Interviewing Skills 2

Guide to Interviewing

Contents
Types of interviews
Three steps in successful interviewing
The interview schedule
The interview guide
Conducting the interview
Rapport
Questioning
Interview review
The interviewee
Dos and don’ts
Further assistance

Three steps in successful interviewing
Preparation: produce an interview schedule and interview guides.
Execution: conduct the interviews
Review: write up the interview notes

Interview schedule Interview Interview guides Interview notes format Who you are going to interview, why, when and where? What questions are you going to ask?
What results were obtained?
Information found
Decisions
Actions
Structure
Rapport
Listen
Probe
Clarify
An interview guide should be created prior to all interviews to ensure the interviews are focused and efficient and enable comparison and summarisation. Steps in the interview process Preparation Execution Review

Preparing the interview schedule
Identify what the objectives of the interviews are, what information you need to find out and therefore what areas of the business you need to obtain information from.
Identify who needs to be interviewed to obtain this information.
Create an interview schedule, allowing time to review and record notes between interviews.
Book the interviews and record them in the schedule.

Preparing the interview guide
Determine the objectives of the interview.
Plan the structure of the interview.
Prepare interview questions.
Prepare additional notes if they assist. For example having an organisation chart helps in clarifying roles and responsibilities.
The interview guide enables standardisation of interviews for effective comparison and summarisation

Focused Many interviewees tend to go ‘off on tangents’ during interviews. Your interview guide should clearly state the boundaries for your interview. These should be stated generally at the beginning with more specific instructions to refocus when appropriate. Quantifiable Open questions tend to produce long answers that are difficult to quantify and compare. If you need measured responses ask the interviewee to assign a value to their answer so direct comparisons to be made. For example How reliable is the current system, what score would you give it out of ten? Complete Check that the guide addresses all the objectives of the interview and have a colleague review it. Guidelines for structuring an interview

Interview execution Interviews are exceptionally rich sources of information. However, no two interviewees are alike: some tend to ramble, others are suspicious and curt, some will need only the slightest encouragement to speak their minds, while others will have to be guided along. The interviewer’s job is to conduct the interview to gather the information required, which takes skill, practice and structure. Once you have concluded your interviews, they must be summarised to yield the ‘big picture’. Your questions should therefore allow for valid comparison and summarisation of your interviewee’s viewpoints.

Listen to the answers and request clarification if necessary
Avoid making criticisms or taking sides
Keep control of the interview: refocus the interviewee if they are rambling or clarify if they misunderstood the question
Stay focused and follow your interview guide
Allow the interviewee to ask questions
How to conduct the interview Introduction Body Wrap-up
Conduct at their place of work where possible
Always state the reason for the interview and how it will be conducted
Put the interviewee at ease
Ask the interviewee if they agree to you taking notes
Thank the interviewee
Advise them what the next steps are and the timeframe

Build rapport
Your interview needs to balance the building of rapport and collecting of required information.
Introduction
Gain rapport first. Explain the context, set the tone, and make the interviewee feel at ease. The introduction serves to:
Introduce yourself
Gauge the interviewee’s style, expectations and concerns
Confirm the timeframe
Sequence the interview items
Items should be ordered by importance and sensitivity. The more sensitive your interviewee, the more important it is to avoid an ‘inquisitorial’ interview tone. A non-threatening format for interviews involves the careful arrangement of interview topics:
General before specific
External before internal
Historic before current

Listen and question
Listen
To reassure the interviewee you are listening and to gain information:
use non-verbal cues such as head nods to show you are listening.
wait until the current question is answered before preparing the next one
listen for emotions and attitudes as well as facts
interrupt only if you sense avoidance of answering the question or if the interviewee has drifted too far from the topic
request clarification and ask follow on questions
Ask open questions
To initiate discussion on a broad subject and to encourage a comprehensive explanation:
use clear, direct phrasing that asks a single question
ask how, what or when but avoid the intimidating why question
Ask closed questions
To elicit a specific reply:
use this type of question sparingly to avoid appearing as an interrogator
ask in order to understand rather than impress
be concise

Open questioning Advantages Disadvantages
Puts interviewee at ease
Interesting for interviewee
Provides depth of detail
Reveals other areas of enquiry
You may lose control
May use up too much time
Interviewer may appear unprepared
Harder to analyse later
Lower reliability of data
Examples: “ So what do you enjoy about the role?” “ Are there any other issues I should be aware of?”

