Interview is a give and take of views between the interviewer and the interviewee. It consists of consultation, mutual interchange of opinions and deliberating together. It can be used to get information, to give information and to change behaviour.
Its purpose thus is three-fold—it involves gathering all available pertinent facts, making a diagnosis on the basis of all the evidence and formulating an appropriate plan of action.
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All problems may not be settled in the interview but to be successful, it should lead to some plan of action.
Its aim should be to serve the individual even though the counsellor may do no more than present the facts in a more objective light, thus enabling the student to see himself, his assets, his liabilities and Ms Opportunities more clearly than he could see them unaided.
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The interview may be used for any of several purposes, but a purpose it must have. It may be introductory, fact finding, informative, evaluative, and therapeutic in nature and its use for any of these purposes should be clearly recognised by the counselling officer and his subject.
What are some of the specific practical questions which are likely to come up for consideration during an interview? There are a great many such questions, of course and they are as varied and as individually coloured as the interviewee who seeks answers to them.
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The student who feels a need to be better informed about his scholastic and vocational prospects may want estimates of his aptitude for college work, his intellectual promise for special fields of training, his disposition to favour or avoid various spheres of activity (vocational interests), and his emotional adjustment tendencies (traits of personality and temperament).
He may wish to consider with his counsellor the questions as whether he should remain in college, how much additional training he should take, what course he should take and whether he should transfer to another institution.
He may decide to ask about the duties and services performed by workers in a particular occupation and about employment requirements and opportunities in that field of work.
There might be some difficulties at home or harassment by other students or he might find difficulty in his adjustment with room-mates in the hostel.
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It is obvious there is no simple answer to the question ‘what problems should be discussed in an interview?’
Perhaps the best rule of thumb is that any personal problem that generally concerns the interviewee or any question that bears upon his personal planning and decision making activities is a legitimate matter for interview.
What is a proper counselling topic for one student may not be suitable for another. There are a number of problems of the students—academic, disciplinary, economic, educational, emotional, residential, social, etc. which necessitate the use of this tool.
The fact that a student comes to a teacher occasions a meeting and may result into an interview.