COLLECTING INFORMATION FROM INTERVIEWS In this course, you are required to interview people to collect information for your

project. Most people are very busy and if you have succeeded in getting an appointment for an interview, you should make the best use of the time given to gather as much information as possible. Therefore, you should carefully plan for the interview beforehand. The procedure for the interviewing process is as follows; 1. 2. 3. 4. Preparing for an interview. Making appointments for the interview During the interview After the interview

*********************************************************************** * 1. Preparing for an interview

These are the crucial questions that you have to answer before conducting an interview. Do the following exercise: Q1. Who would you interview to gather the information and how would you contact them? Q2. What specific information that you wish to collect? i. . ii. . iii. . iv. . v. . vi. . vii. viii. ................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................

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Q3. Based on the information you provide in Q2 above, prepare questions for each category. Information i: Question : .. Information ii: ... Question : .. (You may continue on another sheet of paper) Q4. Think and write down questions that can act as starters. Excuse me, good morning. We are from NNR Sdn.Bhd. could you spend just 10 minutes to answer questions about our business? Q5. Review the questions that you have formulated in Q3 and Q4. Refine the questions to a more polite tone, by using, for instance, Could you?, or May I ..? 1. Could you spend just 10 minutes to answer questions about our business? 2. May I know what do you think about our promotion, refer to our brochure such as price and delivery service? 3. May I know, do you think that our location is suitable for operation? 4. From the brochure can you give your opinion and suggestions for improvement our business? 5. May I know,

After you have completed the exercise, share some of the questions with your classmates for their comments and suggestions for improvement.

2.

Making appointments for the interview

When you have the name and contact number of the person you wish to interview, make an appointment to meet him/her. You can either call, meet in person, or write a letter to that person. These are the important points that you must take note when making an appointement: i. ii. iii. iv. v. introduce yourself (name and institution) explain the purpose of calling, that is, you are collecting data for a project and you would like to interview him/her briefly explain to that person the purpose of the project and type of information that you require ask for an appointment thank the person regardless of whether you have succeeded in getting the appointment or not. If that person agrees, thank him/her and repeat
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the details of the appointment. If the person disagrees, thank him anyway, and you may ask for the name of a person that could be interviewed instead. In the following space, write down what you would say to the person for situations i-v: We do not use the method to make an appointment for an interview about our business. We use interviews directly to the public. 3. During the interview

Be properly attired Be punctual. Try to be at the place of the interview about 15 minutes before the appointed time. Make sure that you have your questions and notebook with you. Bring along a cassette recorder if you wish to record the conversation. Introduce yourself and explain the purpose of the interview. Emphasise the fact that the interview is solely for academic purpose. If you want to record the conversation, ask permission from the interviewee first before using it. Explain to them that the recording will help you to compile the information needed. However, if the person refuses to be recorded, do not insist. You may also wish to specify how long the interview will take. Do it politely by telling the person concerned that the session will take about .. minutes and ask whether that would be alright with him/her. Write down what you would say in this situation Excuse me, good morning. We are from NNR Sdn.Bhd. could you spend just 10 minutes to answer questions about our business?

Start off the interview with some general questions refer to your questions in Q4. Refer to the list of questions that you have prepared earlier. Nevertheless, remember that you should ask other questions based on your conversation with the interviewee. The sequence of the questions also depends on your conversation. Tick off each question in your prepared list when you have obtained the information you require. Take brief notes of key information given but do not let it disrupt the flow of the conversation. Try to maintain eye-contact with the interviewee.
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 Do not make the interview longer than necessary. When you have collected the information you require, end the interview by asking the person for any other information which he/she would like to add. What would you say in this situation? From the brochure can you give your opinion and suggestions for improvement our business? Thank the person for his/her time. Say that the session has been a very fruitful one and the information will be very useful for your project. What would you say in this situation? Okay, we grateful because you could help us. The information you provide helps us to improve our business. Thank you once again for making available time to us. 4. After the interview Look over your notes or listen to the recording of the interview. Analyse the data by writing down all the main points/information form the interview which you could use as the data for your project. Record the date, and particulars of the person as soon as possible while the interview is still fresh in your memory. Examine the data. Is there any other information which you wish to collect based on what you have obtained? Use the data to prepare questions for the next interview. Write a letter of appreciation to the interviewee or send him/her a Thank You card.

Adapted from: Abdul Halim Abdul Raof et.al. 2003. English for Civil Engineering. Kuala Lumpur: McGraw Hill.

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