ETA - Job Seeking and Career Advancement Interview Quest

Guide for [First Name, Last
Name] Interview
Name, Location
Interviewee ID: ANON###

Background
● Add anything that you think may be interesting to know about this person or the
program

Interview agenda
Details about the interviews
● No group interviews; individual only
● Duration: One hour or less
● Recorded if possible

Main points to cover
● CareerOneStop customers
○ Who are they and why are they using the CareerOneStop site? What are their
needs and goals?
○ How did they find out about the site?
○ What do they expect to see and be able to do when they come to the site?
○ What pain points do they encounter on the site?
○ What changes to the site would improve the customer experience?
○ What are their reactions to the site and to the competitor website(s)?
● AJC staff and other workforce professionals
○ What is the context they are working in?

○ What challenges do they face in delivering services?
○ What support do they need to provide a great customer experience to their
clients?
○ How do they use CareerOneStop or its competitors in their work?
● AJC customers
○ Who are they and why are they coming to the American Job Center? What are
their needs and goals?
○ How did they find out about the center?
○ What help do they expect from the center?
○ What pain points do they encounter at the center?
○ What changes to the center would improve the customer experience?
● Students
○ How do they approach career exploration?
○ What are the areas where they need the most support?
○ What resources are they currently using?
● Jobseekers
○ How are they approaching their job search?
○ What are the areas where they need the most support?
○ What resources are they currently using?

How to use this guide
Use the “main points to cover” above as a checklist. Make sure you cover the main points.
Beyond that, don’t worry about asking every question. More important questions are in bold
to help you prioritize, but it’s no big deal if you miss a bold question.
The interview guide is not a script to follow. The questions are there to fall back on if the
participant is not forthcoming with information. Let the conversation flow. It’s a good idea to
familiarize the questions in this guide ahead of time so you’re ready with the questions that
are most relevant to what the interviewee is saying without having to refer back to the guide
as much.

Good general follow up moves to keep the conversation flowing and get more information:
● Can you tell me more about that?
● Can you give me an example of that?
● How did you feel when that happened?
● So you’re saying … Am I understanding that correctly?
● Why/why not?
● Can you share your screen and show me what you mean?
● Can you walk me through that?
Remember to reassure participants throughout that they are providing helpful information.

Introduction
Thank you for your time today. My name is [name]. I am a UX researcher. My pronouns are
[pronouns]. This is ______, another researcher, who will be helping me capture notes from
our conversation. ________ may chime in with a question from time to time, but mostly it will
be you and I talking.
The Department of Labor has asked us to improve the experiences of their customers. As part
of that effort, we are looking for ways to improve [the CareerOneStop website/American Job
Centers]. We are interviewing people who use [the CareerOneStop website/American job
centers] to learn more about you and how the site can better serve you.
______ and I are independent researchers. We didn’t make this website, so nothing you say
today will hurt our feelings. We want you to be honest so we can learn what’s working and
what’s not working so we can make the website better for you and other job seekers.

Note to interviewer: If they haven’t signed the consent form yet, have them do that now.

We will be anonymizing our notes. Nothing you say will be attributed to you. We are doing
that to help make the people being interviewed be as comfortable as possible. The purpose
of recording is so we don’t have to take detailed notes and can focus on our conversation. So,
is it okay with you if we record this?
We also want to let you know that a Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to
comply with an information collection subject to the requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 unless the information collection has a currently valid OMB Control
Number. The approved OMB Control Number for this interview is 1225-0093 and the
expiration date is 2/29/2024. Without this approval, we could not conduct this interview.
Public reporting for this interview is estimated to be approximately 60 minutes per response.
All responses to this interview are voluntary. Send comments regarding this burden estimate
or any other aspect of this interview, including suggestions for reducing this burden to DOL.

Note to interviewer: If they say yes, begin recording now.
We expect this conversation to take less than an hour. We can take breaks at any time, if you
feel the need. If there are any questions you feel uncomfortable answering, just let us know
and we’ll skip them.
We’ll start by asking you a few questions about yourself, and then we’ll ask you to share your
screen and explore the CareerOneStop site and at least one other career site and let us know
your thoughts.
Before we begin, do you have any questions I can answer about the project or our approach?

Questions
All
Warmup/Establish Rapport Example Questions
1. Where are you calling from today?
2. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

AJC Career Counselor
1. Tell me about your role. What do you do day to day?
2. What are the most rewarding parts of your job?
3. What are the most challenging parts?
4. Tell me about the clients you work with.
a. When clients come to the AJC, what are they looking for?
b. What are some of the challenges your clients face in picking careers or finding
jobs?
5. Do you use CareerOneStop in your work?
a. Are there parts of the site you use yourself, vs parts that the clients interact
with?
b. What are the parts of the site you like the most or find the most useful?
c. What are the parts of the site that don’t work well or are frustrating?
d. Do you use any other websites or tools while working with clients?
6. If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about the AJC, what would you
change?

AJC Manager
1. Tell me about your role. What do you do day to day?
2. What are the most rewarding parts of your job?
3. What are the most challenging parts?
4. Tell me about the clients your center serves.

5. What’s working really well about the AJC?
6. What’s something you’d like to change about the AJC?
7. If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about the AJC, what would you
change?

Non-AJC workforce professional
1. Tell me about your role. What do you do day to day?
2. Tell me about the clients you work with.
a. When clients come to you, what are they looking for?
b. What are some of the challenges your clients face in picking careers or finding
jobs?
3. Do you use CareerOneStop in your work? How?
a. Are there parts of the site you use yourself, vs parts that the clients interact
with?
b. What are the parts of the site you like the most or find the most useful?
c. What are the parts of the site that don’t work well or are frustrating?
d. Do you use any other websites or tools while working with students?
e. If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about CareerOneStop,
what would you change?

Student
1. What are you studying? Do you have a major?
a. How did you decide on that?
b. What were the most important things for you when you picked/think about picking
a major/career path?
2. Do you know what you want to do after school?
a. How did you decide on that?
b. How do you think you’ll look for jobs?
3. Have you ever done research on different careers?
a. How did you find information? / If you needed information, where would you find
it?
b. Have you ever worked with a guidance counselor or school career center? What
was that like?
c. If you have questions or need advice, where will you look for that?
4. Do you have any scholarships?
a. How did you find the scholarship?

b. If you were looking for scholarships to apply for, where would you look?

Jobseeker
1. Tell me about your job search
a. What are some of the hard parts about looking for work?
b. Are there parts that are going well or that you feel good about?
c. How are you looking for jobs?
2. Has anyone helped you with your job search?
a. If you had questions or needed advice, where would you go?
b. Have you done any research online? Like information about different careers, or
tips for interviews?
3. What are some challenges someone in your circumstances might face?
a. If you knew someone who was looking for a job, what advice would you give
them?
b. What sort of support do people in your circumstances need?

AJC customer
1. What brings you to the center today?

2. How did you find out about the job center?
a. What does the center provide?
3. Can you walk me through what you do when you come to center?
a. Are there any tools or websites that you use here?
4. What are some things about the center that are helpful or valuable?
5. Has there been anything frustrating or difficult about using the center?
6. Would you recommend the job center to a friend?
7. If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about the center, what would
you change?

All
Wrap up Questions
1. Is there anything else you think I should have asked you about?
2. Do you have any questions for me?

3. Do you know anyone who also has experience with COS/AJCs who we should talk to?
4. Is it okay if we contact you if we have any additional questions? What’s the best way to
reach you?