Conducting a Great Interview
Running the interview itself: how to earn enough trust in the first two minutes, when to stay quiet, and how to follow a story rather than march through a list of questions.
After this lesson you can
- Open in a way that earns enough trust to be told something inconvenient.
- Use silence on purpose, and know what it is doing.
- Follow a story without losing track of what you came to learn.
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Module Overview
In the room, the goal is a conversation rather than a questionnaire. Prepare, but do not let the preparation show: people who feel they are in a job interview give you job-interview answers.
Do not ask what somebody usually does. Ask about the last time, or the worst time, which moves them off the abstract and into a story they actually lived. As they tell it, listen for joy, pain, frustration or any strong view, and follow those with open questions rather than moving on to the next item.
Silence is shorter than it feels, so let it sit; a pause is usually somebody thinking. Interview people where the thing happens whenever you can, and ask them to show you the objects, spaces and tools rather than describe them, because the object prompts the story. If they are doing a task, ask them to narrate it. And stay curious even when you are sure you already know the answer.
Where this usually goes wrong
- Filling a pause with an example, and hearing your own answer read back for the next half hour.
- Taking “I would definitely use that” as evidence rather than as a prediction.
- Interviewing in a pair where both of you ask questions, so nobody is listening.
Check it landed
3 questions, and one of them has no right answer. You get the reasoning either way.
You ask a question. You get a short answer, and then silence. What is the best move?
Somebody says "I would definitely use that". What have you learned?
Recording, or notes?
Sign in to answer these and see the reasoning behind each one.
Put it to work
2 templates go with this lesson. Each one has its own guide on when and how to use it.
