How To Interview A Person

Focus On What You Need

Sometimes people get absorbed in details or get too waffly and abstract. Sometimes you need a specific quote or a good story. A timely intervention is sometimes required to redirect the interview.

Phrases like ‘do you have any stories that illustrate that point,’ or ‘how does this relate to the bigger picture’ can be very useful ways to do this.

Be Highly Informed But Not Misinformed:

You need to be highly informed about your celebrity. What kind of work they do, what extra things they are handling and so on.

Make sure you are well informed and not misinformed about the facts.

So, to avoid this, you must be clear about all that you collect and read about the celebrities in the magazines.

Whats One Fact Thats Not On Your Linkedin Profile

Heres another open-ended question to ask an interviewee that can help you uncover some interesting insights. Similar to asking, What do you think I need to know that we havent discussed? it could spark some conversation about a hobby outside of their 9-to-5 life or even a compelling story that reveals more of their strengths and motivations. This question can help you understand not just what a job candidate has done, but why.

Don’t Miss: What To Say In A Phone Interview For A Job

Assessing The Candidates Desire Factor

Theres no excuse for candidates not having researched your company, its achievements, competitors, and challenges prior to an interview. Still, some will go out of their way to articulate their understanding of who you are and why theyre so excited about joining your firm.

What youre really trying to get to here is whether the candidate wants a job or whether they want this job. Try questions like these to isolate those who are hungriest for the opportunity that you offer:

• What do you know about our organization?
• Why would you want to work here?
• In your mind, what makes us stand out from our competitors?
• If you were to accept this position with us today, how would you explain that to a prospective employer five years from now?
• How would this role with our company provide a link to your future career progression?

Other Types Of Questions

Other possible types of questions that may be asked alongside structured interview questions or in a separate interview include: background questions, job knowledge questions, and puzzle type questions. A brief explanation of each follows.

• Background questions include a focus on work experience, education, and other qualifications. For instance, an interviewer may ask “What experience have you had with direct sales phone calls?” Interviews composed primarily of these types of questions are often labeled “conventional interviews”.
• Job knowledge questions may ask candidates to describe or demonstrate knowledge, skills, and abilities relevant to the job. These are typically highly specific questions. For example, one question may be “What steps would you take to conduct a manager training session on safety?”
• The puzzle interview was popularized by Microsoft in the 1990s, and is now used in other organizations. The most common types of questions either ask the applicant to solve puzzles or brain teasers or to solve unusual problems .

A case interview is an interview form used mostly by management consulting firms and investment banks in which the job applicant is given a question, situation, problem or challenge and asked to resolve the situation. The case problem is often a business situation or a business case that the interviewer has worked on in real life.

Panel

Group

Stress

Example stress interview questions:

You May Like: What Will I Be Asked In An Interview

Citing A Personal Interview In Mla

To cite an interview that you conducted yourself, start the Works Cited entry with the name of the interviewee. Then simply describe it with the word Interview, followed by your own name and the date on which the interview took place.

In the parenthetical citation, you only need to include the interviewees last name.

Start With Small People Out There:

You should not start directly with the big stars as it is obvious you would not be able to reach out to them.

So, to reach out to the bigger names in the public, you first need to interview the locally renowned people like the local singers, the artists, the theatre artist and so on.

This way you will be able to reach the top of the ladder.

Read Also: How To Code Qualitative Interviews

Preparing For A Third Interview

The best way to prepare for a third, fourth interview is to update the company research you have done already. Check Google news for updates, and consider setting Google Alerts. Check the company website to see if the company has issued new press releases since your last interview. Read the company blog and social media pages, so you are armed with the most current company information.

Consider upping your preparation a notch because this is an opportunity to knock the other applicants out of contention and get a job offer.

If you haven’t already done so, be sure to discover who you are connected with at the company. If you’ve already reached out to your contacts, give them an update on the status of your application. Let your connections know where you are in the hiring process and ask them for any tips and advice they would give you for this interview.

How To Interview And Hire People

By Scott Berkun, Sept. 2005

Before you worry about interviewing, consider this: good interviewing does not make a good candidate out of a bad one. The higher the quality of the people coming in to your interviewing process, the higher the quality of those that will come out of it. Therefore recruiting is likely far more important than your interviewing skills.

