Interview One Report
The first interview I conducted was with Joseph Morgan, a young man from my neighborhood who recently cleared high school. He is currently in the process of looking for a suitable college which he will attend during the fall. My interview with Joseph was centered on his general outlook on life and his future dreams and goals.
The first thing I wanted to know from Joseph was the role or impact that both his parents had on his life that now that he had cleared high school and he would soon be an independent man in college. Joseph was very articulate in answering the question. Both of his parents are involved in social work and have been very involved in his search for a suitable college. They have even accompanied him in his visits to colleges to look for a suitable one. He however states that the final decision will sorely be his but he will take his parents opinion into account.
I also asked Joseph about his future aspirations and goals. Joseph was of the opinion that although he currently had his mind set on becoming a pediatrician, the exposure to new things in college might stimulate him to change his mind. The primary reasons for this field choice are that he has always had a soft spot for children and by becoming a paeditirician; he will be able to offer exemplary services to them.
In the academics aspects, Joseph stated that he has been involved in and taken a lot of interest in not just sciences but also on social sciences because he wants to acquire various social skills.
I also asked Joseph how he hoped to cope with peer pressure in college. He explained that he currently did not have any particular plan and that was something that he would think about when he set foot in college.
Apart from the questions on his career and future goals, I also asked Joseph a couple of questions about his family background and his life all the way from kidgarten. What struck me the most about Joseph was his articulate, friendly and engaging personality when answering the questions and also on the general interaction with me as the interviewer. From the answers I obtained from him, I realized that he is a much focused man indeed.
Micro counseling skills used
I also used the client observation technique to observe the non-verbal cues exhibited by the interviewee. Another skill that I encompassed in the interview was the accurate responding skill. I used this skill to encourage and clarify the sentiments that were being expressed by the interview.
Self-critique/Review of the Interview
It is my personal opinion that this particular interview was very conclusive. The various skills that I used helped it to be of this conclusive nature. The effective questioning employed and the cooperation by the interviewee was also another thing that contributed to the success of the interview.
I however believe that I could have used other micro counseling skill in addition to the ones stated. I also believe that I should have increased the time allocated to the interviewee to answer the questions; these would have made the interview even more successful.
Interview Two Report
In my Second interview, I interviewed Eddy Murray who is a professor in Biology in the university. The professor has performed exemplary in the field of Biological sciences and won himself big respect and reputation in this field. He has been an achiever in academics since his childhood. At the university, he is actually the role model to many students, particularly with students pursuing science-based courses.
In my interview with the professor I wanted to understand his background, academic life, challenges that he met along the way, how he overcome his challenges, his threats, strengths, future goals and plans regarding to his career and life.
First, I had to make a good introduction of myself since I am a student from a different school. I also had to explain how I came to know him despite being a professor from a different school and field. I did this through explaining why I desired to interview him and the objective of my interview. This made the professor feel more comfortable to share information with me. The main reason I stated for wanting to conduct an interview on him was that I have heard many students including my friends taking Science courses praising him for exemplary performance in Sciences.
In my first question I sought to understand Eddy’s academic life. He took me through a vivid description of his low educational levels until the peak of his education. In his response, the professor touched on the various challenges he faced in his education and how he was able to over come them. Peer pressure was the main problem that he had to deal with in high school as well as in University. The professor counts on his commitment as the pillar in his life.
The professor gave me a list of his future goals and plans. He explained that one of goals was to mentor as many students as possible within and outside the university. He pointed out that students need more guiding in order to reach their goals in life.
Micro counseling skills used
In my second interview, I coupled proper communication skills with micro counseling skills to get the best out of the interview. I adopted an acceptable attendance behavior to encourage the professor to open up. I also showed interest in his responses to make him feel that what he said was appreciated. I achieved this through maintaining a good posture, eye contact, and proper facial expression.
Self-critique/Review of the Interview
However, I later discovered that the venue of the interview was not appropriate. I chose to place the interview at the library lounge. I felt that the interview would have been more effective if it was in the professor’s office. The professor might have felt uncomfortable to engage one student in such a lengthy interview in the light of every one.
Taking notes and recording was another beneficial skill in the interview. I also maintained a high level of focus to prevent the interview from deviating from its objectives.
Interview Three Report
The third interview I conducted was with a football coach in my school. He is an iconic figure in the school as he has been the football coach for 25 years and during that time, he has won seven state championships with the school’s football team.
The interview was conducted in the school’s gym after the evening’s practice. The first thing I wanted to know from the coach was his secret to success. He stated that there was indeed no secret to his success and it was purely hard work. The coach said that the most important thing that he had learnt in the course of his coaching career was that there were no life shortcuts and everything had to work hard for.
This prompted me to ask him on exactly what his role was in the success of the team. I wanted to know exactly who has the larger impact on the success the team, the coach or the players. The coach was of the opinion that both played a significant part that could not be divided.
Another thing I wanted to find out from the coach is why he had never been interested in moving his career outside the university. He has a good record of accomplishment and experience which in my opinion, I thought would catch the eye of big football clubs in the country .The coach responded by pointing out that many clubs have showed in interest but he has always been declined to leave the university football team. He stated that his fulfillment comes from nurturing young people at the university level and seeing them become international stars.
The questions I asked were quite open ended to enable him to freely speak out his mind without limitation. The questions were also focusing. This aimed at directing the interview towards the objectives of the interview without deviations
Self-critique/Review of the Interview
My analysis of the interview shows that it was indeed successful. By once again using similar micro counseling skills like in the previous cases, I was able to obtain relevant information from the coach.
However, as with the previous case, I did exactly conduct the interview in the most efficient venue. The school’s gym is not exactly the best place to conduct and interview and it could have affected some of the responses given by the interviewee.
Conclusion
The three interviews that I conducted have definitely helped me learn a lot about micro counseling and interviewing in general. I realized that the correct integration of communication and counseling skills play a very significant role in the success of an interview. This I believe will help me become a better interview in the future.
