Whether you’re the one nervously pulling up a chair or the manager sitting high and proud on the other side of the table, it’s helpful to be aware of the different types of interview techniques interviewers use. Sometimes a manager will talk as much as the interviewee, if not more. In other cases, an interviewer might be somber and silent, or painfully awkward. No matter the end result, an interview is frequently the first impression both parties will experience, and that can bode just as poorly for the employer as it might for the applicant.
So what’s the most effective interview technique? As you might have guessed, there’s no one-size-fits-all, and different approaches are suited for different people and jobs. Just as importantly – and this also counts equally for both sides of the process – being willing and able to adapt on the fly is one of the most integral skills to bring to the table.
To begin, almost all interviews take some form of a question and answer format, but there’s nearly infinite variability even within that structure. Some interviewers try to fire off as many short questions as possible while others might try to coax out longer answers with more open-ended questions. And while interviewees are often feeling like they need to fill in blank space—nobody likes awkward silence—managers are often overlooked in this equation. One management coach advises interviewers to embrace a little silence: “ask a good question, listen attentively to the answer,and then count silently to five before asking another question,” Rodger Dean Duncan says, a queue he took from watching PBS. Jim Lehrer, the PBS anchor who exemplifies the approach, expands: “If you resist the temptation to respond too quickly to the answer, you’ll discover something almost magical. The other person will either expand on what he’s already said or he’ll go in a different direction. Either way, he’s expanding his response, and you get a clear view into his head and heart.” So the lesson here is: listen slowly and open up the interview into a conversation as much as a Q&A.
The primary way of encouraging longer, more impression-building answers from your interviewee starts with the questions themselves. You probably don’t need to ask questions that you could find the answer to on the applicant’s resume, and should instead focus on expanding on that information. So, there’s no need to ask: “Where did you go to school?” But a question like, “Why did you study Sociology?” could yield new information. This example is also a microcosm: avoid yes or no questions and others that might be answerable in single words. Basically, get your interviewee to open up, they should be the one’s doing the talking in most cases.
Another oft-overlooked aspect and approach to an interviewer’s job is dispensing information as much as gathering it. Traditionally, an interview puts the potential employee on the hot seat: are they capable, worth the paycheck, etc.? But what about telling the interviewee about the company, workplace, and job itself? It might seem weird, but part of the utility of an interview is informing your future employees what they’re getting into.
