Although there are a large variety of ways that interviews occur in public, personal, and professional settings, the two types you are most likely to encounter are information interviews and employment interviews.

Information interviews generate knowledge or understanding about a particular topic. For instance, marketing consultants use focus groups to interview customers about their experiences using a product or a service. Doctors ask their patients questions to learn about their medical histories. Information interviews can also help you prepare a speech. Interviewing other people about your topic helps you gather testimony and examples to use in your speech.

Employment interviews manage an organization’s personnel. There are three kinds of employment interviews. Selection interviews determine whether applicants have the education, experience, and proper attitude required for a job. Once a person is hired, employers use performance or appraisal interviews to evaluate his or her work and to set new goals. This kind of interview typically occurs once a year. Organizations use exit interviews to identify why an employee is leaving a job, and use the resulting insights to improve management practices.

Because these two types of interviews are used for different reasons, they require interviewers to approach them in different ways. In this appendix, you’ll learn skills for communicating competently during both types of interviews. But the first step for both types is the same: preparation.