Active Listening
Active listening is a technique that greatly aids in establishing rapport. A variety of verbal responses such as "uh huh," "yeah," or "hmmm" and nonverbal responses such as nodding the head, smiling, making gestures, and eye contact communicate interest in what the candidate says. Use active listening throughout the interview whenever the candidate is giving meaningful information. Active listening provides feedback to the candidate and says, "You are on target."
Repeat
The repeat technique is simple. Repeat a key word, or echo it with a slight inflection. For example, if the candidate says, "I’m looking for a job with potential," you can reply, "Potential?" Candidates will almost always amplify their remarks when you repeat the word. Use the repeat to clarify a general or vague word or phrase. Because candidates usually talk in more depth about a repeated word, you can use the repeat to unobtrusively guide or direct the interview. Suppose a candidate says, "My professional ratings were OK." If you say, "Ratings?," the candidate will probably explain what the ratings were and how they were conducted. If you repeat the "OK?," candidates will probably explain what their own ratings were. In addition to clarifying vague or general comments, the repeat can be used to clarify the meaning of technical as well as slang words.
Probe
Although the probe appears commonplace, it is a technique that many interviewers have difficulty learning to use. Very simply, the probe is an open-ended question that begins with "how," "when," "who," "what," "in what way," or "which." These interrogatives put pressure on the candidate to clarify and elaborate a particular point. For example, if the candidate says, "The conditions at my former job were terrible," you can reply, "In what way were they terrible?" Or, if a candidate remarks, "Managing apartments was a valuable experience," you can ask, "What aspect was valuable?"
Questions that begin with "Do you...", "Don't you...", "Are you... and so forth should be avoided because they are closed questions-that is, they elicit a yes or no response. Interviewers who habitually use a lot of closed questions often find themselves doing most of the talking. The interviewer is pressured into continually thinking of more questions which the candidate can answer with a very brief agreement or disagreement. This is inefficient because the interviewer elicits little information from each question. The second and more serious drawback of closed questions is that they are almost always leading questions. Recall that a leading question implies the desired answer.
In using the probe, avoid the interrogative "why" whenever possible. Questions beginning with "why" imply that the candidate should justify his or her feelings and actions, and can put a person on the defensive. This obviously has a negative effect on rapport. If you monitor your conversations and interviews, you'll probably be surprised by how frequently you ask, "Why?" The reason many inter viewers have difficulty using the probe is that "why" and "do-you" questions are so habitual in our culture. However, with practice you can become comfortable and adept at substituting open-ended questions.
Silence
At first glance, silence hardly seems like a technique for gathering information, yet there are times when it works well. Most people become uncomfortable being silent in the presence of someone they don't know well, and will break the silence by talking. Silence used judiciously at key points can be an effective technique to encourage a candidate to talk. You can best use silence when the candidate is speaking relevantly and then pauses or stops. Resist the tendency to leap in with a question; simply remain silent. The candidate will generally resume talking about the topic at hand. Use active listening in conjunction with silence and the candidate will get the message: "I’m listening. I want you to go on." The period of silence should be brief, however; otherwise, you run the risk of making the candidate feel uncomfortable. Likewise, silence is not a good technique to use with a candidate who is overly anxious or hostile. Silence under these conditions can escalate the tension, making the interview an ordeal for both of you.
Practicing the Techniques
At first these techniques may seem deceptively simple. As an experiment, the next time you need to get information from someone, notice how many times you violate the principles by asking closed or leading questions. When attempting to use the techniques without first practicing them, you're liable either to forget or to become so preoccupied with how to ask what that you miss much of what is said. As is true of any skill, with practice you'll learn to use the techniques effectively.
The best way to practice is with a "buddy." Ask a colleague, friend, or your spouse to be your buddy. With your buddy, read over and discuss the section about basic principles and techniques. Then select one technique to practice first and brainstorm a list of stimulus statements. The practice exercise goes as follows: Your buddy reads one of the stimulus statements from your list and you respond with the technique you are practicing. Then you and your buddy discuss how you used the technique, Did you use it correctly? How could it have been improved? When you feel comfortable with the technique, select another technique to practice, generate another list of stimulus statements, and repeat the exercise. The next step is to listen to a variety of different types of stimulus statements and to use an appropriate technique. To do this, repeat the exercise above and have your buddy make statements picked randomly from any of your lists. The point of this exercise is to learn to identify the problem presented by the statement and to determine the technique that will elicit the information you need. For example, if the stimulus statement is vague, you should use a repeat, probe, or specific checkout, but not a sum-up.
Once you have mastered this step you will be ready to practice mini-interviews. This time make a list of general but restricted questions such as "What are you looking for in a job?" or "What type of setting do you like to work in?" or "What did you like about your last job?" Ask your buddy the question and then use the techniques to gather information. The mini-interview should be short-about two to three minutes. You'll know it's complete when you can sum up and your buddy has nothing more to add. Talk over each interview with your buddy before going on to the next one.
If you can't find a buddy, you can do the first two exercises with file cards and a tape recorder. Instead of making a list of statements, write each one on a separate card (like flash cards). Then, while re cording, draw one card, read the stimulus statement, and use the technique you are practicing. After each stimulus-response sequence, listen to the recording and do a critique of yourself. You can practice mini-interviews almost any time you need information from someone on the phone, at parties, or at work.
Preparing for the Interview
Not preparing for the interview in advance is a serious error. Being able to gather information efficiently is not enough; you need to know what information to gather. Remember that the information you gather during the interview tells you how candidates behave in an interview and how they talk about their experience, skills, goals, and so forth, but it is not necessarily a reliable method for determining how they will actually perform on the job.
The only way you can know for certain how the candidate per forms on the job is through observation. Obviously, in most cases this is unfeasible. Recommendations from previous employers have traditionally been an attempt to gather information about job performance, but to rely solely on this source is inefficient: People perform differently in different settings, different supervisors have different expectations and standards, and different jobs require different skills. The more you know how the candidate would actually perform in the position under consideration, the more likely you will be to select the person most suitable. The problem is how to gather information about actual job performance.
