How To Write An Interview Essay: Suggestions For Beginners
When you are a student, your professor will sometimes assign you an interview essay. As already mentioned, knowledge on how to write an interview essay will come in really handy in a variety of professions. When your professor assigns an interview essay, sometimes they will provide you with a topic, but often they will permit you to choose the topic as long as it is relevant to the class. As soon as you have decided upon your topic, do some research and look for an expert who will allow you to dig deeper into the topic under discussion. For instance, if you want to better understand an issue related to biology, you are likely to find a biology professor at your college who would be eager to answer your questions. Of course, it is essential that you give your questions a lot of thought. This means doing some homework and gaining a general understanding about the subject matter and then asking the interviewee to elaborate. After all, if you keep things too general or basic, or clearly demonstrate that you did not take the time to find some background information about the topic or even the individual being interviewed, they will likely see the interview as a waste of their time.
With that in mind, here are some general decisions that you need to make:
- Develop a list of questions
- Choose the interview essay format
- Agree upon the location and date of the interview
What Is An Interview Essay
An interview essay is a piece of writing that helps the reader understand more about the interview subject and relevant context. The purpose of an interview essay varies depending on the situation. For example, an interview essay focused on an individual who experienced a historical event will be different from an interview with a social media influencer for a lifestyle website. This kind of writing is commonly used in school settings and is assigned to students in general education classes as well as courses specifically in journalism.
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Putting Two Sources In Conversation With Each Other
Sometimes writers can use one interviewee to contribute to or complicate what another interviewee says. The following paragraph from Hutchcrofts Booty Capitalism shows this practice at work. In addition to bringing two sources together, in this passage Hutchcroft also strategically incorporates paratextual insight gained from the interview process into his analysis. He uses the former governors laughter to showcase an attitude that directly contrasts with what the former bank supervisor says.
Even when the Central Bank has acted against those who milked their banks, former bank owners have been known to use personal connections, even up to the Supreme Court, to confound Central Bank discipline. Former Governor Jaime Laya noted that even martial law didnt seem to stop the lawsuits against Central Bank personnel. He actually laughed as he told me how the Central Bank legal office has never won a case. But the former head of the bank supervision sector, who has herself been sued, doesnt find it a laughing matter: Why only in this country, she exclaimed, do the regulators go to the jail, and the bankers go scot-free?
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Create A List And Prepare Your Questions
When you’re preparing to conduct an interview for your paper, list down all the questions that you would want to ask your interviewee. These questions will mostly come up during your research and brainstorming.
Brainstorm and ask yourself several yes or no questions to include in the interview, to make it easier to gather factual information.
Asking open-ended how or why questions to your interviewee will focus on understanding in-depth explanations and help you find additional background information that was not found during the initial research.
Asking quality questions is a very critical part of writing a great interview paper, and if your research is thorough, coming up with interesting and powerful questions will be no problem.
It is recommended to have more questions on your list than you are prepared to ask during the interview. Rank your selected questions based on how much information you can gather from them, and how important they are. Finally, ask your interviewee the best questions from this list based on the interaction or the situation.
Heres an interesting video by Kirstine on asking good qualitative interview questions
Points To Consider During The Interview
Once you have prepared for the interview, all that is left to do is to sit down with a participant and begin the process.
It is nerve-wracking, and the first time you do it may be uncomfortable. However, remember that the participant will also be nervous.
There are certain behaviors to avoid and practices to adopt during the interview process. Keep an eye on these matters while interviewing.
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Citing An Interview In Mla Style
In an MLA Works Cited entry for an interview published in a newspaper, you list the interviewee in the author element. Clarify who conducted the interview after the title, and use the interviewees name in the in-text citation.
| MLA format | Interviewee last name, First name. Interview Title. Interview by Interviewer first name Last name. Newspaper Name, Day Month Year, URL. or p. Page number. |
|---|
| 1. Kazuo Ishiguro: AI, Gene-Editing, Big Data I Worry We Are Not in Control of These Things Any More,’ interview by Lisa Allardice, Guardian, February 20, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/20/kazuo-ishiguro-klara-and-the-sun-interview.
