During the interview

About Preparation

• Get into interviewer mind set.
• Being prepared is not the same as being locked in. Stay purposeful, but stay alert. Use your intuition; be responsive.

About Non-verbal Communication

• Shake hands firmly – no vice grips or “dead fish” shakes.
• Use eye contact as a means of connecting with your subject.
• Sit straight, but not too stiffly; don’t slouch: project poise.
• Eliminate nervous gestures as much as possible: playing with rings, your hair, ear, fingers or pen, etc.
• Listen attentively.
• Don’t smile nervously to handle uncomfortable moments.
• Try not to match your subject’s body position or shift unless you feel you need subliminal help to affiliate or re-affiliate (e.g. after grilling him / her or disagreeing).

Verbal Communication

• Eliminate distracting patterns of speech, such as overuse of “uh,” “you know,” “like”
• Don’t speak too long at any point without checking in: asking a question or soliciting feedback.
• Be aware of your voice quality: project poise.
• Avoid monotone; don’t be afraid to show appropriate passion on ideas or issues.
• Don’t be afraid to await more of an answer in silence: don’t just fill the pauses with words.
• When you’re explaining something, stay crisp and stop when you’re finished: no filling or redundancy.

Don’t be caught unprepared!

About “Controlling the Interview”

• Determine how much time you’ll have at the outset; keep track.
• Asking questions generally gains control.
• You don’t need to control the whole interview, but certainly enough to 1) qualify the candidate and 2) make your positioning points.
• Make sure to offer up control if you haven’t answered questions.
• If the candidate artfully gains control at a certain point, let him or her have it for a while to reinforce a sense of mutuality.
• Don’t be afraid to intervene when necessary.

General Interview Strategies

• A more relaxed interview subject is a more revealing interview subject.
• Look for SASS: Skills, Accomplishments, Support of assertions, Suitability for the role.
• Probe using the 5 W’s and the H: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.
• Look for the patterns in your subject’s choices, successes, failures, descriptions.
• Offer and solicit feedback while you still have time to discuss.
• If you’re at all interested, be sure to determine your candidate’s interest level.