Do not rely on HR or anyone to recruit for you. The more energy you, as a hiring manager, invest in recruiting, the better your results will be. An organization that recruits well, but has average interviewing skills, might just be better off than a company that interviews well, but recruits poorly. There are many ways to improve candidate quality: the problem is they require time. The three basic things to consider are these.

You May Like: How To Conduct A Technical Interview

Applicants With Criminal Backgrounds

Although it is illegal for employers to ask about applicants arrest record during an interview as a deciding factor in applicant hiring decisions, employers do have the right to obtain information about applicants criminal convictions before hiring, including during the interview phase. Many companies consider hiring applicants with criminal history a liability. For instance, if a company hired someone with an assault charge and that person later assaulted another employee or vendor, some people would say that the company was liable or legally responsible for not maintaining a safe work environment. Although the legalities are more complex, this potential responsibility an organization may carry often is a reason why many companies conduct criminal background checks. When making hiring decisions that somewhat depend on one’s criminal background, employers must consider the following:

Questions To Ask Yourself

Interviews may be done by you alone or with the help of a team. In fact, your entire interviewing process requires you to think through how youre going to assess the candidate in total.

As youre scheduling interviews, ask yourself these questions:

• Who is the best person or persons to interview candidates for this job? You might consider someone experienced in the role to assess technical skills, for instance.
• What other ways can we determine if this person is a good fit? For example, after the interview, you may make a job offer contingent upon a successful background check.
• How quickly do you need to hire someone? That may dictate who and how many people interview the candidate, as well as how quickly those interviews are scheduled.
• In addition to phone, video, or in-office interviews, you may want to assess a candidates interpersonal skills in a social setting, like a group lunch with your team.
• How will you decide on the best candidate? Will it be the person best-liked by the manager? Or the one who completed the best sample assignment?

Read Also: Who Should Conduct An Exit Interview

Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years

With this question, its not what the candidate says but how they say it thats important.

If you see someones eyes light up at the thought of the future, then you can tell this is a very ambitious person who knows where they want to go and will do everything in their power to help ensure your organization gets them there.

How To Write An Interview Essay: Ask Organize Analyze

We often see interviews in the morning newspapers or magazines. There is always at least two interview participants – a person who asks questions and the other one who is interviewed. The interview is done in order to find out a person’s opinion about a particular issue, event, etc. It is also a good basis for one of the academic assignments – an interview paper. Before you become aware of how to write an interview essay and start preparing it, we suggest you recall a more detailed definition of this writing.

Recommended Reading: Where Can I Watch Interview With A Vampire

Why Do You Want This Job

This may seem like a silly question, however so many people go for a job purely because it is a pay cheque to them. If a company is genuine about building a good quality and positive culture they genuinely want to know what it is about the role and also the company that made you apply.

On the flip side of this one aspect of the job interview that many candidates forget about is that youre also interviewing them and the interview should be a two-way street. Whilst the interviewer is trying to find out enough information about you to make a decision, you should also be interviewing them to make a decision if the job is going to be the right fit for you.

You can ask too! Image: iStock

Some good questions to ask the interviewer/s are:

How To Interview Someone For A Job

Interviews are an integral part of the hiring process. Hiring managers and interviewers should take the time to truly understand the interview process as well as the components that go into an effective interview. Asking the right questions during a job interview can significantly increase your chances of hiring the right person as well as reducing wasted time and money. In this article, we discuss why interviews are important as well as the steps you can take to conduct a successful interview.

You May Like: What To Bring To An Interview

Other Applicant Discrimination: Weight And Pregnancy

Job applicants who are underweight , overweight or obese may face discrimination in the interview. The negative treatment of overweight and obese individuals may stem from beliefs that weight is controllable and those who fail to control their weight are lazy, unmotivated, and lack self-discipline. Underweight individuals may also be subject to appearance-related negative treatment. Underweight, overweight and obese applicants are not protected from discrimination by any current United States laws. However, some individuals who are morbidly obese and whose obesity is due to a physiological disorder may be protected against discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Employers are using social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn to obtain additional information about job applicants. While these sites may be useful to verify resume information, profiles with pictures also may reveal much more information about the applicant, including issues pertaining to applicant weight and pregnancy. Some employers are also asking potential job candidates for their social media logins which has alarmed many privacy watch dogs and regulators.

