Photo: Gil Calinga (Public domain)
Job description
Interviewers ask a set list of questions, record answers, and help people complete paperwork, then review what they collected for completeness and resolve any inconsistencies in someone's answers through follow-up questions. Some also handle basic patient-service tasks like answering phones or fielding financial and medical questions, and more experienced interviewers may supervise or train other staff. The pace tends to be fast with real deadlines, precision matters since the data gets used downstream, and because people are often stressed or frustrated during an interview, patience is part of the job.
Pros
- Room to grow into supervisory or training responsibilities over other interviewing staff
- Frequent person-to-person interaction suits those who prefer talking with people over solitary desk work
- No four-year degree required, just vocational training or an associate's degree
Cons
- Employment projected to shrink sharply over the next decade (-11.6%), among the faster-declining office roles
- Regularly dealing with frustrated or upset people during interviews adds real emotional strain
- Noise levels in shared workspaces can make sustained focus difficult
A typical day
The call list loads at 8:30: today it's a public health survey, and the interviewer works through scheduled respondents with a script that must be read exactly as written — deviation introduces bias, and the researchers downstream are counting on uniformity. The skill is in everything around the script: building enough rapport in twenty seconds that a stranger stays on the line, probing neutrally when an answer is vague ('can you tell me more about that?'), and keying responses accurately in real time. Mid-morning brings a respondent who wanders into stories; redirecting kindly without losing the data is an art. The afternoon shifts to in-person intake interviews at a clinic, gathering patient histories onto forms with patience for nervous people. Completion rates, accuracy, and confidentiality are the job's three commandments, and the day's log shows all three kept.
Tasks at the job
- Perform patient services, such as answering the telephone or assisting patients with financial or medical questions.
- Assist individuals in filling out applications or questionnaires.
- Meet with supervisor daily to submit completed assignments and discuss progress.
- Review data obtained from interview for completeness and accuracy.
- Identify and resolve inconsistencies in interviewees' responses by means of appropriate questioning or explanation.
- Supervise or train other staff members.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens indoors in a climate-controlled setting, and most of the day is spent sitting at a desk, and you work in close physical proximity to coworkers or the public for much of the shift. Noise levels can be distracting or uncomfortable.
The pace is often fast, with real time pressure to meet deadlines. Precision and accuracy are essential to the work. You'll regularly deal with frustrated or upset people as part of the job, and almost all of the work is done as part of a team.
Education necessary or common
Vocational training, apprenticeship, or associate's degree
Licenses & certifications
- CITI human subjects research training (free online, and real research teams require it)
- Microsoft Office Specialist certification
- Medical terminology certificate for the healthcare intake path
Career path
Related fields
Courses to take
- AP English Language — question phrasing and precise listening
- AP Psychology — rapport, bias, and human response patterns
- Computer Applications — data capture systems
- AP Statistics — understanding why survey method discipline matters
- A world language — bilingual interviewers are in constant demand
Clubs, activities & competitions
- School newspaper — interviewing is the beat reporter's core skill
- Yearbook — structured information gathering from many people
- Peer mediation or peer counseling — listening practice with stakes
- Volunteer phone work: alumni fund drives, community surveys
First steps you can take now
- Interview five people with the same set of questions and notice how wording changes answers
- Practice typing while listening — real-time capture is a trainable skill
- Volunteer for any phone-based outreach role
- Read a short explainer on why surveys use exact scripts — the method has fascinating logic
