All The Dirt on How to Write an Interview Essay Revealed

Interviewing someone can be challenging. It can be more intimidating when you’re asked to write a comprehensive interview essay after the interview.

When you’re interviewing someone, you must be keen and attentive to what your guest is saying. If possible, take some notes; you’ll need them to compose your interview essay later. Ultimately, craft a compelling essay using the points you took to provide as much detail as possible.

If you need help writing an interview essay, we’ve got you. We’re an essay writing service that provides online assignment help to thousands of high school, college, and university students. When we’re feeling inspired, we share valuable writing tips with you.

That’s why we’ve compiled an all-inclusive guide explaining how to write an interview essay. You can also help yourself to an example of an interview essay in our custom essay archives.

Let’s get started.

What Is an Interview Essay?

An interview essay definition refers to an essay that helps you provide different views on a specific topic, or several subjects using information collected from interviewing one or more persons. 

What makes an interview essay unique is how it derives information first hand from people. Even better, the info comes from authorities on the given subject, instead of using books covering the same.

Interview essays are common in journalism as they allow readers to get high-quality information about specific topics from experts in different fields. For instance, in an interview essay where you can interview a psychologist who deals with elite athletes. They can provide you with in-depth insights into the mental health of certain sports celebrities.

Also, a well-written interview paper usually speaks directly to the reader. Doing this makes them feel as if they are the ones interviewing the experts. Before even writing this paper, you must look for a knowledgeable person who will provide new information regarding the topic.

The 3 Types of Interview Essays 

Before even writing, you must understand that there are different types of interview essays. Check out some of the most common types you should know.

1. Narrative Interview Essay

You can write a narrative interview essay using information from the interview. However, you must change the dialogue from first-person to third-person. Consequently, you can document the history and cultural/social issues by taking some notes during the interview. 

Writing a narrative essay can be quite challenging, especially if it is your first time. Luckily, given a little bit of time, you can master it. Follow these simple steps to write an excellent interview essay. 

1. Conduct extensive research. It’ll help you form great questions, and more information from the interview eventually

2. Provide a quality speech transcription

3. Edit the transcript into a first-person narrative/story

Depending on your instructor, you may have to provide a transcription of your interview questions. So, keep it safe.

2. Career Interview Essay

The best way for you to assess job applicants or help them secure work is by making career interview essays from their answers. When writing a career interview essay, you have to ask yourself three questions.

1. What is so special about a particular college/job applicant, and how do they perceive specific life aspects?

2. Are there any unique skills, knowledge, or even an educational background that the applicant has?

3. You can also make a list of the goals, qualities, social status, location, and other factors that help to describe the applicant more.

Are you planning to join college soon? If yes, the best way to work on your college interview essay is by asking yourself the above questions and using the answers to complete your interview essay assignment.

3. Leadership Essay

A leadership essay mostly focuses on explaining the different types of leadership in our world today. You can also use a leadership essay to help provide information on how to become a great leader. When writing a leadership essay, you need a list of questions. You can research more on the kind of questions journalists ask renowned politicians to help you understand what exactly you need.

Writing an Interview Essay Step by Step

1. Determine the Purpose of the Interview Essay

Determining your paper’s purpose affects how you’ll conduct the interview, write the essay, and also creates a significant impact on the interviewee.

If you want your paper to be more factual, then you must interview a person with lots of expertise in the topic you will be addressing. For instance, if you want to write about a science topic, then you should interview a scientist in that specific field. The same applies to when you want to write a historical paper, as you must talk to someone who has lived in the era you’re researching.

If you want the interview essay to be an opinion piece, then you are most likely to interview someone with a strong opinion on the same. Ideally, you also want to talk to someone who can express different opinions articulately and is an authority on the subject.

If your interview essay has a narrow perspective, you can consider interviewing one or two people. However, if the piece should present a consensus, then you must talk to more people, especially those with different credentials. 

2. Research Your Subjects and Get Some Questions

To help you conduct an effective interview that will provide you with vital information to write the essay, you have to do some research. So, you must look into the background and history of your subject(s) and the main topic of your essay. 

These tips will help you ask the right questions when researching.

I. Read various literature on your subject, both online and in print

Also, research even more on the topic. Doing this helps you to have detailed information on both the title and your interviewee, thus allowing you to ask even more intelligent questions.

II. Search for other interviews your interviewee attended 

Doing this will enable you to see all the questions that the person answered before hence allowing you to draft more relevant ones for your discussion. This can also make you more creative and come up with unique questions for your meeting.

III. Ask questions with a yes or no answer 

Such items are great for collecting detailed factual information. Using why, how, and tell me about” questions are more open-ended and will help you get more background information that you did not get from your research.

IV. List all the questions that you plan to ask

When making a list, you must have more questions than you need. Doing this helps you to make any necessary adjustments during the interview. For instance, the subject might start talking about something that you thought was a minor topic. When this happens, having additional questions allows you to have something to ask and keep the interview going.

You should also arrange your items in an order, ask the most critical questions first then end with the least crucial ones.

3. Arrange the Interview

Next on your to-do-list is contacting the interviewee to arrange for when and where to conduct the interview. Make sure you inform them of who you are and why you are planning a meeting. 

Look for a quiet place to ensure you have an excellent environment for the interview. The library, restaurant, or even parks are some of the best places to hold the conversation. However, you can also meet at any suitable campus location if you are doing this for a school project.

