NFIB

The Art of Interviewing Made Simple, Part I
03/ 28/ 2002


Workers in many types of businesses need to interview customers or clients, or co-employees within their own company. Those who might conduct interviews include writers, reporters, graphic designers, secretaries, managers, and executives at every level of an organization. Interviews are often needed to gather information for reports or articles, or to obtain data for business planning. Many people dread having to interview someone, but in today's and next week's Workshops, Jeffrey Moses describes in detail how to easily and successfully interview anyone. Today's Workshop describes how to prepare for an interview. Next week's article discusses the interview process itself.

Always contact the individual you'll be interviewing well in advance to schedule a mutually acceptable time for the interview. When possible, tell the person approximately how long the interview will take. This allows him to work the interview into his schedule more easily.

A successful interview begins long before the actual interview takes place. When first taking on the assignment of interviewing someone, gather all information possible about the subject or topic of the interview. If the topic is technical (or if it involves operations or product information with which you're unfamiliar), you may have to research the topic in some depth. It's not unusual to spend several hours or even days of study and research prior to an interview. While it's not necessary to become an expert in the field prior to the interview, you'll always find that when you're familiar with a subject, the person being interviewed will open up to you more easily- and you'll know enough to ask more penetrating, pertinent questions.

Along this line, it's usually not possible for an interviewer to know as much about a subject as the person being interviewed. This is especially true if the interview is with individuals who have spent their entire careers involved in a certain field. Always let the person know right from the start that you are not as expert as they. Apologize in advance for any "stupid" questions you might ask. Usually, a person will be flattered at being called an expert, and will take time to explain complicated material.

After you've completed your research, write down a list of topics and specific questions you would like to address. Don't wait until the interview is in process to "spontaneously" think up questions. If you do, you'll likely overlook important questions and have to speak with the person a second time. The list of topics and questions should touch upon everything that you want to learn from the interview.

If you have been given the assignment of the interview by a supervisor in your company, be sure that you understand exactly what the supervisor wants you to learn from the interview. Don't go into the assignment with vague goals. When possible, ask the supervisor to write down a list of what needs to be learned from the interview. Or write down the list yourself in advance of the interview and go over them with your supervisor to make sure that all points will be addressed.

Next week's Workshop discusses the actual interview process, giving guidelines to help the interview go smoothly and successfully.

workshops.marketing.mon
9.11.00

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