Informational interview

Submitted: Informational Interview with a Web Designer This report outlines the results of an interview with a web designer about their professional experience. It includes a discussion of their educational background, work experience, current role, day-to-day tasks, software used, teamwork and personal opinions. The interview was completed in person after preparing a series of questions, obtaining consent from the interview and consulting literature including Beagrie (83) and Lloyd (112) for guidelines regarding the conduction of an informational interview.
The interviewee completed a BSc in computer applications in 2008. Upon graduating, she began her current role with her current employer after completing her internship with them as a web designer for company clients. Her current role involves the development of the company’s website and sub-sites. For this, she uses a combination of software including Drupla, Editplus, phpBB and Photoshop. She usually works independently but liaises with the company CEO and sales and marketing departments for website information regarding new content, information, customer information, target audiences and news.
The interviewee believes that her educational programme helped greatly in preparation for her current role. She administers that attention to detail, creativity and technical proficiency are important skills for web designers. She is concerned by the current climate of the profession regarding the popularity and availability of accessible web-design software, however, she admits that effective web design of larger or complex sites can only be achieved by trained and skilled web designers. The following are some examples of the questions and answers given during the interview.
Were you always interested in web design?
“ No, I wasn’t always interested in Web Design. I was always interested in the web itself and computers in general. I first became interested in web design when I took the web design module in my first year in college.”
How did your education help you with your career?
“ I created a substantial web site for my third year project and again for my final year project…… My project work definitely helped me with my career in web design. I also had an internship called INTRA during my third year of college. This also helped a lot with gaining experience in web design, and also gave me my job today.”
What is a typical day for you?
“ A typical day for me would be to come in at 9 o clock. Check emails. Email the CEO of the company and ask for any news and updates for the website… Check that the website is working correctly and make any necessary changes…Add in any news or updates. Make changes… Only yesterday I finished redesigning the ‘ Leadership’ section of the site which has taken a while.”
Who do you usually collaborate with?
“ If I worked with anyone I would say marketing people, what kind of articles should go up, who their target audience are and things like that. Sales also, if new deals are made and new customers are added, then I need information from them.”
Works Cited
Beagrie, S. “ How To Conduct An Interview.’ Personnel Today 14. 5 (2005): 83-89. Print.
Lloyd, J. “ Preparation Pays Off In Informational Interviews’ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 30. 8 (1997): 112-115. Print.