How can you conduct interviews in the field like a pro?

"Understanding your purpose is essential before conducting interviews. It helps you determine the main topic, key questions, and how the interviewee's insights will contribute to your project's narrative. This clarity ensures you select the right interviewees, ask relevant questions, and stay on track during the interview process, ultimately leading to a more valuable and focused outcome."

Relevant and interesting questions are the key for me. A lot of interviews go wrong because the interviewer assumed they got it all in their heads, instead of articulating and actually writing those questions down. Have a summary of questions you want to ask, and single them out depending on relevance to the topic/position in question.

An interview is an opportunity to gain insight into what makes your company unique. Explore the candidate's past experiences, portfolio, and public contributions. Research and thoughtful questioning during an interview unravels the full candidate's potential. Remember it is a dialogue between two parties navigating their future together. Expressing a sincere interest in a candidate's background and career aspirations creates an atmosphere of comfort and mutual respect. It extends the connection beyond the interview. Strike a balance between structure and spontaneity, leaving ample room for organic discussion. This approach showcases your company's authenticity and allows candidates to express themselves more freely.

This is so key. A set of interviews needs a North Star... a focus. Without it you're just having random conversations hoping for useful insight. But with an overarching objective in hand you have direction on who to interview, what to ask, what you want to learn, etc. and your conversations will be much more fruitful.

Interview yourself first before interviewing someone else by learning more about the project/role expectations. Have a clarity in your mind what you want to gain from the conversation. Organize the questions to assess the interviewee skillset and make it conversational rather than an interrogation.

I talk about this a lot. You can't just show up and expect to have a good interview. Interviewing isn't talking or just asking questions. It's uncovering truth. So... if you want to run a good interview, you need to study the landscape of what you want to learn and who you're talking to. The more you know, the better your questions and the more you'll learn.

Prior to conducting interviews, thorough research on your potential interviewees is crucial. This research enables you to build rapport, craft tailored questions, and ensure your approach is respectful and sensitive. Utilize online sources like social media and articles, but it's equally important to initiate direct contact with the interviewees. Introduce yourself, clarify the project's purpose, and confirm interview logistics to ensure a productive and respectful interaction.

Use the CBI approach to prepare competency-based questions built on the requirements for the hiring position, required by the hiring manager and according to the job description, use tools such as Chat GBT or Bard to support you in preparing the situational questions, and if you struggled to get your satisfying answer or got a confusing answer from the situational question, use the behavioral question type to get your accurate answer. Prepare your success factors and scoring methods for the interview to calculate an accurate result.

In the world of modern day interviews now being conducted in the virtual platform, one's environment is the upmost importance. While many chose to have a digital backdrop to disguise what can be behind them, don't trust this. Technology can fail and possible uncomfortable outcomes can occur. To prevent this ensure that you are in a quiet setting such as a enclosed room, try to have a backdrop of a plain wall or a professional setting i.e. an Office or Home Library. Make sure things are organized. This can stand out to other watching a be a distraction. Lastly, have the time dedicated as an in person meeting. Dress as if you would meet in person. "Little steps lead to a long travel if taken well and steady."

"What do you love about your work?" (or other relevant topic) is my favorite warmup question because it connects the subject to something positive emotionally and allows them to express their feelings subjectively without any downside. Getting a subject into a comfortable and confident zone is the key, and establishing rapport begins the moment you meet them. Focus early questions on areas where subject will likely do well, as stumping them or making them feel awkward at the outset is the fastest way to ruin an interview.

Active listening is super important, not only for giving positive feedback but also to encourage going deeper into a topic. If you think there's more content available or something seems incomplete, try saying "That's interesting, can you tell me more about that?" And of course, always listen for how the comments will be edited. Is the context/setup clear? Is the answer complete? Could it be said more concisely?

Remember, the interview is an extension of your company's identity. If your culture thrives on informality, let that vibe resonate throughout the interview process. Consistency in representing your company values ensures a seamless alignment with overall standards. In essence, an interview is not merely a selection process; it's a mutual exploration of potential partnerships. By infusing genuine interest, preparation, and a reflection of your company culture into the interview, you set the stage for attracting and retaining top-tier talent.

Most people tend to focus on the best things that they have done. When interviewing, I like to ask the question, "When was a time that you had to deal with a failure?" People are accustomed to talking about the good. That is easy. But when a person has to walk through a time that they failed in the past, it makes them think and see where the mistake was made. However, a good interviewee will use the question and turn it into a story of how the error can be used to learn from and turn into a success. This is a great way to identify candidates that are problem solvers. It also allows for the interviewer to see how they can adapt to stressful environments.