Change subject to Communications
The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with a practical exercise in information gathering interview skills. You should locate a person (not a friend, family member, or direct supervisor) who currently holds approximately the same job and title that you hope to hold in five years. Schedule a fifteen to twenty minute interview with this person. You are the interviewer; this is NOT a fake job interview, it is a practical information-seeking interview in which you should find out everything possible to help prepare for that position, and evaluate your skills as an interviewer.
Here is a list of just a few of the questions that might be asked. You should prepare a list of questions yourself using suggestions from the text:
Exactly what does your job entail?
What are the educational requirements for the position?
What do you like the most (or least) about the job?
What future changes do you see in this field?
These questions are only a beginning. You will certainly want to develop others so that you have a full sense of the demands and responsibilities of the position held by the interviewee and the nature of their field.
Your paper is NOT a transcription of the interview, transcriptions are simple description, not analysis. Your paper is an analysis of the interview itself, specifically an analysis of your performance as an interviewer framed through the terms and concepts in the text within the section about interviewing, cited properly. At least half of the 4 required pages needs to be about your performance as an interviewers with specific examples related to areas in need of improvement, and things that went well. Again, this is less about the interviewee and position, and more about how you did as an interviewer.
After the interview has occurred, write a minimum 4-page paper in which you discuss the nature of the position and the person interviewed, list the questions you prepared for the interview, give a detailed analysis of the interview itself, and discuss your strengths and weaknesses as an interviewer. Be sure to engage in proper interview etiquette by sending a thank you note to your interviewee for their time.
BOOK: Communicating & Work
Author: Adler
Edition: 11th
