One of the assignments I use in my management classes is to have the students interview a manager and write up the results. Family members are not allowed. The students have to email me before the interview is set up to make sure the person fits the criteria. I give them some standard questions to start with and then require them to develop their own additional questions that pertain to class topics.
Required questions include:
What are the most critical skills needed to be an effective manager? For example, what personal characteristics do you have that make you successful in this field?
How can a person develop these skills? What is the role of formal education in this process?
Describe a normal working day for you. (For example, describe what you did yesterday).
What are the most critical problems you face as a manager?
If you were to teach a college course on management, what topics would you include? How would you actually teach the course?
I require background information on both the manager and the company and a work phone number. The phone number is especially important to ensure that the student actually interviews the manager (it also gives me a list of possible guest speakers).
I find the assignment is beneficial in several ways: It reinforces what I am teaching in the class; it exposes the student to what a manager does on a daily basis; and usually it results in several students obtaining an internship or job interview.
This exercise could be adapted to students with a variety of majors in order to allow them to see what they can do in their chosen field.
Next post I'll share a rubric I am developing to grade these interview papers.
Comments