INTERVIEW REPORT: CHARACTERISTICS, STRUCTURE AND EXAMPLES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

An interview report is a type of document in which the main ideas of an interview are expressed. These can be appraisals or conclusions of the interviewer and is characterized by working as a synthesis.

In other words, it could be said that an interview report is a scheme where the guidelines followed by the dialogue are indicated along with the conclusions of the meeting. This method is frequently used in job interviews, since it facilitates the selection of those candidates who are most suitable for the job.

In the first instance, it is necessary to clarify that an interview consists of a meeting between two or more individuals whose objective is to address a professional or business matter. In journalistic terms, it is a conversation that a journalist establishes with another person based on a series of questions that must be answered by the interviewee.

Likewise, journalistic dialogues can be opinion, informative or personality. In addition, they are usually structured by a question-answer scheme; all these factors are specified by the journalist at the time of making the report.

One of the advantages of making an interview report is that it allows cleaning and reorganizing the ideas expressed by the interviewee. For example, an interviewee may have fillers or may use many colloquial terms; the report facilitates the filter of these aspects. It also allows the journalist to restructure or reposition the questions that were asked.

Interview reports originate from recordings or annotations made by the journalist and, during the process, the interviewer can include verbatim phrases or paraphrase the content, but must maintain objectivity and appeal for the veracity of the information.

In general, the interview reports only include the most important ideas, since their main objective is to prepare a document where the content can be viewed in a summarized way and that serves as a guide for the interviewer.

Characteristics of the interview report

An interview report is a diagram that indicates the guidelines that the dialogue followed along with the conclusions of the meeting. Source: pixabay.com

- The interview reports work like a report, where the most important data that came to light during the meeting is presented.

- The reports must be submitted to a preliminary analysis in order to discard those elements that do not add a notable value to the summary.

- An interview report is characterized by being impersonal and synthetic. During its preparation, the interviewer will test his synthesis capacity and his ability to establish reasonable and objective judgments.

- The interview report has a series of data that offers precise information about the meeting. For example: the date and place of the meeting, the name of the person who was interviewed (along with a photo or characteristic feature of their wardrobe or image) and the main purpose of the interview. You can also attach a particular fact or anecdote.

- The interview reports are characterized by having a main body or an outline, where the analysis or summary of the meeting is carried out. Generally, it follows a question-answer structure, with some inferences included.

Structure

Job interview reports make it easy to select future employees. Source: pixabay.com

The interview reports have the following structure:

The introduction

In this section, the interviewer makes an introduction where he places the main objectives of the meeting. It also briefly explains the topic that was addressed in the interview. The introduction includes the title of the report (which should be simple and short) along with some personal information about the person interviewed. For example:

Interview to apply for the position of sales manager (title)

Personal data of the interviewee:

Name: Fernando Toro

Age: 35 years.

Marital status: single.

The text

It consists of the body of the document. There you can find the interview procedure, including textual fragments that have been previously selected. These fragments contain the most important ideas that encompass the topic of the interview.

The text is organized with blocks, where the points that were addressed during the meeting are exposed in a precise way.

The truth

The veracity is a fundamental aspect within an interview report; it is about placing the facts as they were narrated by the interviewee, without adding subjective judgments. The interviewer can add some opinions of his own, but must do so from a rational analysis without modifying or distorting the answers of the person interviewed.

The conclusion

In this last section, the interviewee places the conclusions that were established after conducting the interview. You can place personal appraisals, as long as they are properly substantiated.

Estefanía Mac, in her article How to write a report on an interview (2019) affirms that everything that is written in the conclusion must maintain a relationship with the other parts of the report, avoiding adding information that is unnecessary, as this can harm the synthesis that was done in the previous items.

Examples of interview reports

It is important to clarify that there are different types of interview report. For example, there are job interviews, psychological interviews and school interviews. There are also interviews of a journalistic nature, which can address topics of all kinds such as economics, entertainment, politics, among others.

Job interview report

Job interview reports function as a summary of the characteristics of the interviewee. They are usually carried out by people in charge of the human resources field, but they can also be carried out by company heads, who are looking for specific virtues to carry out a certain position.

