Chased by a Bear
Most of what we’ve said about group discussions also applies to interviews: Keep the conversation going. Don’t pick a fight. Ask for definitions and examples. Ask about new elements and contexts and how they would change the topic. In the interview situation, though, be more open to the person with whom you are speaking—the interviewee.
Interviews usually have a topic, but the topic is not primary. The interviewee’s position is what the interview is about. That means that your role as interviewer is diminished. In a discussion, the spotlight shifts from person to person, but in an interview, the spotlight is always on the person being interviewed. Your responsibility is to keep the person talking, to make sure that the spotlight is justified.
In addition to the guidelines above, remember to follow up. Amateur interviewers may fail to follow up. This is actually a failure to pay attention, a lapse of listening.
Take this interview, for example, that a student had with her father.
Student: “Dad, can you tell me about your most vivid memory from being in college?”
Father: “That’s easy. The thing I remember most vividly was when I was chased by a bear.”
Student: “And can you tell me what your major was?”
We have to assume that the student had a list of questions and was proceeding down her list one by one without listening to answers. She couldn't have been listening or she would not have gone from “the time I was chased by a bear” to “What was your major?” She could have said just about anything concerning the bear to show that she was listening, and her dad would probably have continued the story. Even saying “Huh?” would have produced a better interview.
For the next activity, read the interchanges below and decide which of the follow-ups are good moves and which are bad moves. Which ones draw more out of the person being interviewed, and which of them shut the person down? When you click on the correct answer, it will change to green; the incorrect answer will change to red. Check your understanding to see more explanation about the correct answer.
Interchange 1:
Person being interviewed: “As a boy, I was in charge of slaughtering a hen whenever my mother wanted to make fried chicken.”
Interviewer: “Did she make biscuits to go along with the chicken?”
- Good move
- Bad move
Bad move. This reply by the interviewer only follows up on part of the comment—and not the most important part. The initial statement is significant because a boy is killing a chicken. Biscuits are beside the point. How did he kill the chicken? Did it bother him? Could he do it now? Would he want his own children to do such things?
CloseInterchange 2:
Person being interviewed: “I have always been afraid of big dogs. When I see someone walking a big dog, I cross to the other side of the street. To avoid a big dog, I will actually go into a store even if I have no intention of buying anything.”
Interviewer: “Can you remember when you first reacted this way to seeing a big dog?”
- Good move
- Bad move
Good move. This reply by the interviewer follows up on the most important aspect of what was said.
CloseInterchange 3:
Person being interviewed: “I’ve studied snakes for most of my career, and they have never made me afraid. I can understand why people want them as pets. I find them very beautiful and also like the feel of their bodies, but I think it’s a mistake to attribute emotions to them. I don’t believe that snakes ever come to know, let alone love, people who keep them as pets.”
Interviewer: “Isn’t it possible, though, that a snake can come to know, even to love, the situation that it finds itself in? Are there cases when a snake has seemed to prefer living as a pet rather than being free?”
- Good move
- Bad move
Good move. This reply pushes the person being interviewed in a particular direction. The next response may be "I have never seen that happen“ or "I’m not sure.” The question is an interesting one, and the person being interviewed might use it as a way to jump to another issue.
CloseInterchange 4:
Person being interviewed: “Monkeys in captivity can be very happy. Apes, on the other hand, always protest captivity. They would always prefer to be in the wild.”
Interviewer: “I think capuchins are sometimes trained as companions for people who are disabled. Is that sort of training possible with all monkeys, or are capuchins an exception?
- Good move
- Bad move
Good move. Notice that the interviewer either knows a lot about primates or (more likely) did some homework before the interview. Amateur interviewers often forget that preparation is important. Whether the interview is for a writing assignment or for a job, it will be more productive if both people start with a knowledge base. Curiosity will only take you so far.
Close