2. Ishiguro, AI, Gene-Editing, Big Data. |
For interviews published in other source types, follow the relevant format , always listing the interviewee as the author.
What Is An Interview Report
An interview report is a written record of a professional, guided conversation. These reports may be intended for the public as published articles interviewing an important or public figure or for private use in admissions and hiring situations. Many companies interview job candidates one-on-one, but there are typically multiple people in a company involved in the hiring process. These people also need to get information and insight into each job candidate interviewed. The easiest way to accomplish this is to have the person conducting interviews write a report summarizing the experience that they can share with others.
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The Interview Format Writing
An interview essay has the same format or structure as most academic papers. That means it should have an introductory part, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
The first sentence should serve as a soft definition while emphasizing the topics importance. In the second sentence, build context by telling the readers how they can relate to your subject. In the third sentence, introduce your thesis statement, highlighting your readers benefits from reading the essay.
To make your paper easier to write, start by drafting an outline, highlighting what will go into these sections of your essay. That way, you can determine whether every point will go in your paper before you start writing.
How To Write An Interview Paper In Apa Format
We frequently see interviews in daily papers or magazines. During the interview, there are at least two participants an individual who poses inquiries and the interviewee. The meeting is done to discover an individuals assessment on a specific issue, occasion, and so on. It is likewise a decent basis for one of the scholarly tasks an interview paper. Before you think of composing an interview exposition, it is vital to familiarize yourself with how it is done.
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Combine Interview Preparation With Writing Preparation
Gather all the relevant information about the interviewee and the occasion for the interview. This preparation is the most important factor in planning a successful interview and interview report. Planning questions ahead of time may make the interview and report writing process easier. Have your materials ready to take notes on the interviewee’s answers and your impressions.
How To End An Interview Format Paper
Ending your paper with the right content is as important as starting it properly. When finishing your essay, dont forget to focus on your main idea. However, dont sound blurry or mix several opinions. Your conclusion should sound laconic, precise, and straightforward. It should show the audience your reaction to the information that you collected during your conversations. Whats more, it should inspire the audience to research the topic further. Additionally, your conclusion should connect facts logically while relaying arguments that you used to prove your thesis statement.
A quality closing section should also include your response in one or two paragraphs, explaining the validity of your thesis, its proof, and closing thoughts. Also, tell your readers whether the answers you gathered from the interviewee proved the main point or didnt match the theory.
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Two: How To Write A Good Question
When you have confirmed an interview, it is not time to come up with questions.
- Learning as much as you can about the person before the interview can help you create questions specific to your interview subject.
- Doing research about your interviewees past experience in your topic, or any texts that they have written would be great background research.
When you start to think of questions, write down more questions than you think youll need, and prioritize them as you go. Any good questions will answer the 5W and H questions. Asking Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How questions that you need answered for your paper, will help you form a question to ask your interviewee.
When writing a good question, try thinking of something that will help your argument.
- Is your interviewee an advocate for you position?
- Are they in any programs that are related to your research?
- How much experience do they have?
From broad questions like these, you can begin to narrow down to more specific and open-ended questions.
How To Write An Interview Paper: A Step
An interview paper is an in-depth and insightful essay that provides different views on a particular topic using evidence from interviewing one or more people. The most important distinction of an interview paper is that your sources are people, preferably authorities on a topic, instead of scholarly works or books on the subject. By understanding the entire process of creating an interview paper, you can improve your writing skills. In this article, we discuss how to write an interview paper, including researching and preparing for your essay.
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Tips For Creating Interview Reports
Here are several additional tips on creating interview reports for you to consider:
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Shorthand can help you record answers quickly during an interview.
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A dictation machine or cell phone can record longer interviews for transcription afterward.
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If recording an interview, inform the interviewee and get their permission first.
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Finish interview reports as soon as possible after the interview, while your memory is clear.
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Use full names to identify Q& As once, then use initials to identify the speakers thereafter.
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Maintain a professional tone in your report.
