Overview. The purpose of this assignment is to help you understand how the lecture and book material is applicable to the working lives of real people (including yourself). You are asked to interview an individual who is experienced in a communication-intensive career. They must have worked in this field for at least three years, preferably more. Pick someone who is doing a job you would like to have someday or someone you admire. This person should not be a family member or personal friend. Use this informational interview to expand your professional network and maybe help with your job search process!
Be prepared for your interview. Apply the interviewing methods you learned about in Com 308 or 309. Prepare a list of questions but also follow-up with probing questions. Obtain the details you will need to write an interesting 4-page paper. Take excellent notes or (with permission) record the interview.
You will write a brief (4-5 typed, double-spaced pages) profile of this professional person and the communication practices they use at work. The audience for the profile is students contemplating a career in this person’s field. Your writing should be concise, engaging, and readable. This is the kind of writing you would find if an executive was profiled in a business magazine or a corporate newsletter. However, you should use concepts from class to analyze and describe this person’s work.
I hope to compile the best profiles and make them available to other students, through the course Blackboard and other communication mechanisms. If you don’t want your writing shared in this way, let me know when you submit the paper.
In addition, five points extra credit will be awarded if your profile is accepted for publication somewhere this semester (e.g., in a newspaper or company newsletter or on an edited website).
Make sure you gather and report this information in your profile:
I. Background information
a. Name
a. Age
b. Sex
c. Title/position
d. Current company/organization
e. Organization location
d. Years in this profession
e. Years in this organization
f. Educational background (including highest level attained)
II. Job duties
Describe the most significant duties performed by this person. Make sure you definitely describe their most important communication tasks. You might also describe the most unique, challenging, or rewarding aspects of their work.
III. Risk Analysis
A. Assess the trends. Introduce the idea of risk, as we are discussing it in class. Ask about the trends the interviewee sees in their workforce, company, industry or in the larger environment. What risks do they see developing? What aspects of their job could put them, coworkers, or their employer at risk? What actions would help them or their organization manage the risks? (Make sure I can see that you are using class concepts as you report on this part of the interview).
B. Analyze a risky situation. Ask your interviewee to identify a risky communication situation they have faced on the job. Pick one of the risky situations we have discussed in class (each chapter of the WK book concerns a kind of risky situation). Drawing upon the Risk Negotiation Framework, devise questions about the (1) historical, contextual, or relational factors that made the situation risky, (2) the personal and organizational communication practices that exacerbated or managed the risk, and (3) the outcomes of the risky situation. (Make sure I can see that you are using class concepts as you report on this part of the interview).
IV. Lessons learned
Note: You must ask these two questions. Report the answers verbatim, somewhere in your profile.
a. What is the best advice you ever heard about how to be a successful (fill in his/her profession)?
b. What is the best advice you could give to a young person wishing to become a (fill in his/her profession)?
Grading Criteria
1. Accuracy: Ample and correct use of class concepts (20 points)
2. Application: Provides concrete observations/examples (20 points)
3. Writing: technically proficient, engaging, concise, thorough (20 points)
Total: (60 points)
