The telephone many times is such a distraction. In order to establish the critically important element of rapport with the interviewee, a genuine attempt should be made to put the interviewee at ease—especially in job application, promotion, or other interviews where significant differences in status exist. Normally, at the beginning of an interview an allowance should be made for the interviewee to adjust to the interview environment. The situation is new for the interviewee; it may be his or her first experience of this kind.
Unless there is a specified adaptation period, the interviewee may be unable to reduce his or her level of anxiety, with the resulting loss of the entire session. Part of this adaptive process is familiarization with the surroundings.
It is an often overlooked truism that whenever an individual is placed in a strange situation, he becomes apprehensive. Overcoming this fear is often a most difficult procedure. By explaining, for example, the need for commonplace objects such as pencil and note paper that are anxiety-provoking, the level of tension may be reduced. Also, it is well to remember that the manner and simple courtesies extended by the interviewer are greatly magnified in the eyes of the interviewee.
Thus, a limited amount of pleasantries may be condoned if they fulfill this useful purpose. By jotting down significant bits of information, the interviewer can readily reconstruct what actually took place.
The record assists with details which would be hard to remember if not recorded. The time that would be needed to fix them in mind without benefit of notes can be used to greater advantage listening and thinking.
Then, too, writing down items compliments the interviewee; it means that his responses are considered important enough to be recorded. It is a convenient reinforcing mechanism; it may even be used to guide the path of the interview. Information of a picayune variety should naturally be avoided. Similarly, allowing the interviewee to relate too much information can be dangerous.
Any inadvertently revealed facts or incidents may bring about severe anxiety feelings when he or she reflects on them later. Temptations to divulge information too freely should be sidestepped as lightly as possible so that continued rapport may be maintained. In addition, circumspection should be exercised at all times lest the interviewer become too emotionally involved in the exchange.
Disagreements tend to provoke planning for verbal counterattacks with the result that the informational content is lost. The interviewee is overly sensitive to all reactions by the interviewer. Taking advantage of this, the interviewer may easily steer the conversation along the most productive channels. Small inflections in the voice give encouragement.
By repeating phrases already expressed, one finds the respondent expanding with details on a relevant issue. Sometimes, merely restating the reply allows a time for reflection and quite natural expansion or clarification of a point perhaps lost in the first verbalization. Support given by nodding is most effective.
Other nonverbal means of rendering assistance are equally significant. Because such utterances provide no direct interpretation, they are received as the interviewee wants to receive them. He then emphasizes or magnifies the point as he sees fit. A succinct summary of information from time to time not only allows for clarity in the communication process but also gives the informant a mirror of just what has occurred. Alterations can be made easily by the interviewee once he hears what he has said.
In the final stage, a precise statement of what was agreed on or of the general conclusions reached often allows for a reduction of confusion. When details or figures have been discussed, the summary can often be in the form of a written memorandum. If the interviewer wants to be sure of what the interviewee communicated or to check on whether the interviewee really understood the data discussed, he can ask him to write the memorandum. The tools of the interviewer are his questions. They should be used with dispatch and yet with the utmost care.
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Our biases can affect the way we judge candidates during the interview processes. To find out what your biases are so that they won't cloud your judgment, consider taking a test, such as Harvard's famous Implicit Association Test.
If you don't feel comfortable interviewing candidates by yourself, you can have a co-worker assist you in the process. This way, you can divide the interview into parts and share questions.
This will give both of you the opportunity to pause and listen while someone else is speaking. Having a list of questions to follow is great, but try to be conversational during the interview so that the candidate is able to share more about their past experiences and the skills that they have developed.
Sometimes this just means asking follow-up or exploratory questions to draw out more information. You should have strong active listening and conversational skills, as well as a sound knowledge of the job and experience in managing people. The Predictive Index uses the information you provide to contact you about relevant content, products, and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information, check out our privacy policy. I would like to receive updates from The Predictive Index.
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