Career Writing Interview Memorandum
This memorandum will be written using the information that you gather from
your in-person interview. Set up a convenient time and location to interview
a person in your chosen career area to ask them about their position, and most
importantly, the types of writing that they do on their jobs. Also ask the person
for any samples of the writing they do on their job that you can include as
samples in your portfolio. Make sure that you let them know that we will use
the samples only in class as examples of professional writing.
The interview should last 20-30 minutes. You will need to call in advance,
or even send a written request, letting the person know the purpose of the interview
(how it will help you as a student). If you cannot meet in person make arrangements
to conduct a phone interview or an on-line interview. Take good notes during
the interview so that you will be able to write a complete and concise report
memorandum. The interview report (in memo form) for your Writing on the Job
Portfolio should include the following:
- Introduction of the person such as the college/university attended, years
in field, and his or her job responsibilities
- Discussion of each of the types of documents/writing that the person is
responsible for producing -- type, purpose, audience. In writing about audience,
identify the "clients" who will benefit from the writing/documents.
Describe how they will benefit? (social relationships created through writing).
If the documents affect several levels of audiences, explain who they are.
(For example, a probation officer writes a report to a judge in which he/she
makes a recommendation that influences this audience. Ultimately, the youngster
also is affected.)
- Type of review process the documents go through.
- Types of Internet or web based related writing that the person produces.
- Time element involved and the amount of writing that is required for the
job.
- Importance of the writing in relation to the outcomes produced. Consider
both the information that is contained in the documents and also the way the
information is delivered.
- Any other comments/information about writing in this profession that you
learned
- Conclusion- your assessment of the interview and the information gained
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