Three steps in successful interviewing
Preparation: produce an interview schedule
and interview guides.
Execution: conduct the interviews
Review: write up the interview notes
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Steps in the interview process
Preparation
Interview
schedule
Who you are going
to interview, why,
when and where?
Interview
guides
What questions are
you going to ask?
Execution
Review
Interview
Interview
notes format
• Structure
• Rapport
• Listen
• Probe
• Clarify
What results were
obtained?
• Information found
• Decisions
• Actions
An interview guide should be created prior to all
interviews to ensure the interviews are focused and
efficient and enable comparison and summarisation.
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The interview schedule
Name
Position
Rationale
Date
John Smith
R&D Manager
To understand R&D strategy 25/4
and get future R&D
expenditures
Roy Wilkinson
Head of metalurgical
research
To get facts on competitor
Xs latest development.
In particular:
 Potential customers
 Our position
Bob Johnson
Lab assistant
27/4
An interview schedule is helpful, to track who is going
to be interviewed, when and why.
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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.
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The interview guide
Section
Question
Introduction
1. Personal background
Sub Question
 Education
2. Key mission of the department  Work experience
3. ……………..
 Major activities
 Major interfaces

Body
4. Recent development in area x  Major products
5. Customer reactions
 Competitor activities
6. ……………….
Wrap up
7. ……………….
 Switching costs
 Timing of change
8. ……………….

9. Future trends
 Next S - curve
 Timing
10.Restate key points

To make the most out of an interview, a well thought
through interview guide is extremely helpful.
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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
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Guidelines for structuring an interview
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.
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How to conduct the interview
Introduction
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
Body
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
Wrap-up
Thank the interviewee
Advise them what the next steps are and the timeframe
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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
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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
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Open questioning
Examples:
“So what do you enjoy about the role?”
“Are there any other issues I should be aware of?”
Advantages
•
•
•
•
Puts interviewee at ease
Interesting for interviewee
Provides depth of detail
Reveals other areas of
enquiry
Disadvantages
• You may lose control
• May use up too much time
• Interviewer may appear unprepared
• Harder to analyse later
• Lower reliability of data
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Closed questioning
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?
Advantages
•
•
•
•
•
Efficient use of time
Easy to compare interviews
Higher reliability of data
Less interviewing skill needed
Disadvantages
•
•
•
Can be boring for interviewees
Doesn’t provide the
opportunity to qualify answers
You may miss other areas
Focuses interviewee
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Probe questioning
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.
Examples:
“How does that happen?”
“How did that change impact your department?”
“What specifically do they do as a result of that?”
Advantages
Disadvantages
• Provides data on new aspects
• Supplies detail in context
• Shows interest in conversation
• Can appear threatening
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Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is a technique used to confirm or clarify something the
interviewee has said or implied. There are three levels of
paraphrasing:
1. The first level confirms or clarifies expressed thoughts and
feelings, for example: “so there are three factors that
determine the present situation”
2. The second confirms implied thoughts or feelings, for example:
“so you would really like to change this situation”
3. 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 )
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Interview review
A standard interview note format is useful in orienting interviews to results:
Key Steps
• 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
Format
Interview Notes
Interviewees:
Interviewers:
Location:
Date:
KEY FINDINGS
BACKGROUND AND
SITUATION
DISCUSSION NOTES
NEXT STEPS
Interview notes are valuable when sharing
information with other team members.
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Adjust your style to suit the interviewee
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
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Poor interviewing behaviour
Examples:
×
×
×
×
×
×
×
×
×
×
×
×
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
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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
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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.
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