Points to Remember

a. Request permission to record anything during the interview, from audio to writing notes. Having the subject’s consent allows you to also use the comments and answers in your essay without any worries.

b. Have a backup interviewee. It will come in handy in case one subject fails you.

c. Arrive at the agreed place on time to avoid inconveniencing the interviewee.

4. Conduct Your Interview

After the interviewee arrives and settles, start the discussion, and don’t forget to take notes. The pointers will give you something to reference on, especially when you are looking for specific points from the audio or video recording.

Here are some helpful tips on how to conduct your research.

Use a recording device and ask permission first 

The recording is essential as it allows you only to jot down specific things such as themes, insights on how the subject approaches particular questions, the comfort level during the interview, and so on.

Be patient and give the subject enough time to respond

Allowing your interviewee more time to reflect will help you to get even better answers that you didn’t expect.

Note down some of your thoughts and impressions 

Noting down your sentiments regarding your guest will help you to get more insights to write your interview essay. Also, make sure you thank the person after the interview to show that you appreciate them taking their time to come.

Writing Your Persuasive Essay Step by Step

Let’s dive into the step by step process of writing a persuasive essay. Shall we?

1. Settle on a Persuasive Essay Format

If the interview essay is a class assignment, then the lecturer will most likely provide a persuasive essay prompt. If that’s the case, the prompt will contain the guidelines for the persuasive essay format you should use.

Therefore, remember to ask your professor whether you should include interview questions and answers, paraphrasing, long quotations, or any other vital detail. 

Generally, most interview essays can be in any of the following formats.

Conversational Format

Our essay writing experts deem this persuasive essay format the most flexible. Why? Because it allows you to address the reader directly and use the first and second person. Additionally, you can use this format when handling any kind of interview essay from magazine articles to class assignments.

Narrative Format

In a narrative format, you can paraphrase any information the subject says and write in how you want it in your essay. Using this format is the best idea, especially in-class assignments, as it allows you to add context and some analysis.

Question and Answer

When following this structure, you outline the questions you asked your subjects, followed by the responses they provided. This type of persuasive essay involves direct quotes, but you can include some explanatory material in substitutions and parentheses. You’ll also love to know that it’s the most suitable format for writing an interview essay requiring one subject.

2. Craft the Persuasive Essay Outline

The outline mostly depends on the format you choose for your essay. However, an interview essay should have an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. The introduction needs to capture the reader’s attention to ensure they keep reading. So, you must know how to write an interview essay introduction effectively to get incredible results.

The first sentence of your introduction can be a brief definition to help emphasize the topic’s importance. You can use the second sentence to build context by stating how the issue relates to your audience. The third can be a thesis statement that shows what benefits readers should expect. 

The primary purpose of body paragraphs is to provide vital details on the significant points of the essay interview. Therefore, you must provide insights and facts that show the interviewee is an authority on the topic. You should also remember that the points in your body paragraphs should directly relate to your thesis. 

There is not an exact number of ideas that you can discuss in an interview essay. However, you must focus on the main topic. Also, see that you always respect the interviewee’s opinions. So, do not try to change any answers, which makes it vital to separate your thoughts from the interviewee’s. 

You can then conclude with a summary of the main points in the end with a great argument.

3. Write Your Persuasive Essay Draft

Your essay’s body paragraphs should follow the chosen format while supporting the thesis significantly and providing more valuable information. Interviews may sometimes produce repetitive answers, even with great questions. Therefore, make sure you cut off the repetitions from the essay to help make it easy to read.

An interview essay example in our custom essay archives will help you identify how you can use the same materials in one transcription and explore different styles. That way, you can write a stellar interview essay with a unique style that will score a higher grade.

4. Proofread Your Persuasive Essay

Any kind of essay, including college interview essays, need proper edits. So, you must proofread your article thoroughly to ensure you correct any possible grammatical errors.

Reviewing the article by yourself is a great idea, but it’s always better to let someone do it, at least once. New eyes are more likely to catch some errors, unclear sections, and repetitions that you probably overlooked.

You also need to review the interview notes and check whether your essay is focusing on the same major points. That way, you can make sure your piece reflects the interview, improving the quality of your work.

5. Document the Sources

The need to document your sources mostly depends on your professor. Therefore, remember to check the instructions to make sure you list them if the he wants you to.

You should also cite every supplement material that you use when writing the interview essay. However, you should reference the info you used to research information about the interviewee according to the format rules.

Also, ensure that you place all direct quotes you use are in quotation marks. If you paraphrase the interviewee’s words, then you do not need to use an interview essay.

Interview Essay Vs. Research Paper

It can be easy to confuse an interview essay with a research paper, but the two are quite different. The significant difference between these two is that a research paper is usually longer than an essay, which typically consists of four to five paragraphs.

Overall, a research paper focuses on the available research, while an interview essay, entails the information you get from someone else.

Need Assignment Help Writing an Interview Essay?

Writing an interview essay can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be. Now, you’re aware that many tips can help you write a high-quality interview essay that will impress the lecturer and yield a good grade. You now know how to write an interview paper, but sometimes you may feel like you’re trying too hard. This is likely to happen when you are on a tight deadline. 

No need to be overwhelmed. Get professional essay writing help and relax. In a few hours, you’ll have your custom interview essay in your email.