Interviews Work Both WaysAuthenticity Works for Interviews

Good Interviews Are Conversations

January 7th, 2010

I was reading, Nervous about an interview? Try this! and thought, hmm, I’ve said something like that before, haven’t I?

I have, but in slides (for my Hiring for an Agile Team tutorial and workshop and in my other workshops) and in person, but not on this blog. So, let me say it here:

Good interviews are conversations. Period.

Good interviews do not surprise people. Good interviews build rapport with a candidate, learn about a candidate, preferably with behavior-description questions and auditions. Maybe with hypothetical questions. Maybe with a meta-question.

But good interviews should make a candidate (and an interviewer) think, not sweat.

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Entry Filed under: interview


3 Comments Add your own

  • 1. Dawn  |  January 7th, 2010 at 10:24 am

    I couldn’t agree more. As interviewer, I have used many of the techniques here on your site. Having been on both sides of the table in the past year, I found it easier to incorporate your suggestions and techniques when I was the interviewer, likely because I could drive the conversation easier from there.

    And though I think most of us know in the back of our minds, as interviewees, that if the interview is more conversational it will go better, it can be hard to accomplish. Any technique that may help ease our anxiety is worth sharing.

  • 2. uberVU - social comments&hellip  |  January 7th, 2010 at 11:55 am

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by johannarothman: Good Interviews are Conversations, http://ping.fm/50sOJ...

  • 3. som  |  January 25th, 2010 at 6:38 am

    We interview people to recruit and not to reject. Hence a conversational way of interview yields best results rather than ‘I shoot you save’ kind of interviewer where interviewer’s ego over takes over. When interview becomes conversation, we get ample opportunity to understand candidate better. At fist place the candidates becomes comfortable and talks his heart out. That is precisely what interviewer wants know – what’s in candidate’s heart? What does he like? What makes him happy? What sort of things make him react? So on

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