In the military, the debriefing process is used to gain accurate information from military personnel who are 
involved in situations — for example, from POW (prisoner of war) who is released, from pilot who has 
completed a search and rescue mission, or from infantryman after a battle.   The military personnel involved 
in the situation must report to a room and answer questions about the event before he or she is allowed to 
continue with their life.  The goal of the debriefing process is to get information while the details are still 
fresh in the person’s mind and before anything is forgotten.  After you complete an interview for a pay or 
volunteer job, find a quiet spot to sit down and write answers to the following questions while the answers 
are still fresh in your mind.  Use this debriefing process to help you improve interviewing skills.
1.  For what company did you interview?  For what job title?
2.  What was the name and job title of the person who interviewed you?
3.  Did you feel comfortable introducing yourself to the interviewer?
  Is there something that you can do better?
4.  List as many interview questions as you can remember:
5.  What was your answer to each question?  Using your opinion, rate 
your answers on a scale from 1 to 10 — 10 being the best.
6.  Rewrite a better answer to any question with a score of 7 or less.
7.  Described what you think went well at the interview.
8.  Describe what you think you can do better during the next interview .
9.  What questions did you ask?  Did you get clear answers?  
10.  When will the hiring decision be made?  Were you asked to call back?  
How will you know if you are not the person selected?  
11.  What things can you do to prepare for your next job interview?
QUICK CHECK:
1)  a) For what is the debriefing process used in the military?  b) List 3 types of military personnel who 
may undergo the debriefing process.
2)  What is the goal of the debriefing process?
3)  Why do you use the debriefing process after completing an interview?
4)  Use your last job interview to practice the debriefing process.  On a piece of notebook paper , write the 
answers to the 11 questions above.  If you do not know the answer to the question (such as: What was 
the name of the person who interviewed you?), write "I don’t know" as the answer. 
5)  a) In your opinion, will the interview debriefing process improve your interview skills in the future?  
  b) Give a reason for your opinion.	
Interview Debriefing
U.S. Work World
CAREER mini-lesson
College & Career Publishing. Permission to use with usworkworld.com subscription.