+ Interview Essay Templates
An interview essay is a simple form of writing that relays the information being gathered through an interview template. It is done to make the readers knowledgeable of the items discussed during the interview process. This type of essay allows the writer to relay his or her impressions on the interview that occurred and the precise data from the interview.
An interview essay needs to have a backbone so that it will be well written and the thoughts that are included within the writing organized. For this function, you may browse through our Essay Sample Outline Template and see how it can help you in creating proper formats and structured sample order of thoughts for your interview essay and other kinds of write-ups. You can write them in APA format, or that of a professional report thanks to the editability and variety of our templates. We even have interview essay samples available for both high school and college students who seek an introduction to interviewing jobs in the future. If you want to make an interview paragraph about leadership, we got you covered!
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Get To Know Your Interviewee
A good interviewer always refers to the life and experience of their interviewee. If youre lucky to work with someone you can read about on the Internet, find out as much information about them as possible. If your interviewee publishes any books, articles, or studies, you will better know them as well.
The more you know about the person, the more interview questions you can come up with. You can ask them whether the Internet tells their true story: Is it true that you, Mr. Interviewee, support flat earthers?
Write Down The Outline Of Your Interview Report
This report outline will help you write your paragraphs in both narrative and Q& A format. Below is the sample outline to follow:
I. Introduction
Start with a humorous or interesting anecdote or fact that the person told you. Detail out who was interviewed, what are they are known for, and the main purpose of the interview. Think of the question what do you plan to tell your reader about this person? This should be included in the introduction. Make sure you got the correct spelling of the interviewees name and the correct information about the interviewee.
II. Paragraph 1: the questions youve asked and first big idea you learned
III. Paragraph 2: second big idea you learned from the interviewee
IV. Paragraph 3: third big idea you learned from the interviewee
V. Conclusion: wrap the report by summarizing and putting down a concluding observation about the person
And now youve mastered the art of gathering information from interviews, its time get down to it and write. As youve done the process, you will be amazed at how much youve learned from your interviewees. Conducting an interview is a good way to get to meet people and know more about them.
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Using An Interview In A Research Paper
Consultant contributor: Viviane Ugalde
Using an interview can be an effective primary source for some papers and research projects. Finding an expert in the field or some other person who has knowledge of your topic can allow for you to gather unique information not available elsewhere.
There are four steps to using an interview as a source for your research.
- Know where and how to start.
- Know how to write a good question.
- Know how to conduct an interview.
- Know how to incorporate the interview into your document or project.
How To Cite An Interview
Published on March 31, 2021 by Jack Caulfield. Revised on May 20, 2021.
To cite a published interview from a newspaper, you need an in-text citation and a corresponding reference listing the interviewers name, the publication date, the interview title, the name of the newspaper, and a URL if the article was consulted online.
The exact format varies across the different citation styles: APA, MLA, and Chicago style.
When referring to an interview you conducted yourself as part of your research, you generally dont need to include a formal citation.
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How To Write A Title Page
The title of your paper must include your name, your institution, department, the course name and number, the teachers name, and the assignment date. The rules of writing the title page are the following:
- The title page must be numbered.
- Capitalize all major words in your title and make it bold.
- Place the title of the essay three or four lines down the top of the page.
- There must be one empty line before the students name.
The Nuts And Bolts Of A Profile Article
The person or subject of this type of article typically fits into a special niche of the magazine or may a new program or product to promote. Generally, it is the persons achievements, background and personality are the focus of the article. So, how do you get his or her personality and voice to come through in your writing? As with all types of writing, it can be a bit tricky, but you can follow some prescribed steps and refine them to your own style. You may also see informative writing examples & samples
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Prepare For The Interview
After you have studied the subject and compiled a list of interview questions, you can search for and contact your subject matter experts. If you have time, it is advisable to arrange interviews with more than one person. This can help you get different perspectives, and you can then take a more balanced approach in writing your interview paper.
When contacting an expert for the interview, tell them about yourself, let them know you want an interview with them, explain its purpose and give them a concise reason why you selected them for the interview. If they agree to it, set a date, time and venue for the interview. If you want to record the interview or transcribe it, ask the person to provide written permission. Ask for their consent before the interview if you plan to take photos.
