Week 2: The Art of Interviewing

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog! The story of my week is soft skills, and learning what it takes to be a successful interviewer. I’m in an abnormal situation with my Senior Project in the sense that I can’t start my data collection until the start of the First Tee spring season, meaning that I have until March 21st to put all the pieces in place to maximize my collection time. A primary step in my preparation is interview etiquette and protocol, and that means getting into what’s worked in the past. A large majority of my project will focus on the Latino demographic, especially considering their prevalence in the program in East San Jose and Gilroy. That’s why the majority of my research into the art of interviewing was heavily geared towards Latino outreach, and one of the best resources I could find on the subject came from Liliana Vega’s 2016 paper titled “Best Practices for Outreach and Engagement to Latino Audiences Using Community-Based Programs.” (1). 

For my project specifically, I feel like my primary challenge will be finding participants for these interviews, especially since most of my target interviewee demographic likely wants to drop their kid off at golf class and leave. The attraction element, according to Vega, must stem from what I suspect youth development groups like the First Tee have been employing: comfort. In her paper, she highlights many different attraction and retention techniques when working with Latino communities, and one that I find relevant to my interview process would be a combination of convenience and passion. Especially in an area where a significant amount of the Latino population doesn’t fully understand English, The First Tee has aimed to close that gap by introducing a Latino Outreach Program. I’ve been lucky enough to work with them recently, and if necessary, that translation through a bilingual mediator will be the first that I offer to my participants. If my goal is to maximize my potential participants, that bilingual factor is crucial to the first step of retention.

Additionally, Vega points out the trait of corazón — passion and heart — as a key part of what engages the Latino community. She describes it as a tenet of trust & relationship building within this demographic, something that I feel every interviewer should strive for in their discussions. My interpretation of that suggestion is that these interviews should keep the unique story of each participant front and center, even if it means straying away from my intent slightly. I feel like striking a balance between a job interview and a casual discussion is a challenging skill to master, because it means sacrificing the general motive of the conversation to make the interviewee feel as comfortable as possible. After speaking with Mr. Hansen and members within the First Tee, I feel like that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make, as it will already be a big ask to get these participants to open up in the first place. Asking open-ended questions and digging deeper into the nuances of each person’s entry into golf will trump quantitative questions in my interviews, and I think it will add a sense of trust to the discussion that could yield fruit later on.

Overall, interviews are hard. We’re talking about approaching people out of the blue, asking them potentially sensitive questions about their entry into a historically oppressive sport, and expecting them to open up like I’m a person they can wholeheartedly trust. I understand it won’t be perfect — some may become unresponsive, agitated, and even shut down the conversation entirely — but I hope that these two elements, alongside all of my preparation, can minimize those challenges as much as possible. While my Senior Project has started slowly, it will pick up significantly after my first day of interviews on March 21st, so I encourage all of you to stick around until then to see if my preparation will actually work when it matters. Thanks for reading!

1. Vega, Liliana, et al. “Best Practices for Outreach and Engagement to Latino Audiences Using Community-Based Programs.” Journal of Human Sciences and Extension, 30 June 2016, https://doi.org/10.54718/mbeq5252. Accessed 12 Aug. 2022.