How To Tell A Crappy Interview From A Great One: Part 1
Everyone can tell you when an interview is crappy.
But do you know the secret to great interviewing techniques?
In today’s world you’re more than likely to do an interview either through text, audio or video. And it’s important to understand the structure of a crappy interview, long before we look at a good interview.
A crappy interviewer does the following:
1) He/She gives his/her own stories during the interview.
2) He/She keeps interrupting.
3) He/She lurrrrrrrrrrrrrves the sound of his/her own voice.
So let’s examine how a crappy interviewer goes about things
A crappy interviewer is always keen to hear the sound of his/her own voice. So even as the guest being interviewed comes up with a story/example, the crappy interviewer keeps telling his/her own stories. And giving his/her own examples.
A good interviewer knows better.
They know that an interview is not the right forum to toot your own horn. The good interviewer knows that you can blah-blah all you want in a separate podcast/article/video. A good interviewer knows that the interview is about the guest. And so the interviewer listens. And follows a thread. If the guest starts going down an interesting thread, the interviewer follows.
When the guest has reached the end of the thread, the interviewer pulls back to the original set of questions. Because hey, there are a whole bunch of questions. And so it goes: The good interviewer always sticking to a loose, yet pre-defined pattern.
So what’s the pattern?
- Ask the question.
- Listen to the answer.
- Follow the thread, if a thread does pop up.
- If not, continue with the original set of questions.
Crappy interviewers interrupt.
They talk about their own stuff. Their own examples. They keep reminiscing. And that’s what makes them crappy. They love the sound of their own voices.
Good interviewers love their own voice too. But they know when to use that voice.
And that’s what separates a good interviewer from a crappy one.
If you want to be a good interviewer there’s a simple rule: Ask the question. Then shut up!
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October 12th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
[...] blog to check out “How to tell a Crappy Interview from a Great One” Part 1 and Part [...]
October 17th, 2008 at 5:45 am
Great post, having done a few interviews early on I often finished with the sense that I was tooting my own horn a little too much, being argumentative, or trying to steer the interview toward being about me rather than about the interviewee. Doing it this way I never felt like the interview got good closure. You live and you learn. This is good advice Sean. Thanks ~Jesse