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The second best source is someone who knows about the job,
for example, supervisory personnel. Be aware, however, that you
will get some information about what soceone doing the job ought
to be doing, rather than what he actually does. Wlorking with host
agency personnel, you may have to eventually reconcile these
differences. With a well r e- and organized task analysis
you at least have a useful tool in conducting this type of
negotiation.
The third and least reliable source is M rself. You willl .
have your own biases about what the job should entail. Because
we are Americans out of our own cultural :'aear, it is likely
that these biases rdight lead us fairly far astray. ;' "
In doing your task analysis you should try to identify 4,e -t
a4an-i.r host cotnitry personnel who are actually doing t-eC job.
In the absence of such personnel, a superviscr is probcil[:
•.ext best. As a general rule of thunb, more than one source is
praferable as you will get mars than one perspective of the job.
In many instances host country sources will deal primarily %with
technical tasks, though they may also be able to provide some insiiht
into cross-cultural and language tasks that are essential.
For the latter two types of tasks, : . -S, t*re f .z!d, even
if he Isn't doing your type of technical job, is proba-" the
bt source,as-he--s-engaged-inAoin--lan- guage-and-eross-culturel
C ducting an intervie--- the conducting of an interview is a
fairly specialized skill and depends to sorz extent on v u,.,.r own
personality and that of tle person you interview. We would
suggest a few guidelins that may be of help.
a) Introduce yourself and give the person a cha:.'.. to do likewise,
Enjoy any social amenities that seem appropriate.
b) Zxplain the purpose of your interview that is that you are
trying to deter-.ine what he does (if interviewing scneone­
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actually performs a job idet.-iz or tolar
what he thinks someone in ye position doe s or =-ould do
(if you are working with a super--is'rv type). The operatlve
word is DOES. While backgroumd iafornation is us eful and
interesting, it doesn't tell you what the trill do.
It only indicated the conditions under which he will do it.
By the n=e token, information on what the person knows, or the
;1eeT should know, doesn't tell you what he will have
to do. Stre.'5 that you are trying to Lnd out what zcreone in
the job actually does and has to do.
c) Ask the person for a general outline of what he doe= and his
duties. Vlote anything that doesn't appear in your cutline
as well as things in your outline that aren't acntioned by
the source.
d) The job description should give you so-e rajcr task areas.
Take each one and attempt to elicit atatemerts stated behaviorally
about what he does in this area. For example, you
might receive an initial answer like "I work with teachers."