Probing
Phrases like 'interviews belong to the interviewees' may have given the impression that we believe interviewers should make life easy for interviewees; that they should ask easy questions, and pat interviewees on the back no matter how well or badly they answer.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Interviews should be hard work for both you and the interviewees. This is the only way their purpose can be achieved. So-called 'easy' inter views often create more work for interviewers because they have to set up more interviews to get the data that they did not obtain in the first one.
Our job is not only to listen, but also to penetrate the evasions, half-truths, clichés, asides and downright lies until we get to the truth or as close to it as possible, given that this is not an interrogation and we are not the police. We also have to watch the interviewees, checking to see that what they say fits their body language.
If the candidate tells you 'I enjoyed my last job very much' but their expression says the opposite, you have to probe to find out what they really thought of it and not stop there, but find out why. If, because of inattentiveness, apathy or laziness, you leave it unsaid, you may be losing valuable information, not only about their former job, but also about the candidate. Clichés must not be allowed to pass without close examination, because they reveal far more about the interviewee's feelings than mere factual replies.
'What did you mean when you said about your last employer, "We didn't always see eye to eye"?'
All too often interviewers, especially those lacking in self-confidence, let interviewees get away with superficial responses to important questions. Their excuse is that they did not have the time, or that to have probed deeper may have embarrassed the interviewee, or they did not think it was that important at the time. To do your job efficiently, you must not let the interviewee off the hook. You have to probe and probe until you get an answer that will satisfy you.
'I meant that we had our differences.'
'What did you disagree about?'
'This and that.'
'Could you give me some specific examples?'
At the same time as probing, you have to reassure interviewees that you are for them, not against them, that your search for the truth is not merely out of curiosity or because you do not trust them.
This you do by turning negatives into positives: 'My life seems to be passing me by, and I'm getting nowhere', 'We all feel like that from time to time. What in particular is worrying you?'
By reinforcing the positive: Tm doing the best I can'. 'I agree. You're making a lot of progress.'
By using positive verbalizations and exclamations of approval such as 'Uh-huh', 'Mm-mm', 'I see', 'How interesting'.
By using gestures and body language to indicate total interest and involvement, such as nodding your head from time to time, leaning into the interviewee's reply, smiling when appropriate, stroking your chin, tilting your head.
Reflecting and restating
Sometimes interviewees need a breathing space, a time when they can reconsider their statements and perhaps add to or amend them. Sometimes, also, they do not give enough information and the interviewer is convinced that there is more to come. To encourage interviewees to give you a fuller answer, restate their last reply, either the whole of it or just the last phrase or two. You can repeat it word for word or paraphrase it in your own words, then give the interviewees time to consider their further reply.
Things at home could be better. I think my wife's getting a bit fed up with me being away all the time.' (Pause.)
'Fed up.'
'Yes. You know, she says it's the kids.'
Restating loses its effect and becomes irritating if you keep repeating the interviewee's last remarks; instead, you should rephrase their statements.
'Your wife thinks the children miss you.'
'Not miss so much, it's just that they're at that stage, you know.'
When rephrasing, take care not to put words into the interviewee's mouth by suggesting your own interpretation of events. Interviewees have to tell things as they see them, not as you think they see them.
Not: 'You mean they're getting into trouble?' which is supposition and would stir up hostility: 'Who said anything about trouble?'
But: 'They would like to spend more time with you.' This hits the nail on the head.
'Yes, that's just it! She thinks I'm missing seeing them grow up, and she could be right.'
By rephrasing, or what some writers prefer to call 'reflecting', you are, as it were, throwing back an incomplete image of the interviewees' statement which you feel is important enough to want a clearer definition. Hearing their words coming to them from you, they understand the need to complete the picture.
You can introduce your rephrasing with: 'You mean. . .', 'Am I correct in saying. . . 'In other words. . as in:
'We let ourselves down, I think.' 'You mean. . ./Am I correct in saying. . ./In other words your results did not come up to your expectations.'
Restating can work wonders with silent or inarticulate interviewees who find it difficult to give more than a tantalizing glimpse of their feelings, so long as you do not overdo it, in which case it becomes counter-productive; and if you put words into your interviewee's mouth, it can also yield mislead ing information.
Summarizing
This is one of the most effective interviewing tools at the interviewer's disposal, and should be used frequently whether or not the interviewees are giving you all the information you require. Summaries are signposts which help you to see where you have come from and where you are going to. If the interview is going off the track, a summary helps to put it back on again.
Summaries are a useful way of prodding diffident interviewees along by reassuring them that you have understood what they have told you so far. 'Let me see if I've got this right. After you left school you went straight into your first job as an assistant because you did not think further education would help you.'
Summaries also help you to pace your interviews if you use them when you end one section of the interview and before you begin the next. 'We've dealt with your education and you told me that. . (Give a brief summary.) 'Now, let's talk about your work experience.'
Summaries should be kept short and to the point. If they go on too long, they break the flow. Too many of them and you will bore your interviewees.
