There are always at least two sides to every story, and everything that happens must be composed of several different roles. This can be as small as taking a step which may not seem like much work, but really there are many things happening at once that allow that step to be made, and the ability to make that step even goes back and connects to you breathing. The point is that everything has multiple components and therefore can be seen in many different ways. In my case, it was an interview. In one week I was interviewed for and internship and interviewed my grandpa about his life. Both were very different, and looking at an interview from a different way affected me differently each time. Here’s the story of me interviewing my grandfather:
The role of the interviewer and interviewed can change drastically depending on the type of interview. When I was interviewed it was for a position adding to the intimidation of it, but when I was interviewing someone else it was just to hear about their life making it a peaceful (not at all stressful experience). When I interviewed my grandfather I wasn’t sure what I expected. I figured he would talk about experiences in his life such as serving in the army and then maybe how those experiences changed him. But I was surprised to here him skim over most of the experiences of his life and go on to those of his children. He didn’t say anything about what he did for a living but could describe in great detail what my mother did for a living, including all of the positions she has had and when she got promoted. I wish I could’ve seen more into why he didn’t talk about himself as much, maybe he thinks that his experiences are out of date, or maybe he is just so proud of his children that he couldn’t help but focus on them. I may not ever know though because I didn’t ask, and that’s the hardest thing about being the interviewer. You are given the power to ask this person or people any question, but you have to choose wisely because you may not have time to ask a lot. When I was sitting there with my grandpa I didn’t even know what I wanted to ask so I just let him talk and took the backseat. I am not at all upset with the things I got from him, but I still wish I could’ve asked him more. So while being interviewed is just you hoping you’ve told everything you can, being the interviewer is trying to make sure you’ve asked everything you can.
Being the interviewer gives you much more power and knowledge than getting interviewed. Overall I enjoy it much more, but I can imagine that if you had to interview many people and then choose who to hire it may not be as easy going. In another post I describe my time being interviewed, although under much different circumstances, and talk about more of the difference between being interviewed and interviewing someone else.
Thoughts to Think About 