Practice Interview Reflection – Eminent Person

While conducting practice interviews as interviewer, interviewee, and observer, I learned several critical lessons and improvements which will help me while “actually” interviewing.

To begin with, while interviewing my partner and being interviewed in return, I found that I was much more calm, confident, and comfortable than I thought I would be. Not being excessively agitated allowed me to think and speak more clearly while creating engaging follow-up questions. I could also better contribute to the conversation, rather than simply reading off a list of pre-made ones. Simultaneously, this made interviewing far more interesting, and I managed to maintain eye contact, good body language, and regulate how loud my voice was. According to the feedback I received from the observing pair, I did improve – I interviewed significantly better than I’d anticipated.

Likewise, I discovered that keeping the conversation flowing requires actively contributing to it. Questions need following up, and they need careful planning so that they flow well together in succession. Similarly, I identified the need to use transition words and “remark” on what the interviewee says, to at the very least, appear interested. Following these guidelines was essential to eliminate awkwardness and is critical when interviewing someone busy to make the interview seem worthwhile for both sides. Conversely, while observing the other pair, I found that it was clear that neither attempted to contribute to the conversation. The interviewer was uninterested, and thus the interviewee gave simple and abrupt answers; both appeared bored. Such an episode is undeniably something that I will do my best to avoid during the “real” interview.

Undoubtedly, I can improve several issues with my interview. I did not thank the interviewee nor introduce myself; these allow for a better start, give background on myself, provide the reasons for interviewing in the first place and show appreciation for the interviewee. These are beneficial because they support a smooth start to the interview – giving a good impression – and show gratitude towards the interviewee, who has likely agreed to interview out of pure kindness, even when most likely busy. For example, my eminent person, Dr. Doty, is booked for speaking events into 2022. During my practice interview (as interviewer), I skipped over introducing and thanking, and I will strive not to forget when “really” interviewing.

Thus, from my experiences in the practice interview, I have learned several valuable lessons. First, being calm, comfortable, and confident allows me to properly “think” while conversing – for example, I can better react towards a comment or improvise follow-up questions. Second, I must actively contribute while communicating or else the conversation will not flow. Lastly, I should introduce myself, and more importantly, show appreciation towards the person I am interviewing.

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