An example of this type of report is presented below:

Title: Interview to apply for the position of editor

Manager: Luisa Mejías

Name of interviewee: Adriana Méndez

Age: 28 years

Marital status: single.

Educational level: Bachelor of Arts and Philosophy, with Master's degrees in History and Communication.

The interviewee showed up to the meeting on time, wearing appropriate clothing and good personal hygiene. She expressed herself in a respectful and formal way, but slightly distracted. She demonstrated possessing the necessary skills to perform the position.

Likewise, the young woman comes from a middle-class family and developed in urban environments. She is currently studying English, French and is planning to pursue a postgraduate degree.

It can be concluded that Adriana Méndez has the necessary knowledge to obtain the position of text editor and is considered to have a high cognitive level that will allow her to stand out in the company.

As of May 5, 2019, Editorial Hispania cultural SA

Psychological interview report

Psychological reports allow establishing a profile of the person and are used to guide the patient or interviewee, motivating him to improve and optimize his activities.

This type of report is also used by companies with the aim of knowing their employees in greater depth; Likewise, it can be used by educational institutions to analyze the performance of students.

Below is an example of a psychological interview report:

Title: Psychological report of the employee Ernesto Marín

Name: Ernesto Marín Gutiérrez

Age: 34 years old

Position held: administrative manager

Observations:

Work performance: the interviewee has skills to communicate with his colleagues, but is not punctual and is often disorganized. However, deliver the jobs on time.

Achievements: the employee is aware of his achievements, but shows signs of low self-esteem in some aspects. Likewise, there were no difficulties in discerning between the real goals and the ideal ones.

Form of expression: the interviewee expresses himself with a formal and leisurely vocabulary. He has no problem being respectful and empathetic.

Interests and aspirations: the employee wants to obtain a position that offers better economic benefits, but is satisfied with the treatment received in the company.

Difficulty management: Although he performs his activities efficiently, the subject shows signs of stress and anxiety when trying to solve new problems.

Conclusions: Ernesto Marín is satisfied with the achievements obtained within the company, but shows traits of fear when undertaking a new project or facing a new challenge. Your job performance is good, but you need to organize yourself and distribute your time better.

Ana López, human resources.

School interview report

School reports are used to know the performance of both students and teachers. They are oriented from psychological analysis, but remain focused on the academic development of the subject.

Likewise, they usually offer solutions in case the interviewee needs to improve. An example of this type of report is shown below:

Title: Interview with the student due to learning difficulties

Personal information:

Name and surname: Andrés Carreño González

Current age: 14 years

Course: third year of high school.

Observations:

The student Andrés Carreño presents difficulties to make sentences and paragraphs; he also fails to concentrate properly during class. The student argues that he does not have enough support at home, so he does not complete the assigned tasks. In addition, he does not handle the language adequately, since it is difficult for him to express his opinions.

During the discussion, the student was uncomfortable and anxious. A certain messiness could also be noted in his uniform and in his general appearance.

As a solution, the student's representatives should be contacted with the goal that parents and teachers work together to encourage and improve the student's skills. In turn, it will be recommended that the student carry out extracurricular activities that promote the development of their abilities and that reactivate their interest in learning.

Conclusions: The student Andrés Carreño has difficulties to handle language and to stay focused. Their representatives will be summoned to determine possible solutions.

Professor Mariela Mata, as of January 30, 2019

Angostura Congress Educational Unit.

References

1. (SA) (sf) Examples of interview report. Retrieved on February 1, 2020 from 10examples.com
2. Lipkin, M. (1995) Performing the interview. Retrieved on February 1, 2020 from Springer.
3. Mac, E. (2019) How to write an interview report. Retrieved on January 30, 2020 from Geniolandia: geniolandia.com
4. Mancilla, B. (2012) Manual for preparing psychological reports. Retrieved on January 31, 2020 from Psicología Unam: psicologia.unam.mx
5. Mejía, T. (sf) What is an interview report? Retrieved on January 31, 2020 from Lifeder.com
6. Muñoz, A. (2015) The journalistic interview. Retrieved on January 30, 2020 fromconsciousnessperiodistica.wordpress.com
7. Myrick, H. (1928) The non-verbal elements in the interview. Retrieved on February 1, 2020 from JSTOR: jstor.org
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