Best questions for citizen survey about job opportunities and economic development

Here are some of the best questions for a citizen survey about job opportunities and economic development, plus tips on how to craft them effectively. With Specific, you can generate tailored surveys in seconds—empowering you to collect richer, more relevant insights.

Best open-ended questions for a citizen survey about job opportunities and economic development

Open-ended questions invite detailed, honest feedback from citizens, revealing insights you might never expect. They're especially valuable when you want nuance and real stories—key for understanding motivations, barriers, and community perceptions on economic prospects. Here are ten of our top open-ended questions for surveying citizens on job opportunities and economic development:

1. What do you see as the biggest challenge to finding good job opportunities in your area?

2. Can you describe a time when you or someone you know faced difficulties finding employment locally?

3. What changes would you like to see to support economic growth in your community?

4. How has the availability of jobs in your town or city changed over the past few years?

5. What industries do you think should be a focus for local economic development?

6. What skills or training would help you or others in your community access better jobs?

7. How do you usually hear about new job openings in your area?

8. What role should local government play in supporting job creation?

9. What barriers do small businesses or entrepreneurs face in your community?

10. How could economic opportunities for youth or recent graduates be improved where you live?

Uncovering these perspectives can be even more powerful when respondents are aware of current realities. For example, only 42% of Americans believe most people have opportunities to find good jobs, highlighting a real sense of economic concern. [1]

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for a citizen survey about job opportunities and economic development

Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect when you need to quantify feelings or quickly get a pulse on major issues. They're quick for citizens to answer and give you structured data for your analysis. Sometimes, these fixed choices even spark deeper conversation—especially when paired with follow-up questions to dig beneath the surface. Here are three strong examples:

Question: How satisfied are you with the current job opportunities available in your area?

• Very satisfied

• Somewhat satisfied

• Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

• Somewhat dissatisfied

• Very dissatisfied

Question: Which sector do you believe offers the most potential for new job creation in your community?

• Manufacturing

• Technology

• Agriculture

• Service/Tourism

• Public sector

• Other

Question: How has your employment situation changed in the past year?

• Improved significantly

• Improved somewhat

• No change

• Worsened somewhat

• Worsened significantly

When to follow up with "why?" If a respondent chooses "Very dissatisfied" or "Worsened significantly," ask, “Why do you feel this way?” This next step uncovers root causes—maybe certain sectors are declining, or training is lacking. It’s the quickest route to actionable, practical insights.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Use "Other" anytime citizens’ needs or realities don’t fit your categories. It gives people space to describe unique experiences and, with a follow-up, can highlight insights you never considered. This approach helps surface outliers or emerging trends in your community.

For example, the job vacancy rate in Ireland dropped from 1.4% to 1.1% between Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, which may mean citizens feel jobs are getting scarcer or harder to find in certain sectors. [4]

Using NPS-type questions for citizen surveys about job opportunities and economic development

NPS—Net Promoter Score—is usually used to measure company or service loyalty, but it adapts brilliantly to community feedback. You can ask, “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend your area as a place to find good job opportunities?” It’s a fast, comparative metric that highlights satisfaction and helps pinpoint localities most in need of support. This is especially relevant if you want to benchmark progress or compare towns, cities, or regions over time. Try out an NPS survey for citizens about job opportunities and economic development now!

These kinds of benchmarking questions have extra value in volatile economies or markets where employment is shifting rapidly. For example, in rural Bangladesh, the share of people engaged in economic activity dropped from 61.23% in 2013 to 56.82% in 2024—concrete data that underscores the need for targeted economic development efforts. [2]

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions are the secret weapon of insightful citizen surveys. Automated AI-powered follow-ups (like those offered by Specific’s conversational surveys) can clarify unclear statements, probe for detail, and adapt in real time—collecting context you’d normally miss in static forms.

• Citizen: "There just aren't enough good jobs here."

• AI follow-up: "Can you describe what you mean by 'good jobs'? What makes a job appealing to you?"

This approach prevents ambiguity and elicits richer feedback. Rather than re-contacting respondents via phone or email—saving time and hassle—the AI handles probing for specifics immediately.

How many follow-ups to ask? Two or three well-timed follow-ups is typically enough. With Specific, you can set follow-up depth and let the AI skip to the next question once it has collected what you’re after. This way, you get thorough responses without survey fatigue.

This makes it a conversational survey: Follow-up questions transform the experience from a static form into a dynamic, engaging conversation. This leads to clearer insights and higher completion rates. Learn more about conversational surveys and smart follow-ups here.

AI opens up new ways to analyze open-ended data: With tools like AI survey response analysis, it’s easier than ever to summarize themes and make sense of qualitative feedback—no matter how long or messy the texts are.

Want to experience this in action? Try generating a citizen survey, and let the AI guide both you and your respondents to deeper, clearer insights.

How to compose an AI prompt for citizen survey about job opportunities and economic development

If you want AI-powered questions but prefer to design your own, start with a simple prompt like this:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for citizen survey about job opportunities and economic development.

But don’t stop there. AI responds best when you add detail about your context, who you are, and what you want to learn. Try something like:

I’m running a local government survey aimed at understanding the barriers citizens face in finding jobs and ways to support small business growth. Suggest 10 open-ended questions that will help us learn about real-world challenges and opportunities in economic development.

Once you have a question list, you can ask AI to organize them:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Review the AI's categories, pick the most relevant to your survey goals, and dig deeper with:

Generate 10 questions for categories such as 'Youth employment', 'Training needs', and 'Local business barriers'.

With a workflow like this, you refine your prompts—and the questions—so every item in your survey is purposeful.

What is a conversational survey?

Conversational surveys don’t just collect answers—they spark a dialogue that feels natural and encourages honesty. Instead of serving a stack of rigid questions, you get adaptable interviews that grow organically, giving citizens a voice at every step. This makes it far easier for people to share detail, context, and emotion.

Here’s how conversational—AI-generated—surveys differ from the manual alternative:

Why use AI for citizen surveys? Because job landscapes change fast and people need surveys that adapt. AI survey examples—especially those made with Specific—make it easier to create thoughtful, context-aware questions, tailored follow-ups, and accessible summaries, so you’re always collecting actionable community feedback. You can even learn step by step how to create a survey, including sample AI prompts.

Specific delivers a best-in-class experience in conversational surveys, making feedback collection smoother for both survey creators and citizens. Plus, every step is tailored for clarity and engagement.

See this job opportunities and economic development survey example now

Ready to engage your community and uncover what truly matters? See a powerful survey example in action and experience how easy it is to launch smarter, more conversational citizen surveys—with follow-ups, smart analysis, and real, actionable insights.