Closed questioning Advantages Disadvantages
Efficient use of time
Easy to compare interviews
Higher reliability of data
Less interviewing skill needed
Focuses interviewee
Can be boring for interviewees
Doesn’t provide the opportunity to qualify answers
You may miss other areas
Examples: “ Is the new form better or worse than the old form?” “ Is it Mary or Jane who enter the application details?” “ Do you stamp the form before or after the details are recorded?

Probe questioning Advantages Disadvantages
Provides data on new aspects
Supplies detail in context
Shows interest in conversation
Can appear threatening
Examples: “ How does that happen?” “ How did that change impact your department?” “ What specifically do they do as a result of that?” Probe questioning is honing in on a particular area of interest and drilling down to obtain more detail. It includes asking for more information to clarify a vague phrase or statement made by the interviewee such as ‘quite high’ or ‘often late’. Probe questioning needs to be balanced with open and closed questioning to avoid the interview seeming like an interrogation.

Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is a technique used to confirm or clarify something the interviewee has said or implied. There are three levels of paraphrasing:
The first level confirms or clarifies expressed thoughts and feelings, for example: “so there are three factors that determine the present situation”
The second confirms implied thoughts or feelings, for example: “so you would really like to change this situation”
The third surfaces core thoughts or feelings, for example: “you are afraid that it might make things worse for you” or “so you think the strategy is wrong” (Note that with paraphrasing of feelings you can trigger a strong emotional response particularly with this third option )

Interview notes are valuable when sharing information with other team members.
Write interview notes as soon as possible after the interview
Outline key findings, note emerging hypotheses
Consider how findings fit with earlier evidence
Identify gaps to be filled in subsequent interviews
Key Steps Interview Notes Interviewees: Interviewers: Location: Date: KEY FINDINGS BACKGROUND AND SITUATION DISCUSSION NOTES NEXT STEPS Format Interview review A standard interview note format is useful in orienting interviews to results:

The interviewee may be
Assuming no possible improvement
Assuming they have the full picture
Assuming knowledge on your part
Describing work out of sequence
Covering up their own failings
Exaggerating
Scoring off others
Overwhelmed by you
Protecting others
Exaggerating the immediate problem
Overestimating the importance of the job
telling you what they think you want to hear

T he interviewee can be
Inarticulate
A jargoneer
A familiarist
An obstructionist
Too familiar with the job
Shy Loud A deceiver A hypochondriac An empire builder

The nervous interviewee
Be very explicit in setting the scene, tell why you are there and what they can expect. Establish rapport and make sure you are relaxed and confident
The non-talker
Make a special effort to build rapport and find common language and experiences. Avoid closed questions, use open questions to draw them out
The angry/hostile interviewee
Do not tolerate threatening behaviour.
If anger is directed at you:
admit your mistake if you are wrong
stay calm, avoid getting angry in return
If anger is directed at others:
do not get involved and do not taking sides
correct misinformation tactfully ie do not challenge honestly held opinions
Adjust your style to suit the interviewee

Poor interviewing behaviour
Did not make an appointment
Arrived late
Was rude
Exhibited one upmanship
Did not explain the purpose of the interview
Did not explain the scope of interview
Used jargon
Became confrontational
Was inconsiderate
Talked down to the interviewee
Abruptly ended the interview
Did not explain what happens next
Examples:

Do not
Arrive without warning
Forget interviewee’s name or role
Show off
Criticise
Interrupt
Be impatient
Use coarse language
Fidget, lounge or appear bored
Go over time without agreement from interviewee
Fail to thank the interviewee for their time

Do
Create rapport
Make notes
Be sincere
Be objective
Be courteous
Verify your findings
Separate fact from fiction
Pitch the interview at the right level
Keep within the scope of the interview
Establish the option to ask follow up questions
Wrap up the interview and thank the interviewee for their time.

Further assistance
Guide to communicating
Guide to requirements gathering
Guide to conducting meetings and RAP sessions
For additional supporting guides refer to:

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http://www.edmodo.com	5
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Interviewing Skills 2

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Interviewing Skills 2 — Presentation Transcript