Interviewing is not an easy process, especially if you are talking with an experienced person who did interviews before. Your questions should be interesting both for your audience and the person you are interviewing. So it is better learn how to write an interview paper before you are doing your conversation. Experience of interviewing people are also great for your resume.
In this article our experts will talk about different aspects of a perfectly-written interview paper. You will learn about the most useful tips of both interviewing and writing. The difference between the interview and research is also very important to understand. We are talking not about job interviews that are a totally different story.
How to Write an Interview Paper
Let’s start with the process of creating not just your essay but entire concept. There are few main steps you need to follow:
- Start with the list your questions;
- Choose the best time to meet with the person personally or at least digitally;
- Proceed with asking the person recording the entire meeting;
- Check your notes and records to analyze it;
- Proceed with your essay writing.
The Difference Between Interview Essay and Research Paper
Some of you may think that the interview and research are very common. They may be right at some degree as both essays should be done to investigate or clarify some certain problem. The main difference lays right on the surface and it is about the source. In one case you are using people as sources while in other you use books and other objects.
While chatting with a person you get the closest and live look on facts and events. This is a first-person view about some personal aspects or global events. And for a research essay you are using sources created by other experts, sometimes with their own view of the subject. All details are limited in this case with the number of pages. Also, you need always remember about references.
Here are two main factors for a successful paper:
- Meaningful Essay: there always should be a story or solution of a problem. Get some special meaning for your readers and yourself personally.
- Read Some Examples: try to think about this essay not like about something special and unique. There is no doubt, you have read such essays before but those articles were presented as conversations with people in different magazines and websites. this type of essay is still just a simple conversation. Your task is to make this conversation interesting and useful.
Interviewing Other People
- Start with a good question: from your questions list you need something to start with. Pick something easy to answer. It may be some routine and standard thing just to push your conversation further. Then slightly proceed with questions related to your main topic. You need to understand your objectives just like in your resume.
- Not just ask but listen: you need to be a good listener. It is important to ask questions properly and ask interesting questions but should understand that the answers are more important for your entire work. So listen carefully and note properly every tiniest detail.
- Use follow-up questions: this is the best way to get more information about the topic you are researching. Do not be afraid to ask follow-up questions when a person tells you some interesting detail you want to clarify. After all spontaneous follow-ups are done you can proceed with your other questions prepared before. The more interesting details you can get within one conversation the fullest picture of entire topic you will have.
- In person or virtually: these days there are two ways to conduct your conversation. You can meet in person or virtually. Use a simple Skype or any other app to connect and ask your questions. Of course, personal meeting is always better but in case the person is on another part of the planet, virtual connection is the only way to get your chat done.
Questions Structure
There are few main directions your conversation may follow. Please, note that you should always keep your eye on track of what is going on. You need to listen to the person and take notes. Think about follow-up questions while listening. Here are some questions that will help you to develop your conversation’s structure.
- Ask the person about their name.
- Start with something simple about the weather.
- Ask about their thoughts regarding the main topic of your research.
- Talk about those people who think differently.
- Ask if it is possible to provide some examples from personal experience.
- Try to get any predictions regarding some certain events.
How to Analyze Interviews
- Create a list with all the opinions you got from your conversations.
- Analyze all the answers by few main criteria:
- Positive or negative object
- Compare the point of view with other ones
- Importance of the opinion
- Your personal opinion regarding the answer
Outline and Structure
Finally, you here at the point to start writing. Start with the outline first. This is a usual thing to do in case you want your article to be really great. Outline is the thing to help you to follow the structure and main thought of your essay. Here you can use any structure and style. Just make everything clear for yourself.
- Introduction - Here you will state your thesis and try to engage your reader. Consider one paragraph of three or five sentences maximum.
- Body - This is the largest part of your essay. Three paragraphs usually is needed to open your main topic fully. Each paragraph should present a new evidence.
- Conclusion - Here you should tell what point of view is the most interesting and close to you. Tell what you think about that certain topic.
Bottom Line
That is it, you can easily conduct a great interview, just believe in yourself and follow these simple instructions. And our writing experts are ready to help you out with any type of paper. Even resume with a perfect summary is an easy task for them. Contact us anytime.