"Suffix" Interview Writing Camp | How to use Email to interview

Interviewing a person seems to be quite a professional thing, and it is not easy to complete an in-depth and good-looking interview. So from the "Suffix" interview camp, how should we take the first step and write a good-looking interview?

We can start with the simplest email round trip. This not only saves the trouble of face-to-face invitations, but also does not need to test the ability to respond on the spot, and both parties can have more time to ask or answer questions.

As a software engineer, you might be thinking: Is there a set of Q&A templates that I can use to interview a person? Of course there is, Indie Dev Weekly is a weekly newspaper that operates in this way. Usually, one or two interviews are used as the principle. So far, nearly 100 issues have been issued!

Step 1: Opening Questions

In this issue of A Reflection of Interview Questions , the editor reviews the first five fixed questions he used to interview indie developers, interspersed with interviewees' project discussions, and finally ends with a few fixed questions.

Since I was in the "Suffix" interview camp, I was in charge of "Group C: I chose to interview citizens who have become "appreciative citizens", and the subject matter of the interviews was limited. "Web3" is the main content", referring to the previous practice, we can start like this:

1. What country are you in? How did you come into contact with blockchain-related technologies?
2. How much time do you spend on average per day in blockchain-related technologies or communities?
3. Your favorite blockchain technology or application? Why?

Wow, copying it in this way, interviewing 100 people is not a dream! But this is too much like writing a street questionnaire. At Postfix interview and writing camp, we certainly want to make every interview brilliantly play with its original depth (or humor?).

To sign up for the "Suffix" interview and writing camp, you need to answer several well-designed questions (about 500 words) first - make sure the interviewer has done (or done) homework beforehand to clarify the part that interests the interviewee most , which can be used to continue extending the interview questions.

For example, here is the entry I expected to interview@leafwind:

Please answer the following questions briefly in 500 words or less:
Q: Which citizen do you want to interview? Why? What attracts you to him (trait, expertise)? What is the most curious and interesting thing about him?
A: leafwind. He has been a LikeCoin verifier for a long time, and he has also established a Telegram group to promote the Cosmos ecosystem, but it is not limited to these technical exchanges. Why do I actively promote technology and why those concepts are developed are what I am most curious about and most interested in.

Q: Which article do you admire or impress the most about this citizen? (Please attach link) Why? Please cite an article from the text? and any reflections or thoughts this text brings to you.
A: Lilikoukou#12 Everyone here is a funder . The second half of this article criticizes traditional finance, especially the phrase "Everyone here is a fund." It can't help but remind people that the book "Blockchain Sociology" also discussed the concept of "money" in depth, and would like to know how he thinks about traditional and crypto finance. In addition, thinking about career is also worth discussing.

Q: What questions do you want to ask him? Has he agreed to be interviewed?
A: I have agreed to be interviewed. The initial interview questions are as follows:
1. Why did you become a LikeCoin validator and even set up a Telegram group to promote the Cosmos ecosystem? How do you see the difference between the Cosmos ecosystem and other blockchain ecosystems?
2. You have an article criticizing traditional finance, which is similar to that of several core members of LikeCoin. Wondering how these ideas came about? How much time do you usually spend on crypto-related matters? What do you think about the future development of crypto?
3. It is known from public information that you are working as a data science engineer in Japan. Want to chat about how you got into the business? Are you considering developing into a crypto-related industry in your future career?

These basic understanding of the interviewee and the outline of the interview can ensure that the interview content is closely related to the interviewee's own experience, and the chat will not dry up at that time.

Step 2: Ask questions

Putting these questions together, you can send your first interview letter. Then, depending on the content of the other party's reply, you can share your own understanding and opinions, and further ask about the issues you are interested in.

It's important to note that interviews are usually for the exchange of each other's "values", and don't use interviews as a field for "Web3 newbie questions" (welcome to the web3 channel of Matters Lab Discord !).

For some more in-depth or even sharp issues, you can decide whether to ask questions depending on the atmosphere of the conversation, or take the initiative to kindly remind the interviewee when you raise it, "you may not answer it" or "you can decide not to put it in the interview draft".

If you still have no confidence in such an interview process, you can attach a copy to the interview editor when you send the letter, and we can provide opinions and assistance in a timely manner.

After several emails back and forth, when you feel that the content of the interview can be converged to a certain level, and when it has exceeded 2,000 words, you can consider replying to inform the interview that this is the end of the interview. If there is content that the respondents do not wish to disclose, they should respect their wishes and remove them.

Step 3: Tripartite Review

The biggest advantage of using email interviews is that you can start editing directly from the text of the letter. Compared with face-to-face interviews (usually you need to record and then re-dictate and write out key arrangements or verbatim drafts), the threshold can be said to be much lower.

As for how to organize the interview content in an orderly or interesting manner, it depends on your personal organizing skills or discuss with the interview editor. Once it has been reviewed by you and the interviewing editor, it can be forwarded to the interviewee for final confirmation. After the three-party reviewer has confirmed the manuscript, the publication schedule can be arranged.

Epilogue

This article is only a brief summary of the stages of the interview. Since each interview is a unique experience, the Postfix Interview Writing Camp will use the role of the interview editor to help make the interview process more smoothly completed. Is there anyone you want to know more about for interviews? You might be able to meet new friends here! Come and sign up for the "Suffix" interview and writing camp!