Best questions for ex-cult member survey about employment needs

Here are some of the best questions for an ex-cult member survey about employment needs, plus practical tips on how to craft them. Specific lets you generate these surveys in seconds—taking the heavy lifting out of research.

Best open-ended questions for ex-cult member survey about employment needs

Open-ended questions invite deep, authentic feedback—making them especially valuable when exploring the nuanced challenges former cult members face around employment. Use them to give respondents the chance to explain, elaborate, and reveal things you might never think to ask.

1. What has been your biggest challenge in finding employment after leaving the group?

2. Can you tell us how your background influences your job search today?

3. What aspects of applying for jobs do you find most confusing or intimidating?

4. Have there been specific skills or qualifications you felt you were missing?

5. How comfortable do you feel discussing your past in professional settings?

6. What types of jobs or work environments have felt most accepting to you?

7. Can you share an experience where your history affected your job application or interview?

8. What supports or resources would make employment easier for you right now?

9. Describe any fears or anxieties you have about maintaining a job.

10. How have interactions with coworkers or supervisors made your transition easier or harder?

Open-ended questions are ideal at the start, both to uncover themes and to build trust with a vulnerable audience. The reality: many ex-cult members hide their past due to shame or fear of being judged—a trend echoed in research, where most hesitate to disclose their background in applications or interviews. [1] This makes it essential to foster a safe, open space for honest sharing.

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for ex-cult member survey about employment needs

Single-select multiple-choice questions shine when you want to quantify, benchmark, or ease respondents into a conversation. They’re often the gentlest way to begin, especially when someone isn’t ready for a long-winded answer—or you need structured data up front.

Question: Which of these job application steps do you find most difficult?

• Preparing a resume/CV

• Writing cover letters

• Interviewing

• Understanding application forms

• Other

Question: What best describes your current employment situation?

• Employed full-time

• Employed part-time

• Looking for work

• Not seeking work

• Other

Question: Have you felt supported in your job search since leaving your former group?

• Yes

• No

• Somewhat

When to follow up with "why?" If a respondent chooses an option that signals pain or confusion—like “Interviewing” or “Not seeking work”—ask “why?” (or “can you share more about that?”) to draw out deeper context. Small clarifications can uncover major barriers for this group, such as the anxiety rooted in years of decisions being made for them. [1]

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Adding "Other" ensures you don’t box respondents into categories that don’t fully fit. Follow up with a clarification question—often, the richest insights come from unexpected paths you didn’t anticipate at the planning stage.

Using an NPS question in ex-cult member employment surveys

NPS (Net Promoter Score) isn’t just for businesses—it’s a brilliant way to measure an ex-cult member’s likelihood of recommending support resources or job programs to peers. With a simple question (“How likely are you to recommend [resource/support group/job assistance program] to another former cult member?”), you get a fast sense of satisfaction, and can easily segment between promoters, passives, and detractors.

For this audience, NPS exposes whether your current support offers are genuinely helpful—or if silent frustrations linger. Try creating an NPS survey for ex-cult member employment needs and see how respondents rate and describe their experiences.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions are where simple surveys transform into meaningful conversations. With Specific's AI-powered followup questions, the survey dynamically probes for more detail based on a respondent’s last answer—like an expert interviewer would. This creates an in-depth, conversational experience that feels supportive, not interrogative.

• Ex-cult member: "I find interviews really stressful because I never know what to expect."

• AI follow-up: "Can you share more about what makes interviews stressful for you? Are there particular questions, settings, or experiences that stand out?"

Without follow-ups, you’d have little context—making it hard to design truly effective support or resources.

How many followups to ask? Generally, 2–3 followups are plenty. More than that risks fatigue, so smooth surveys (like Specific’s) include a setting to let you move to the next question once you have enough detail. Fine-tuning this helps maximize both insight and respondent comfort.

This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of robotic forms, your survey becomes a natural-feeling exchange—people open up more, which is especially important with sensitive topics.

AI analysis of open-text answers: Even if you gather a ton of unstructured replies, AI makes it easy to analyze survey responses instantly—saving hours you’d otherwise spend on manual review. This unlocks instant summaries and lets you chat with AI about the themes, obstacles, or stories shared.

Automated, dynamic follow-up is still new—and incredibly powerful. Try generating your survey with this feature and see how it transforms your research.

How to prompt GPT for great survey questions

Getting quality questions from GPT always starts with a clear, actionable prompt. You can start broad:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Ex-Cult Member survey about Employment Needs.

For best results, add relevant context about yourself, your goals, and what you know about the respondents. This shapes the AI’s tone and detail:

I’m building a survey for people who recently left a closed religious community. The goal is to understand what challenges they face finding and maintaining employment, and what support would help them most. Suggest 10 open-ended questions and any key themes to probe for.

Once you have a list, ask the AI to organize and expand:

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

Then, select the topics you want to go deeper on and prompt:

Generate 10 questions for categories “Barriers to Employment” and “Needed Supports”.

This iterative approach helps you get structured, thorough question sets tailored to a sensitive audience.

What is a conversational survey?

A conversational survey is a dynamic, chat-based format where AI asks questions—and follow-ups—in a natural sequence. Respondents interact as if they’re messaging a supportive guide, not just ticking boxes on a form. This approach increases comfort and participation, especially for ex-cult members who may be anxious or wary of traditional questionnaires. See how easy it is to create a conversational survey with AI.

Let’s break down the difference:

Why use AI for ex-cult member surveys? AI survey generators let you build expert-level, sensitive question sets in minutes—not hours. They adapt dynamically, ask clarifying follow-ups, and distill feedback into usable themes—critical for audiences with unique needs and stories. “AI survey example” and “AI survey builder” searches now lead to far richer, more actionable results for employment needs research than static legacy tools. Specific leads the way with a user experience designed for both respondent and survey creator comfort—making the journey smoother for everyone involved.

See this employment needs survey example now

Get impactful insights on ex-cult member employment challenges—start your conversational survey now with AI-powered follow-ups, and unlock instant, actionable support strategies.