Informational Interviews: Comments

Don't forget that at least 1/3 to 1/2 of your informational interview questions should be related to real estate valuation.  I think we will find that property values and valuation skills are important to every aspect of the real estate industry.

You may conduct your informational interview in person, by phone, or by email.  I would recommend that you ask your interviewee for their format preference.  Also, I would suggest that you try to physically meet with your interviewee to make a more personal connection (dress professionally and be on-time!).  If you conduct the interview in person or by phone, you must ask the interviewee if you may record the session.  If they do not agree, do not record under any circumstances.  You must take good notes.

Please tell your interviewee that you will email your final version of your interview to him or her.  In this email, you will ask your interviewee for their permission to post the interview on our class blog (https://sites.google.com/site/fin181hansz/).  Please make sure that they know this is a public blog.  We will not post any interviews without the interviewee's permission.  Don't forget you could include photos of the person, their office, or business logo with their permission.  Also, please consider any other appropriate visuals including tables, chart, graphs, maps, and other photos.

You may do some minor editing of the answers but do not alter the intent or content of the answers.  If some questions were misunderstood, inappropriate, or the interviewee simple preferred not to answer the question, you may exclude question from the interview.  It will depend on the length and nature of the questions and responses but it looks like 10 to 15 questions are most appropriate.  Remember, you may need to exclude a a couple questions.

Please do not forget to write a good introduction and conclusion to your information interview.  The introduction should introduce the person you are interviewing (at a minimum the person's name, company, affiliation, industry they work in, years in the business, and the geographic region they typically cover).  The final paragraph should summarize and synthesis your findings from the interview with respect to valuation in your interviewee business and industry.  Also, do not forget to thank your interviewee in person and in the paper itself (the introduction or most likely the conclusion).

For this assignment, please email me your informational interview in a Word file attachment by the assignment due date. I will grade the assignment and return it to you by email.  You can then send your paper to the interviewee and once you get their permission, you can post it on the course blog. Good luck and enjoy the assignment.  This is a good opportunity to meet someone in the real estate industry.