Week 3 and 6: Interview a Professional in the Field. 

The student will develop a set of questions to be asked during an in-depth interview of a professional in the field of child and/or family development. Your questions must be an appropriate number of quality questions that are in-depth. It is unlikely that you can do this in fewer than 10 – 15 questions. This assignment focuses on interviewing a professional whose primary responsibility is directly related to child or family development, not someone who works primarily with children (for example, a schoolteacher would NOT be appropriate for this interview).  Also, your interviewee cannot be a family member or close friend. You must name the interviewee and give his/her job title and company.

The questions should inquire about the interviewee’s job responsibilities, academic preparation for entry into the field including course work and practical hands-on training, on-the-job training and experience, satisfaction with the job and work environment, and recommendations to anyone considering entering the field. It may also be valuable to have a “day in the life” question.

Part II 

Conduct your interview. Interviews may be conducted on site (for this the student must send to the potential interviewee a respectful and professional inquiry about the possibility of an interview) or on the phone. Online asynchronous (e.g. e-mail) or synchronous (e.g. IM or Chat) interviews are not acceptable for this assignment. A brief letter of documentation from the interviewee indicating that the interview was conducted over the phone or in-person must be submitted via e-mail to your instructor. This email should be sent directly by the interviewee and not forwarded by the student.

Upon completion of your interview, write a paper that includes each interview question along with a summary of the professional’s answers. You should also include a two or three paragraph conclusion describing what you learned during the interview. Your final interview should be between 5-7 pages in length. Remember, this is an in-depth interview, not a series of brief questions.