Employee Interview Assignment
This assignment aims to help you develop a richer understanding of careers, leadership, and employment dynamics. It will help you understand what is “really is going on” at work.
You are asked to conduct an interview. Below are the rules/expectations for the assignment.
The person you interview:
§ Should be at least 35 years old
§ The person cannot be an immediate family member (preferably not a family member).
§ AND should be employed full-time (at least 30 hours a week).
§ AND should be responsible for managing at least five employees. I recognize that many workers have opted for “gig worker” jobs, which makes this impossible.
§ In a perfect world, you will conduct the interview in person. I understand that this may be challenging. If you need to send this form to your interviewee and lead the discussion over the phone, that is fine. If you feel that sending the questions along and having your interviewee respond by completing the document in word processing format is the best approach (or only approach), that is also okay. The objective is to interview the person with the most interesting things to say (and who can help you the most). In the end, provide typed responses. If your interviewee writes something, you then type the responses.
§ 12-point Times Roman Font, one-inch margins, and 1.5 line spacing.
§ Use a standard interviewer/interviewee format shown below:
Question 1: How did you end up in the position that you currently have? Your career path?
Response to Question 1: _______________________________________________
Section 1 – Background information to be included (approximately one page):
§ Name of the person
§ Current job title, education, and prior jobs
§ Family and non-work responsibilities
§ Name and description of the company they are currently employed (a full paragraph)
§ How was the interview conducted? (A few sentences will suffice)
Section 2 – Questions to be asked (I am assuming this will be minimally five pages in length):
1. How did you end up in the position that you currently have? Your career path?
2. How have COVID and other major social events (i.e., economy, politics) affected your job in recent years?
3. Please describe the three things that cause you the most work stress.
4. What specific ways do you cope with the stress you experience from work?
5. What can companies do to get the best out of their workers? What changes need to be made immediately for companies to remain competitive?
6. What did college/technical school teach you that has been helpful to you in your career? What things are college/technical schools unable to teach to prepare workers for careers?
7. If you had to give a lecture to a class of seniors graduating from the FSU Business School, what three topics do you feel would be the most important to cover? Why those three?
8. What would you tell your 21-year-old self about work, life, and happiness if you had such a conversation?
9. What job would you love to have if you were not doing the one you currently do? Why?
Section 3 – Your questions (I am assuming this will be minimally 3-4 pages in length)
§ Please produce FIVE questions that you are interested in asking.
§ If they pertain to work, they should be fine. Do not ask “yes”/”no” questions – get people talking.
§ Use the same format noted above.
Section 4 – Advice (I assume this will be minimally ¼ to ½ a page in length).
§ Ask your interviewee to offer advice for college graduates newly entering the workforce.
§ Please provide the content of the discussion in written/prose format (not bullets, please).
Section 5 – Three sentences of your “takeaways.”
USE HEADINGS BETWEEN SECTIONS
Please be very gracious and appreciative of your interviewee’s time and effort!!
The overarching goal is to meet people you want to include in your network for assistance (i.e., advice, open doors, write letters and introduce you to influential people) later. Ask about internships, employment possibilities post-graduation, or simply advice through a mentoring/protégée relationship.
BE PROFESSIONAL. YOU’LL BE ON STAGE WHILE INVOLVED IN THIS ASSIGNMENT.
When done, it is entirely appropriate to send your interviewee a handwritten card of gratitude (not an email or text).
