'Tis the Season for Student Interviews

I’ve gotten a number of these in the past few weeks -- students having to do an interview with a person in their chosen field for their finals. I’ve had some good experiences and some bad ones so, here are a few "Do's and Don'ts" for you students out there. Pros and teachers, please feel free to leave information that I may have forgotten in the comments.

• Don’t go onto a public forum and say “Any pros out there willing to answer questions?” A cattle call will not work. Almost any illustrator/designer/art director will be flattered and/or remember what's it’s like to be a student. I can imagine only a very few being unwilling to help but you have to show that you are seeking out that person because you respect what they have to say, not just to get the assignment out of the way.

• State your purpose. Use a clear subject line in your email and sign off with your real name.

• Be professional. Save the banter and the LOLs for your friends. Your subject is taking time out of a busy schedule so stay focused on the interview.

• Write in full sentences, capitalize where appropriate, and use punctuation. (But don’t expect the same in the answers.)

• Don’t expect the interviewee to do your report for you. Ask specific questions -- don’t say, “Tell me about illustration?” and end it there.

• Artists that frequently receive these requests often put a FAQ sheet up on their websites. Go there first and see which of your questions are already answered. Show that you have done some research. I realize that the assignment is more about learning communication skills, building confidence, and starting to network than it is about the actual answers, so, once you’ve visited their websites you should acknowledge that you’ve gotten what information you could and explain that you have a few more questions.

• Give the interviewee the choice between a phone interview and a written interview.

• If they want to answer via email, give them a week to do so. If anyone else is like me, they’ll want to wait until the weekend to get to it, they’ll get distracted by the weekend’s activities, and then jump to it on Monday night. Ok, maybe that’s just me...still, give them some time.

• If they want a phone interview, make sure you have your questions organized and in front of you before you dial them. Try not to go quiet. Half the reason you are doing the assignment is to gain communication skills. Try to engage your subject -- you’ll get more interesting answers that way. On the other hand, if you are the type to go on, then remember to let your subject do most of the talking. They won’t want to speak over you.

• Always thank the person afterwards. Always!