiring process for approximately half of all jobs" (Federal Reserve Bank of New York).

Yet networks aren't only built with senior people. Peers matter too. At Extern, 9 out of 10 students join our peer community during their Externship (Extern data, n=1,681), and one student summed up the experience in our survey like this: "Also getting a chance to network with industry leaders was a huge plus." If you want a project to talk about and professionals to learn from, explore Externships in the field you're curious about.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a coffee chat?

A coffee chat is a short, informal conversation, often 15 to 30 minutes, where you get to know someone professionally. It can happen over coffee, on a video call or at the office. The goal is to learn about their work and build a relationship, not to interview for a job.

Is a coffee chat the same as an informational interview?

They overlap, but the focus differs. An informational interview is a structured conversation to learn about a career path. A coffee chat is looser and more about building a relationship, whether with an alum, a recruiter at a firm you're targeting, or a colleague at your internship.

How long should a coffee chat be?

Ask for 15 to 30 minutes, and keep to it. Career offices such as MIT's suggest 20 to 30 minutes for informational meetings, and coffee chats are often shorter, especially with busy bankers or consultants. If the conversation is going well, let the other person decide whether to keep talking.

Who pays for coffee during a coffee chat?

Offer to pay, since you asked for their time. In practice, many professionals will insist on paying for a student, and it's polite to accept graciously and say thank you. If the chat is virtual, the question disappears, so focus on being on time and prepared.

What should I ask in a coffee chat?

Ask about their path, their current work and the advice they'd give you, then follow their lead. Good openers include how they got into their role and what a typical week looks like. Save one thoughtful question about their team or company, and always ask who else you should meet.

Should I ask for a referral in a coffee chat?

Not in the first conversation with someone you just met. Build the relationship first and let them offer. If you've talked before and a role clearly fits, it's reasonable to ask whether they'd be comfortable referring you, while making it easy for them to say no.

How do I ask a colleague for a coffee chat at my internship?

Keep it simple and specific. Send a short message saying you're new, you're interested in their work on a particular project or team, and you'd love 20 minutes to hear about it. Interns who reach beyond their own team early tend to learn the company much faster.