Interview

For your interview source, you are aiming to contact someone within your chosen field/major/concentration. This can be accomplished in multiple ways, but your easiest and most efficient will be by contacting a professor at Quincy College. While I am calling this an “interview,” you are not required to meet in person (although you are welcome to!) as an email exchange is absolutely sufficient. 

Contacting a member of your chosen field in a professional capacity is an important skill to practice. We have established professional email etiquette in this class, and these rules apply even more so to faculty members with whom you have never met. Some additional rules to remember:

You are asking for a favor. This is very important to you, but might be less important to the recipient. Be respectful and understanding of their time constraints.

Be specific in your questions. The information you want from them will most likely include– 

• Their background (educational and professional)
• Their current role/position, and any concentration or research in which they are involved
• A personal statement or sentiment regarding the value of their field

You are welcome to craft these questions however you would like, but I recommend that you clarify that you do not expect more than a couple of sentences in total.

If someone does not respond to you, that is not your fault; however, if you do not give them enough time to respond or did not approach them in an appropriate and professional manner, that would be on you not on them. To receive credit for this assignment, upload a screenshot of your email to them including the date/time.

Sample Interview Format:

Good morning, Professor BLANK!
         I am a Quincy College student taking ENG 101-OT 5 and am writing about MY MAJOR. I have a few questions I would like to ask you, if you could spare the time to write me back in just a couple of sentences.

          It says on the Quincy website that your title is BLANK; what is your educational background? Do you have a particular area of focus that you enjoy studying or teaching?

          My paper is focusing on the importance of MY MAJOR; in a sentence or so, could you tell me what do you personally believe is the value, necessity, or societal importance of MAJOR?

Thank you so much for your time,

STUDENT NAME