Interviewing Basics

• Don’t jump right into the interview

Take your time to establish a friendly setting. Set yourself up as someone who is interested in what the subject has to say. Establish your own knowledge and ignorance on the subject. A helpful lead question is usually something that gets the person talking about him or herself: “why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do here?”

• Be an active listener

Think about how conversations generally work: there needs to be eye contact, back-and-forth discussion, and friendly reciprocation. Since you want the interviewee talking about 75% of the time (roughly), you’ll need to limit your responses to reflections and re-directions of what he or she just said. Use pauses in the conversation to either encourage the interviewee to expand on a topic by reflecting: “you said that your favorite part of the building is the third floor, what happens there?” or by redirecting: “the cafeteria sounds interesting, I’ll have to check it out later. What can you tell me about the basement?” These techniques show that you’re listening to the subject and not just taking notes.

• Don’t feel rushed to move on

Encourage the subject to return back to a topic if you feel you haven’t received enough information. Remember, you are in control of where the interview goes. Don’t be afraid to return to something that was discussed earlier if you want the subject to expand or elaborate.

• Practice re-phrasing questions

Often, you won’t receive the answer you’re looking for the first time you ask a question. Learn how to rephrase your questions to get the interviewee going in the direction you’d like. For example, if you ask “what’s your favorite part of this job?” and the interviewee responds by talking about his favorite co-workers, try rephrasing using his or her own language: “they sound like a great group of people. What sorts of work activities do you all together that make the workplace so fun?”

• Leave the interview with a plan

As the interview wraps up, you’ll likely feel rushed, flustered, and exhausted— that’s okay! Have a plan in your notes for how to end the interview and how to move forward. It’s possible you may need to speak to this person again, so try to end the interview by thanking them for their time and asking if you could contact them in the future if you have any further questions or clarifications. Remember that this person just did you a huge favor by speaking with you, so let them know how much you appreciate their help.