or forgotten if the supervisor or subordinate fails
to document them.
At the end of the formal evaluation period,
you should have enough documentation to write
an objective evaluation on each subordinate.
INTERVIEWING, ASSIGNING,
AND EVALUATING PERSONNEL
As a chief petty officer, your administrative
duties will include interviewing personnel,
assigning them to jobs, and evaluating their
performance. The purpose of interviewing is to
obtain information that will help you make the
most effective use of the skills and abilities of
naval personnel. The best way you can do this is
to assign people to work they do well and enjoy;
people who enjoy their work usually put forth
their best efforts in doing the job. The end result
of proper interviewing and assignment is a positive
evaluation for the subordinate.
INTERVIEWING
The interview has three major objectives: to
establish your position of leadership and respon-
sibility in the sailor’s mind, to discover special
characteristics or aptitudes about the member that
may not be included in the records, and to show
that you have a personal interest in the person.
The interview should be friendly, not too formal,
but thorough.
Beginning the Interview
To obtain all the necessary information from
a member during an interview, you must put the
member at ease and in the mood to talk. This is
accomplished by using a pleasant, easy manner
and by making it clear that you are interested in,
and responsible for, finding the member a suitable
job assignment.
Before beginning, you should have had a
chance to read whatever information is available
on the member. From this, facts can be found to
open the interview, such as the location of the
member’s home.
The interview is not only for the purpose of
giving you information, but also to help members
understand themselves. You and the member
should work as a team to find the most
satisfactory assignment possible within the Navy’s
needs.
Information to be Obtained
During the interview, the interviewer obtains
all the information possible about the member’s
education, personal interests, and occupational
experience.
EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION. –Educa-
tional information includes the kind and extent
of formal education; where and when it was
acquired; subjects liked and disliked and why, and
the amount of time spent studying each; any
occupation followed during the period of educa-
tion; and an explanation of unusual features of
education.
Educational attainment indicates to a certain
degree the member’s ability to absorb training.
Success in technical or special subjects in high
school usually indicates aptitude for continued
training in related subjects in Navy schools. Trade
schools, business schools, and correspondence
courses are important, especially if they are related
to a Navy rating.
Do not assume, however, because a person has
been trained in a certain field, that the occupa-
tion is necessarily suitable or desirable for that
person. The person may have been urged to enter
a field by parents or teachers without particularly
desiring it. Or the person may have chosen a field
without sufficient knowledge of the work involved.
It is also possible that after actually working in
a job, the person did not like it or was not suited
for it.
Here are some questions to help you obtain
a more accurate picture of a member’s educational
and training background.
Why did the person choose this particular
field of study?
What progress was made? What grades
were received?
Would the member choose this field
today?
Did the person obtain, or attempt to
obtain, employment related to this par-
ticular study field?
If given the opportunity, would the
person choose a vocation that would make
use of this study field?
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