What are some interesting questions for a member profile questionaire?
I’m starting a weekly enewsletter for members of our business groups, I would like to profile a new member each week. The goal is for other members to get to know the member being profiled, learn about their background, expertise, and a bit more about their personality. I want to keep it interesting, so I’ve added some lighthearted questions but would like to add a few more. Readers will see the questions, followed by answers verbatim. Any creative suggestions? Or suggestions for changes to the list I already started below? Thanks!
1. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?
2. What was your first job?
3. If you had to invest $1,000,000 in a startup today,
where would you invest and why?
4. What is your favorite travel destination and why?
5. If you could have dinner with one living or non-living person, who would it be and why?
6. What is something most people don’t know about you?
8. What types of connections would you like to make through
Tribe of Angels?
7. Where did you complete your formal education?
8. From which single individual have you learned the
most in your life? What did they teach you?
9. What is your best advice for early stage investors?
10. What is your best advice for entrepreneurs?
11. What book are you currently reading?
12. What is your favorite business book?
13. What is your favorite book of all time?
14. What is your favorite movie of all time?
15. What is the quality you most admire in others. Why?
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15 Answers
I would suggest to change question number 3 on what you would use that 1 million for, then they might say they would invest. Reason why? Well, forgive me for being self-centered here but since I’m only 14, investments are out of the question for me. Therefore, I think in order for the question to apply to all ages, you should thus change it to what you would spend it on.
What professional goals do you hope to accomplish in the next 5 years?
What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Have you learned anything through your professional work that has helped you also in your non-professional life?
What keeps you motivated to stay in your current field?
Are there any downsides to the career you’ve chosen, and if so how do you deal with them?
What was the last CD or music you bought?
Describe your worst investing or business failure—what did you learn from that experience?
Why did you become an investor or entrepreneur?
How did you become an investor or entrepreneur?
Do you prefer to work alone or with partners? Why?
Do you have any time off? If so, what do you do with that time? If not, why not?
My goodness. That last one would be so interesting. If they are calculating what kind of answer is most acceptable, will they all say they work all the time? If they admit to having a life, how would they justify that?
Um, don’t know about #6…what is something most people don’t know about you. Well, I’m thinking there is a reason that most people don’t know whatever it is about them….
“Are you doing what you dreamed you be doing when you were still in school?”
I’m pretty sure that you are looking for usable suggestions. I don’t have any of those, but here are some that you could throw in just to keep people on their toes.
If you could be any kitchen utensil or appliance, what would you be?
If you were a pokemon, what type would you be and why?
If you could be a color, what color would you be?
Why does the woman take the man’s last name instead of the man taking the woman’s??
I dislike all questions of the form
“If you could—- one—-, what would it be?”
and
“What is your favorite—-?” or “What is your (best, most, other superlative)—-?”
If I were answering your profile, I would skip those. They require meaningless speculation (in the first case) and unnecessary rank-ordering (in the second). I doubt that most people really keep a “best of” list of everything in their heads, but one good example is still very revealing. Why not just go for the good? The question is likely to be much more productive by focusing on the substance of the response rather than on comparing the options.
Here’s what I would ask:
4. What is your favorite travel destination and why?
—> What is one of your favorite travel destinations, and what do you like about it?
8. From which single individual have you learned the most in your life? What did they teach you?
—> Who has been an influential teacher, mentor, or model to you, and what did you learn?
9. What is your best advice for early stage investors?
—> What advice would you offer to early stage investors?
10. What is your best advice for entrepreneurs?
—> What advice would you offer to entrepreneurs?
12. What is your favorite business book?
—> What business book would you recommend?
13. What is your favorite book of all time?
—> What book is among your all-time favorites?
14. What is your favorite movie of all time?
—> What movie is among your all-time favorites?
15. What is the quality you most admire in others. Why?
—> What is a quality you greatly admire in others?
I’d omit number 6. Acquaintance does not require exposé.
When did your mother stop breast feeding you?
Are you a team player?
If you are the leader of your group, do you “serve” your members while also leading them?
I had one of these questions.
I would answer none of them and pitch them out. But then I am an entrepreneurial type and despise filling out any kind of form.
What time do you start work in the morning?
If you go on vacation, how long is it before you start feeling withdrawal?
Who do you follow on twitter?
What do you eat for “power breakfast”?
How do you measure success?
When you go out for a night of relaxation, where do you go?
Who do you want to play you when they make a movie of your life?
Boxers or Dalmations?
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