This document discusses the application of solution-focused approaches in interviewing to improve the experience for both interviewers and candidates. It critiques traditional interview practices that often reinforce biases and suggests framing interviews as collaborative conversations aimed at finding mutual compatibility. The document provides a series of questions for both interviewers and interviewees to foster constructive dialogue and clarify expectations.

1. Interview
Skills
using
Solution
Focus
www.alankay.ca
INTERVIEWER
AND
INTERVIEWEE
SKILLS
USING
SOLUTION
FOCUS
(SF)
John
Briggs
&
Gale
Miller
of
the
Solutions
Behavioural
Health
Group
Milwaukee
did
some
research
on
the
interview
process.
Their
findings
are
on
page
1
(drawn
from
one
of
Gale’s
presentations).
Page
2
offers
advice
on
how
to
re-­‐frame
the
interview
process
from
the
interviewers
perspective.
Page
3
was
developed
by
some
solution
focus
advocates
in
Toronto
to
illustrate
how
interviewees
might
frame
the
interview.
The
goal
of
this
thinking
is
to
reframe
the
traditional
interview
‘contest’.
It
suggests
ways
that
avoid
the
surprises
that
can
arise
later
and
instead
help
both
parties
get
what
they
want.
INTERVIEWING
JOB
APPLICANTS
USING
SOLUTION
FOCUS
BACKGROUND:
Think
in
terms
of
‘emergence’.
Hiring
creates
a
change.
Plus,
you
can’t
ever
replace
or
replicate
the
current
situation.
Choosing
a
person
creates
a
new
situation.
Different
kinds
of
people
will
create
different
situation
/
direction.
So,
should
we
choose
a
person,
or
a
future
situation
based
on
the
future
we
(and
they)
want?
The
traditional
pre-­‐employment
interview
is
unreliable
in
terms
of
deselecting
bad
employees
and
selecting
good
employees.
COMMON
PROBLEMS
Too
much
focus
on
the
organization
or
the
candidate:
 Organization
–
we
have
a
square
hole,
are
you
a
square
peg?
 Candidate
–
what
kind
of
peg
are
you?
Can
we
reshape
our
hole
or
your
peg?
Conducting
the
interview
to
confirm
biases:
 ‘After
reviewing
your
application,
you
appear
to
be
the
best
candidate.
Please
tell
me
we
are
right.’
Focusing
on
the
candidates
needs;
 ‘We
are
really
in
love
with
you.
What
do
you
need
from
us
to
be
happy?’
Skill
focused
interviewing
(check
lists):
 ‘Can
you
perform
skill/requirement
A?
What
about
B?’
Predictable
questions
with
predictable
answers;
 ‘What
are
your
greatest
strengths?’
(‘Dependable,
hard
worker’)
 ‘What
are
your
greatest
liabilities?’
(‘Don’t
really
have
any.
Perhaps
I
am
a
perfectionist’)
Don’t
eliminate
these
questions.
Instead,
be
aware
of
the
assumptions
behind
them.
Be
more
mindful
of
the
responses.
REMEDY
‘Let’s
work
together
and
have
a
conversation
about
constructing
a
peg
and
a
hole
that
fit
well
together
and
provide
great
functionality.’
Over…

2. Interview
Skills
using
Solution
Focus
www.alankay.ca
INTERVIEWER
QUESTIONS:
Solution
Focus
questions:
• What
was
your
goal
in
applying
for
this
position?
• What
is
your
best
understanding
of
this
position?
• What
makes
you
think
you
would
be
a
good
candidate
for
the
position?
• Suppose
you
were
in
my
shoes.
What
would
be
your
primary
concerns
as
you
conducted
this
search?
• Which
goals
of
the
organization
do
you
think
you
can
best
help
us
achieve?
• Scaling:
On
a
scale
of
1
–
10…where
would
you
put
yourself?
How
come?
What
would
be
different
if
you
were
a
point
higher?
How
is
it
that
you
are
not
a
point
lower?
• Suppose
you
were
hired
for
this
position.
How
would
I
know
you
were
a
good
choice?
• Suppose
you
accepted
an
offer
from
us.
How
would
you
know
you
made
a
good
choice?
• How
will
our
organization
benefit
from
hiring
you?
• What
else?
Language
(auditory
and
visual)
is
our
only
tool
in
an
interview:
 Listen
and
observe
carefully
and
accurately
 Seek
clarification,
‘When
you
say……..,
what
specifically
do
you
mean?
 Do
not
assume
very
much.
This
is
what
leads
to
surprises
down
the
road
Source:
John
Briggs
&
Gale
Miller,
Solutions
Behavioural
Health
Group
Milwaukee.
See
over…Questions
for
the
Interviewee
(managing
the
interview)
What
is
Solution
Focus?
(download)

3. Interview
Skills
using
Solution
Focus
www.alankay.ca
INTERVIEWEE
QUESTIONS
Here
are
the
sort
of
questions
you
might
want
to
adapt/use
in
your
own
way…
This
set
of
questions
was
set
up
for
a
project
opportunity
–
if
necessary,
change
‘project’
to
‘job/function’.
SF
QUESTIONS
FOR
INTERVIEWEES
•
So
how
can
I
be
useful
to
you
during
this
interview
today?
•
If
you
had
the
perfect
person
and
suppose
it
were
the
end
of
the
contract,
how
would
things
be
different?
•
How
will
this
person
have
helped
this
organization,
this
department
and
you
to
succeed?
•
Suppose
you
hired
me,
how
will
I
have
helped
you
achieve
great
things?
•
At
the
end
of
the
project,
how
will
I
have
helped
you
personally?
•
If
you
were
in
my
shoes,
what
concerns
would
you
have
for
me?
•
What
can
you
imagine
are
the
most
positive
outcomes
for
this
role?
•
What
are
your
grounds
for
optimism
that
this
project
will
be
a
great
success
(with
the
right
person?)
•
What
has
been
going
well
for
you
lately?
•
What’s
working
on
this
project?
•
What
works,
what
would
you
want
done
differently?
•
When
you
did
something
like
this
before,
what
happened?
•
When
you’ve
hired
people
in
the
past,
what
worked?
•
What
three
wishes
do
you
have
for
this
project?
•
Let
me
tell
you
a
story
where
it
didn’t
work
and
how
I
fixed
it
•
Suppose
that
when
I
came
in
on
the
project
it
was
a
3,
when
I
left
it
was
a
9...
what
would
I
have
done
to
make
it
work?
Overall,
find
out
what
the
organization
is
really
looking
for,
then
pitch
yourself
to
them:
if
you
hired
me,
this
is
how
you
would
benefit...
Never
need
the
job!
Check
against
your
own
vision
and
standards,
and
step
back
from
the
project
to
see
if
you
want
to
be
involved
with
it.
In
order
to
minimize
problems
during
the
work
ask
many
questions
about
what
the
interviewer’s
request
really
means.