Blogging Insights....so far

While I have been working on my previous blog posts, which have been interviews I have conducted with friends and family, I have also been thinking about how to improve my blog and have some learning to share. Firstly, I learned about the importance of researching the questions I want to ask and doing additional prep work before the interviews. I also learned about what detail is required in someone’s answer to write an effective blog and how to steer the interview to get the information I am seeking. Finally, I have also made some observations about the people I interview.

When asking questions for a blog, you must know what information you need. You should ask specific and meaningful questions. They should actually matter and should contribute to your blog. For example, an unnecessary question would be asking someone you interview when their birthday is. A question matters if the information you get from it is relevant towards your blog. Since my blog focuses on understanding professions I would like to pursue in my future, questions that help me understand why my subjects chose the jobs they did, what they had to do to get their job, and what their job entails would all be relevant.  Your questions should also not be too vague, like “What did you do?” Vague questions are not effective since they result in vague answers. 

Secondly, I learned what details are required in someone’s answer and when and how I should ask for more information. When writing a blog for an interview, there should not be any important unanswered questions. For example, you asked someone what their job was, and they said they were an Engineer. However, there are many types of engineers, and your readers may be confused which engineer they are.  Either while conducting the interview or while writing it, if you realize that there are unanswered questions, you should ask for more information either during the interview or later asynchronously. Without this iteration, the lack of information may reduce the quality of your blog post.

I also found out why the people whom I interviewed chose their job. Krishna, Vinay, and Shiva all found fulfillment in helping people, even if they did it in different ways. Vinay did it by working at a pharmaceutical company to produce life-saving drugs. Krishna did it by providing houses for the poor slum dwellers who used to live on the streets. Shiva did it by working on projects like irrigation, which helped thousands of people farm. Even though they did it differently, they all did their best to help people. This gave them satisfaction, and, as a result, they loved their job. 

While writing my blog, I have learned to ask concise and precise questions. You must also make sure that the information that you receive is adequate and that there are no unanswered questions. All the people I interviewed chose their job based on what gave them joy and satisfaction. Similarly, I also might choose my job by observing what gives me satisfaction