Guide to Interviewing

Contents
Types of interviews
Three steps in successful interviewing
The interview schedule
The interview guide
Conducting the interview
Rapport
Questioning
Interview review
The interviewee
Dos and donts
Further assistance

Three steps in successful interviewing

Preparation: produce an interview schedule
and interview guides.
Execution: conduct the interviews
Review: write up the interview notes

Steps in the interview process

Preparation

Execution

Interview
schedule

Interview
guides

Who you are going

to interview, why,
when and where?

What questions are

you going to ask?

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.

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.

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

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.

Interview execution
Interviews are exceptionally rich sources of information. However,
no two interviewees are alike: some tend to ramble, others are
suspicious and curt, some will need only the slightest
encouragement to speak their minds, while others will have to be
guided along.
The interviewers job is to conduct the interview to gather the
information required, which takes skill, practice and structure.
Once you have concluded your interviews, they must be
summarised to yield the big picture.
Your questions should therefore allow for valid comparison and
summarisation of your interviewees viewpoints.

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

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 interviewees 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

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

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

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
Focuses interviewee

Disadvantages

Can be boring for interviewees

You may miss other areas

Doesnt provide the

opportunity to qualify answers

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

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 )

Interview review
A standard interview note format is useful in orienting interviews to results:
Key Steps

Write
Writeinterview
interviewnotes
notes
as
assoon
soonas
aspossible
possibleafter
afterthe
the
interview
interview
Outline
Outlinekey
keyfindings,
findings,
note
noteemerging
emerginghypotheses
hypotheses
Consider
Considerhow
howfindings
findingsfitfit
with
withearlier
earlierevidence
evidence
Identify
Identifygaps
gapstotobe
be
filled
in
subsequent
filled in subsequent
interviews
interviews

Format

Interview
InterviewNotes
Notes
Interviewees:
Interviewees:
Interviewers:
Interviewers:
Location:
Location:
Date:
Date:
KEY
KEYFINDINGS
FINDINGS
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUNDAND
AND
SITUATION
SITUATION
DISCUSSION
DISCUSSIONNOTES
NOTES
NEXT
NEXTSTEPS
STEPS

Interview notes are valuable when sharing

information with other team members.

The interviewee may be

Assuming no possible improvement

Assuming they have the full picture

Assuming knowledge on your part

Describing work out of sequence

Covering up their own failings

Exaggerating

Scoring off others

Overwhelmed by you

Protecting others

Exaggerating the immediate problem

Overestimating the importance of the job

telling you what they think you want to hear

The interviewee can be

Inarticulate

Shy

A jargoneer

Loud

A familiarist

A deceiver

An obstructionist
Too familiar with the job

A hypochondriac
An empire builder

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

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

Do not

Arrive without warning

Forget interviewees 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

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.

Further assistance
For additional supporting guides refer to:
Guide to communicating
Guide to requirements gathering
Guide to conducting meetings and RAP sessions