Evaluation of interviews

Firstly, it was really difficult to find people to interview; we did leave it to the day to look for these mentors so it was short notice. However, we anticipated this, as it is the time where most students have their exams. We were able to find Jonathon Bridgewater who agreed to take part in an interview with us. To be honest, he was probably one of the best mentors to have used as an example as he really has got stuck in to the scheme and had loads of examples to talk about and had a lot to say. The questions that we prepared were extremely appropriate in finding out the information we required to prove that this scheme is a success. Questions like “How has this benefitted you” and “ Would you advise anyone else to take part in the scheme” were the type of questions, which allowed us to have answers that will help us in our evaluation scheme.

Jamie and myself also asked each other the questions as we are both mentors on the scheme also, it was also a good idea to get our perspective from this angel compared to the usual one we see it from as creators of the scheme. Common answers did occur, especially with the question “what would you change about the scheme if you could” All 3 of us replied that it would have been more beneficial if the scheme had started earlier, however, we are aware of why it never but its just a common answer which will come up. Another common answer, which came up, was the fact that we were all in it for the experience and to have something to put on our CV’s.

The quality of the interviews weren’t the best however, it was a first run through and we will bare this in mind for the future. Unfortunately the resource we hoped to use wasn’t available today so we had to result in using the flip cameras, which caused the footage to be a little shaky at times and not the best picture or sound quality.

Jonathan and Jamie’s replies to the questions were very in depth and confident however, my own answers were a bit short and wobbly at times as I find it hard to do things like this. We need to also bare this in mind for the future when recording interviews with other mentors as some people may have confidence issues, we can try and make this as easy for them as possible by making them comfortable or letting them practice.