summary

Summarizing Interviews

An important element to your team’s Employment Outlook Report is evidence of primary research. In addition to reporting the general employment outlook of your field, each team member must analyze three relevant job postings and interview one professional. Synthesizing that primary data—and presenting it to readers in an engaging, comprehensible style—can be challenging.

This activity allows you to practice writing an interview summary. Good summaries provide readers with an overview of the interview content rather than just transcribing the answers like the example below. Summaries also highlight general topics that were discussed in the interview and mention if the discussion revealed anything surprising. Here are some general guidelines for summarizing an interview.

Write an introduction. Provide the crucial details about the interview. State the subject's name and position. Explain why you interviewed the subject, and how the information informs your research objective.

Give a brief overview. Provide an overview of the interview. Include general topics that you discussed with the interview subject and address the major themes of the subject’s answers. Do not go into great detail; instead offer summary statements that give the reader an idea of the content.

Discuss the major findings. Note any discoveries you made during the interview. Include only the facts or anecdotes that are relevant to the purpose of the interview and (or) your research objectives. If you uncovered anything that was surprising, discuss it in this section.

Conclude the interview summary. Summarize (3–5 sentences) the interview and your major findings. Restate your plans for using the information you gathered during the interview.

Activity

In your teams, use the above guidelines to write a summary of the below interview. The interview subject was a tax associate/accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. The interviewer was seeking information for her portion of the Employment Outlook Report.

Remember that all team members must summarize their interviews. Collectively, these interviews should all be an equal number of words written in a consistent style. Your team should also note any interesting overlaps or surprising findings among all the interviews.

Original Interview Text. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics gives similar job outlook projections for all accounting and auditors. Similarly, the projected job growth is 13% with the mean salary falling around $72,500.

Interview: Lucero Martinez, 22-years-old, tax associate/accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Q: What area of accounting is your focus in and what are some of the duties required?

A: My accounting focus area is tax accounting and in addition I have been working with the forensics team as well. I assist in the administration of a settlement fund to compensate businesses that were affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. I am the primary reviewer and process Business Economic Loss Claims, analyze variances between Profit & Loss statements versus Federal tax returns and make calculations to determine compensation for claimants.

Q: Did your job require a specific level of education?

A: My specific job requires 150 credit hours including 30 advanced accounting hours. My firm emphasizes the importance of a Certified Public Accounting license (which I am currently working on obtaining).

Q: When you applied for your job was it in demand? Or is hiring more seasonal?

A: Accounting is always in demand! PwC specifically hired several interns and associates year-round! It's an exciting field to be in!

Q: If you had any advice for future accounting professionals, what would it be?

A: Accounting isn't easy, but anything worth doing will not come easy! It's a great field to be in and opportunities are endless so never be afraid to explore all of your options (government, public, academia, industry accounting etc.). Talk to professionals, instructors, do internships, and learn. I recommend reaching the State requirement of 150 credit hours to sit for the CPA. Obtaining this license will help you advance your career at a faster pace! Attend socials because networking is key! Work hard and always keep a positive attitude! Accounting is where you want to be. One thing for sure is that you will NEVER not have a job in accounting

I interviewed Lucero Martinez, an accountant/tax associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as part of my contribution to an Employment Outlook Report on accounting and auditing. The contents of this interview serve to validate or give perspective to findings by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on similarities in the general job outlook, projected job growth and mean salary of accountants and auditors.

I briefly discussed with Mrs. Martinez, on what area of accounting she was focused in and the duties that accompanied it, and also what level of education was required, she is focused on tax accounting and stressed the importance of obtaining a Certified Public Accounting license. We also talked about the in demand nature of accounting and she advised future professionals to network, acquire internships, complete state requirements such as the 150 credit hours and obtaining the CPA license to advance their careers.

I discovered that one did not necessarily need an accounting degree to start a career in auditing, rather taking advanced accounting credit hours and obtaining a CPA license could prove to be far more beneficial. This additionally highlights the importance of building a network using socials and internships, maintaining a positive attitude and being driven to be successful in such an in demand field.

In reflecting on our brief discussion I gathered specific duties surrounding tax accounting such as administration, review and analysis of settlements, economic loss claims and federal tax returns. A major point I would like to reiterate is the importance of obtaining a CPA license, and building a network in order to achieve success in the field of accounting. I reckon the information within this interview supports the overall analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics especially pertaining to job growth and similarities between the two fields.