IST 614 – Fall 2019 – M001

Interview Assignment – 10 points (10% of total grade)

The purpose of this assignment is twofold:
- First, it compels you to contact and interact with a practicing manager and, consequently, to
develop your networking skills and expand your professional network.
- Second, it helps you gain insight into the ‘reality’ of day-to-day managerial work. Regardless
of who you interview, you will learn from the experience, particularly by organizing your
thoughts into a cohesive paper.

You should make your interview appointment as soon as possible. Your interviewee should be
someone who manages an organizational unit – be it a division, department, section, semi-
permanent team, etc. This means that they should manage *several* people – more than 2!

Criteria:
iSchool alumnus working in your area of interest/future career goal
or in a company you admire and have a goal of working at

Please contact me if you have questions about whether your proposed interviewee is suitable for the
assignment or if you need me to help you with the “recruitment” process.

This assignment should be in PROSE format – NOT by a HEADING followed by a

SHORT ANSWER.

It should consist of parts as follows:

Your report on your interview should consist of four sections (organize the paper by these four
headings – these should be the only headings in this paper) followed by the listed requirements:

1. Description of interviewee and his/her employer

a. Name and title of interviewee
b. What are his/her major responsibilities?
c. Name of employing organization
d. What does the organization make/do?
e. Where is the company located?
f. How long has s/he been with the company?

2. Methodology
a. When did you talk/meet with this person?
b. Which modes of communication were used?
c. How were notes taken and made use of?
d. How did the way(s) in which you conducted the interview affect your ability to report
on it?
 3. The interview narrative
a. Who and what does s/he manage?
b. What is a ‘typical day’ for this manager? Is there a routine s/he follows?
c. How does this manager deal with:
(i) setting SMART goals and decision making
(ii) prioritizing tasks
(iii) motivating his/her employees
d. What leadership style(s) does this manager exhibit?
e. What advice does s/he have for an iSchool graduate students like you, in terms of:
(i) time/class management (academics)
(ii) best ways of gaining practical skills that you have been studying
theoretically in your iSchool courses
(iii) planning for short-term (internships) and long-term (career)

4. Lessons learned
a. What did you learn about management and managing?
b. What did you learn about the interviewee’s business domain/area of expertise?
c. What are your takes on potential career development and directions for iSchool
graduates?
d. How, if at all, did this interview affect the way you will manage when you are a
manager?

Again, your paper should be in prose format (not a bulletized list of questions and answers),
approximately four to five pages in length (1.5 spacing, font size 12) and should tie together your
interview findings and the concepts discussed in class.

In sections 3 and 4 you should draw from key utterances, passages and ideas (from the interview) to
critically assess whether and how ‘reality’ in the field corresponds to what is presented in IST 614.

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You will also have an opportunity to share what you learned from your interview with the class, in
the form of a short teaching session.

Interview Assignment Due Dates:

 Proposal: 10/06
 Final report: 10/30

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Suggested readings and references:

- Williams textbook: chapters 13, 14 and 15
- Articles: Zaleznik and Barker (located in “Readings” section on Blackboard)