Informational Interview

Adam Behnke

I interviewed Dr. Vincent Bacote, a professor in the Bible and Theology department. My interview with Dr. Bacote was very interesting. He teaches my BITH class, but I have never gotten the chance to talk with him personally as the class consists of over one hundred students. I am thinking about being involved in ministry, so I figured his personal experience and background could be valuable to me. To be completely honest, Dr. Bacote controlled the whole conversation. I should have listened to my instincts for the framing of the questions, and been more specific in my questioning from the very beginning. He needs no urging or prodding when it comes to talking, and he talked for thirty minutes as a response to the first question. The first question was way too broad, and he treated me to his entire life story. This is not to say that there was no benefit to what he said. It was very interesting how clear Gods calling was on Dr. Bacotes life. This was encouraging to me; I am even more confident that the Lord will be clear in telling me. The session was useful to me because it made me realize that I should try to learn about the interviewees personality beforehand, and use this in the framing of the questions. He dominated me: I asked him a total of three questions over the course of fifty-five minutes