How to write an interview essay

HOW TO WRITE AN INTERVIEW ESSAY

An interview essay explores a topic but from a different perspective through the use of evidence obtained from interviewing various people. In writing an outline of the Interview Paper, you can follow the standard formats of most papers. It has to have an introduction, body and conclusion.

Overview of the Interview Essay Process

1. Compose your questions

2. Create a schedule and arrange with the people when to meet with them. You can start by interviewing another student in the class.

3. Ask the questions as you record the answers

4. You should examine the results in detail and methodically

5. Start writing the essay. After writing the question, follow with a summary and analyze question with answers.

How to analyze interviews

1. List reasons given by the persons interviewed and record the number of people who hold each opinion.

2. Analyse the different opinions by asking the following questions and recording the responses.

• Is the reason negative or positive?

• How do you compare the reason with others?

• How significant or interesting is the reason?

• What is your opinion on this reason? According to your viewpoint, is the reason valid?

Tips for writing an Interview Essay

The difference between interview essays and other research papers is that these types of documents allow you to use people as sources instead of books. The audience gets a first-person viewpoint on a subject matter, whether it concerns something in which you are an expert or anything about a person’s life. The following tips will improve your interview essay.

1. Make a meaningful essay

Your interview essay will be especially meaningful when you write them in a certain manner. They require that you write about an activity you would like to try yourself, interview people who do the job or write about family members.

2. Know where to find an interview essay

You must know where to find the interview essays. The interview essays are familiar to people who read magazines or newspapers. It is common to find interview essays about politics, musicians, and actors but excellent essays can also be produced by talking to ordinary people. An interview essay that records the life history of an ordinary person is known as ordinary history.

3. Interview in person.

It is recommended that you interview a person face to face or on a social media platform that encourages real-time interaction. Hearing a voice or seeing a person’s expression is important when interacting with them compared to when you are talking to strangers on the other side of a computer or using any form of communication that is discrete. Interacting with a person allows you to ask extra questions if there is any misunderstanding.

How to conduct an interview?

Have a good choice of the question. You will ask different people the particular question of a subject matter. The implication is that you must choose a topic that you can argue, and people can find facts. Furthermore, it should be a topic in which people have varying opinions.

Ask the question and grant the person enough time to respond, expound and explain their point of view. The interview is different from a survey because a person will have the chance to explain their answer. Your interview will work better if you ask a question that most people have varied opinions to give them a chance of responding and stating their arguments.

Your questions need to have a follow-up. Also known as follow-up questions, it is significant to find out why people think in a certain way on a topic. The objective is achievable by asking interviewees some follow up questions and in doing so, avoid asking the same follow up questions for every single person who has undertaken the interview. Instead, you will use each conversation to guide you as you form more questions relating to the particular conversations. People talk differently, and they may have varied opinions concerning a topic and therefore, tailor the follow-up questions according to the kind of conversation you had with someone.

10 Sample Interview Questions

1. What are some of the differences between men and women?

2. How can families stay together?

3. Which school subject counts later in life?

4. What has life taught you?

5. What have your parents taught you?

6. What kinds of volunteer work have you conducted in the past?

7. How do you cope up with stress?

8. What are some of your strengths?

9. Do you have any weaknesses?

10. What are you most passionate about?

The Guideline for Conducting an Interview

In the following section, we will highlight some of the guidelines that you must take note of during an interview. In addition, there are sample questions that you may ask the interviewees to get information from them.

1. Name: Indicate the first and last name

2. Question: State the main question and include any major follow up questions that you come across

3. Why do you hold a certain opinion? What reasons can you state to support your viewpoint? Mention any other reason that is relevant to the subject matter

4. Why do you think people who take the opposite view hold such opinions?

5. Which examples come into your mind that can be used to illustrate your point?

6. Quotations: Indicate any quote word for word in case you need to reference a person’s words.