Informational Interview Report: College Art Instructor (2)

[Thanks to KC for sharing her informational interview with a college art instructor.]

My current career goal is to become an art teacher or at least have a career in art. I interviewed my current college art professor because he seems to love his job, and he is one of my favorite art teachers. I have taken some of his other classes as well.

My main goal for this interview was to get insight with an actual person who is currently working in the career I’m interested and to go over what they like about their job and why they went into that career.

The questions I asked included:

• Briefly, can you let me know how you got to where you are today (career
  wise)?
• How long have you been doing this job?
• What do you enjoy doing the most?
• What advice do you have for someone interested in this field?
• What do you like most/least about your job?
• What are the greatest challenges of the job?
• What experience is necessary to enter this field?
• What areas are growing/changing in this field?
• What were the responses from the person you interviewed?

Most of the responses were short and to the point; not a lot of detail but very informational.




Regarding the question, “What do you like most/least about your job?” he answered with, “I like working with the students the most. I like doing all the paperwork and administrative tasks the least.” Simple and to the point.

When I asked, “What do you enjoy doing the most?” he answered, “I enjoy the sense of extreme focus on teaching. To me, it is like making art, riding a motorcycle, being on stage, or walking on a tightrope. I have to be on my game. I enjoy the sense of focusing on the individual student’s successes.” Just a couple sentences that answer the question and not a whole paragraph of why and how.

When I asked the question, “What are the greatest challenges of the job?” his answer was really interesting. He said that he has a hard time explaining linear perspective in a way the students can understand and can replicate in a project through observation. I can understand that because I’ve been in his class when he was trying to explain linear perspective to the other students. It’s difficult to create a subject for a student to observe and recreate.

He also said it was a challenge to grade the students’ work fairly and objectively. Art itself is a creative and independently objective subject, meaning there is always more than one way to create a subject. So trying to be fair and objective with a student that is learning and growing in their art is, I think, a hard thing to grade.

I think the information interview made a positive impression regarding the career I want to know more about. It gave me a little more of an insight on what I have to do if I want to be a college art teacher. And it also helped me realize what is up and coming for anyone who wants a career in art.

As I asked what areas are growing and changing in the field, his answer was, “Online teaching. It’s growing, and the world of art is becoming more digital.”

Reflection

So as I dive deeper into the career of art, this interview helped me to become more aware of what I’m getting into and how I can succeed in it.

If I could do the interview over, I would probably have the interview in person rather than online, but due to scheduling issues, online was the best option.

I would also ask more in-depth questions like, “What are some common career paths in this field?” and “What steps would you recommend I take to prepare to enter this fIeld?” Otherwise, I wouldn’t have changed anything about the interview.

After the interview, I sent a thank-you message within two days as well as thanked him in person when I saw him in class.