Oral History

Ceasar Mendros
History 210
Stephen Kercher
October 29, 2014

My experience in interviewing for the first time was not as what I was expecting. Being in an actual interview is completely different than being in a formed imaginative situations I made in my head. Though throughout the process, I learned lessons that came from a form of downfalls. I learned that confidence, concentration, preparation, and commitment play big roles in generating a successful interview. These downfalls are what I hope to improve on for future interviews that I will be involved in.
There are a lot of things I have learned throughout the practice interview assignment. First thing I learned, is that not having enough confidence will give doubts to the narrator. With my experience, my narrator realized that I stuttered as I ask him a question. Such, he decided to take control of the interview by talking about the issues even without being asked; he asked about the topics I need to be covered before the interview started. Due to the lack of confidence, I, the interviewer, did not do my job successfully. The second lesson I learned from the practice interview assignment, is by not being focused to the narrator can lead to drifting of thoughts. In addition, the location we set made my attention divided. After 10 minutes in the interview, my thoughts started going astray and it made me not to ask follow up questions when needed. Also, the location we chose, where cars passing by, distracted me and this as well made my thoughts disorganized. Thus, not being focused added to one of the reasons why the narrator ended up leading the interview. In addition to not being confident and not focused, another lesson that I learned is to be prepared. The questions I formed were not well thought out, the location was a last minute decision and the mind set was absent before and during the interview. These reasons that made the interview not fully successful, made me learn lessons and realize what to improve on. There is one thing I am certain about in this world and that is improvement in your own self. As I am doing this reflection paper there are things I realized and made me think about my intention and dedication to this class. At first, all I wanted was to pass the class, forget about it and move on. Never have I thought that the practice interview assignment will make me want more than just barely passing the class. As I was listening to my interview on my way back to campus I felt something good. The interview I conducted may have not been the greatest but I felt some accomplishment and it made me realize something-- I am not so dedicated to this project. So this time I decided to pour effort and excitement to the actual interview and improve my confidence, concentration, preparation and commitment. I hope to improve on is to gain more confidence because it plays a big role in an interview and I will do it by setting up my mind to success and remind myself what are the stakes the project has, so I can stop being uncommitted and be more devoted. Just like confidence, concentration also plays a big role in an interview. This time, I will make sure that the narrator and I well choose a location where the narrator feels comfortable and there are not a lot of distractions. I will also make sure that I will listen to my narrator actively to avoid being distracted. Having the confidence, setting up my mind and having necessary appropriate questions ready, will make me apt for the project. Furthermore, from being not fully committed to being devoted is also another change I would like to have. Realizing your flaws helps you know what exactly to improve on, what to avoid and what to practice on. I believe in the saying that “practice does not make perfect, practice makes permanent.” To me it means that when you practice something it is going to create permanence. In my situation, I will try to improve and practice to have confidence, concentration, preparation and commitment in order for me to produce a well done interview. Overall, I would like to suggest to have a one-on-one interview with the professor or students and critique each other in order to find out what things are actually needed to be properly executed before, during and after an interview.