Do Not Go Unprepared:

You should be well prepared as said. Overconfidence can lead you in trouble at the time of the interview.

You should prepare yourself well and without wasting much time, start the interview as the celebrity might have some other assignments to fulfill. So, you are always expected to be on time and do not delay.

Read Also: What Are My Weaknesses Job Interview

Preparing & Conducting Interviews

Being well prepared and then conducting an interview methodically will help you make the most of this important recruitment tool.

When interviewing job candidates, you want to determine what sort of people they are, how good their interpersonal skills are, how they might react under stress, whether they have the skills for the job, and whether they have been honest in their resumes.

Prepare And Research In Advance

I don’t usually prepare a list of questions, although I’ll usually have a list of topics to cover. I also like to look up the interviewee on LinkedIn and Google as this can reveal interesting angles for questions and common ground to build rapport.

I have an interview template in OneNote and I usually set this up before the interview with all the contact information and some initial thoughts and topics for the interview.

Also Check: What Are Common Interview Questions

Create A List Of Questions To Ask

At the end of the conversation, interviewers ask whether you have any questions, so prepare a few in advance. These questions should help determine whether the job is the right fit for you. Ask for details on the role, the company environment or advancement opportunities. You’ll likely find a few more questions to ask during the conversation, but preexisting questions display thoughtfulness and preparation.

Related:17 Best Questions To Ask Your Interviewer

Interview In A Journal

For an interview published in an academic journal, you need to include the journal name, volume and number, the date or year, and the page range. If you accessed the interview on an online database, include the name of the database and the DOI or stable URL.

SignsJSTOR

Read more about MLA journal citations.

Recommended Reading: How To Watch The Oprah Interview With Meghan And Harry

Approach A Face To Face Interview With Confidence With Interviewfocus

Dont let interview nerves impact your performance. Impress your interviewer with skills that you have learned with InterviewFocus! We have a variety of tools for you to use from the comfort of your home, including mock interviews, coaching sessions and honest feedback from experienced interview coaches. Dont let the pandemic stop you from giving a stellar interview. Get started with InterviewFocus today!

Use Great Interview Questions To Hire The Best Employees

Interviewing is both an art and a science, and with enough preparation you can reap the rewards in the form of an awesome new hire whos eager to join your team. But having the right questions only helps if you first have the right applicants. As you look to fill your next position, post your job for free and get your hiring process off on the right track.

Also Check: What Do You Do At A Job Interview

How To Structure Your Interviews

Structured interviews are effective methods of predicting job performance. Their three main characteristics are:

• You ask all candidates the same questions.
• You ask questions in the same order.
• You evaluate answers based on standardized rating scales.

The first two characteristics are easy, yet critical for success. If you ask different questions of each candidate, its impossible to objectively compare their answers. This will result in you trying to make a hiring decision on your gut feeling which potentially leads to harmful biases and discrimination.

So, when you decide which interview questions to ask, spend some time putting them in order. To do this, use the format of an interview scorecard its possible your applicant tracking system has a function to help you build scorecards and share them with your team.

The third characteristic of a structured interview the rating scales is immensely helpful in ensuring youll hire objectively. You create a scale and then you evaluate candidates answers with that scale. To do this right, define what exactly each item on the scale means.

Alternatively, you could use a simpler scale, such as Yes, No and Definitely

Be Polite While You Ask Queries:

Although it is something so basic, yet it needs to be taken into consideration. This is because when you are not polite or sound harsh, you may have to suffer the brunt of bad answers which will not prove good for your interview.

So, make sure you have a polite tone when interviewing a famous person.

Recommended Reading: How To Get An Interview

Keep A Respectful Distance

Its important to be able to converse easily with the interviewer. But you do need to be mindful of personal space. Take note of where the interviewer asks you to sit and how much distance they keep while speaking. Mirroring how they position themselves can tell them that you understand the importance of social distancing.

If youre seated far from the interviewer, slightly raise your volume to ensure they can hear you. To showcase that you are still engaged in the conversation, you can nod, lean in when the other person is talking and make eye contact throughout the interview.