What makes a good interview?

[AgeForce]

I have interviewed hundreds of job applicants in my business career, so I think I have some contribution to make to this forum.

As previously stated, the interview process depends a great deal on the type of position you are trying to get. But let’s say for our purposes, that you are trying for a position with a medium size company, and the position is in sales and marketing.

The first step is to get to the right person to request an interview. Most medium size companies will have a human resource person that you can identify with a simple phone call to the company headquarters. Give that person a call and you will probably be asked to submit your resume. If that is the case, include a short upbeat cover-letter that is personalized to the particular company. I. E. “I would look forward to the opportunity to meet with you and learn more about ABC Company and tell you why I think I can make a meaningful contribution to……”

The next step, after you get an interview appointment, is to learn as much about the company you are interviewing with. If you demonstrate that you prepared for the interview, it will work in your favor.

Finally, in the interview, be yourself. A good interviewer can spot a phony a mile away. Do not be reluctant to talk about your strong points and qualifications. You are your best, and only salesman at your interview, and you have to sell yourself.


If the person interviewing you does not offer the information, ask about salary, company policy about vacations, and what benefits they provide employees. That demonstrates that you care about the details.

Be sure to get the interviewer’s business card and send a short e-mail to them the evening of the day you interviewed. Just thanking them for the chance to meet and that you hope to hear back from them soon.

Hope this helps!

[lovekissing]

The question came up in this thread.

Interviewing is one area that's a real problem for me. I'm never sure how to contact the person I need to contact and not sure what to ask them once I have their consent to be interviewed!

Who can help? Are you a good interviewer and how do you do what you do?

make a list of the things you would like to know about him or regarding on something... first, inform the person when the interview is, what it is all about, why, the purpose of the interview and who you are, also inform the person that you will not be using the information gathered to harm anyone... dont think of interview as something which you should practiced, think of it as a casual conversation with friends...

[Shyflower]

I have interviewed hundreds of job applicants in my business career, so I think I have some contribution to make to this forum.

As previously stated, the interview process depends a great deal on the type of position you are trying to get. But let’s say for our purposes, that you are trying for a position with a medium size company, and the position is in sales and marketing.

The first step is to get to the right person to request an interview. Most medium size companies will have a human resource person that you can identify with a simple phone call to the company headquarters. Give that person a call and you will probably be asked to submit your resume. If that is the case, include a short upbeat cover-letter that is personalized to the particular company. I. E. “I would look forward to the opportunity to meet with you and learn more about ABC Company and tell you why I think I can make a meaningful contribution to……”

The next step, after you get an interview appointment, is to learn as much about the company you are interviewing with. If you demonstrate that you prepared for the interview, it will work in your favor.

Finally, in the interview, be yourself. A good interviewer can spot a phony a mile away. Do not be reluctant to talk about your strong points and qualifications. You are your best, and only salesman at your interview, and you have to sell yourself.


If the person interviewing you does not offer the information, ask about salary, company policy about vacations, and what benefits they provide employees. That demonstrates that you care about the details.

Be sure to get the interviewer’s business card and send a short e-mail to them the evening of the day you interviewed. Just thanking them for the chance to meet and that you hope to hear back from them soon.

Hope this helps!

As mentioned before (my post #6) this thread is about interviewing a person for purposes of writing an article. This is the content writing forum. It's not about job interviews.

[chrisranjana]

Interviewing is an art by itself.

That being said it requires different skills for interviewing different genre of jobs.

You should try to make the person feel as comfortable as possible.

[bwdow]

Sometimes getting people to open up to you and start talking can be quite difficult. Here's useful technique I learned a few years ago when I was working in sales.

When your client finishes their statement, repeat their last 3 or 4 words back to them as a question.

For example...

Person1 : "So why did you start this thread?"
Person2 : "I need help. I'm not very good at interviewing people."
Person1 : "At interviewing people?"
Person2 : "Yes, I never know what to ask and I run out of questions."
Person1 : "Run out of questions?"

You get the idea. It's a great way to keep your subject talking before you throw in a new question. Just don't over use it.

Dear Viperfish
Its really cool idea. I have tried this on my friends and the words come out from their mouths. It's working amazingly.


The key feature of an interview is getting the most important info from the person. You have to decide "what is important". It is generally the question "what people wants to learn about this man/woman/work/dog etc..."
Easiest way to find it is asking it to others. Asking to the people at the road. Ordinary people thinks different then a computer guy. If you are making an interview with Bill Gates you can ask questions about Microsoft's future plans but people at the road doesn't cares about this. Maybe they want to know how they meet to his wife.
Hope you understand what i mean.

[fashola]

-The first thing is that there is a problem and you have to demonstrate that you are capable of resolving the problem.
-The second issue is asking yourself if you are the right person to solve that problem?
-If you think that you are the right person to solve that problem, then, you go to the interview with a list of questions to ask the person conducting the interview to enable you understand what is at stake.
-In the process, you also prepare, replies to questions that the person conducting the interview might ask you.
And at the end of the interview, make it clear, that you will call them to know their final decision.

[Jim Beam]

Guys on this forum are interested in this queation. My advice: preperation, right questions and charisma...

[rjb256]

Make sure you don't have too many questions for the interviewer because unless your going to compensate them, they won't want do bother doing it because its a lot of work.

[learnerseo]

A great thread to read...quite an upgradation of knowledge!!

[Wang]

The question came up in this thread.

Interviewing is one area that's a real problem for me. I'm never sure how to contact the person I need to contact and not sure what to ask them once I have their consent to be interviewed!

Who can help? Are you a good interviewer and how do you do what you do?

This is really good tread... thanks to ShyFlower to voice up the question. In fact I'm not a good interviewer but I got some valuable input from the participants in these threads... thanks again

[nileshmishra]

Proper Plan and Confidence is all what it would make...send enough time researching on the resources pertaining to the interview...

[websurfer84]

No matter what rule #'s 1,2,3 and 4 are DO YOUR HOMEWORK. The last situation you ever want to find yourself in is when they mention something that you have never heard of. A good interviewer will not only know a majority of questions beforehand, but also the answers.

Watch Larry King if you don't believe me

[carrot07]

Alot of great info.

I have learned to not let them see your fear is best. You have to present yourself as being confident in yourself, your work and ability to do the job. Your time should be answering questions and asking any that you have. Knowing the company is a must and be prepared to talk about why you want to be part of there team and what you can bring to the group. Connecting with them on a subject any subject can be the key to them remembering this particular interview and they will see how you feel and handle yourself when talking comfortably. Confident but not to cocky but a little is okay. Neat, professional, prepared and on time. References and all paperwork they may need in hand. Follow up with a thank you letter for the interview.

The only interview that stump me was a online interview they had a computer you set in front of and asked you questions and it filmed your answer and after the interview I was just not happy. It was all my input and no input back and I was not prepared for that. I have never liked being filmed and not during the interview and felt not my best interview. I also didn't like the idea of someone to busy to meet and interview themselves.

[Leo F. Swiontek]

There are many things that you need to keep in mind while appearing in an interview. First of all you should be confident and then you should be nicely dressed up. It is good to have good knowledge for the job for which you have applied. If you are unable to answer a question then it does not mean that you cannot qualify. Show yourself that you can do the job better than anybody else.

[DCrux]

It's not a job interview thread. This thread is about conducting interviews, usually in written form -- like you asking a famous person or expert (or both).

Consider this section is about content writing before posting. It's article writing interviews not "for a job" interviews.

[peterlh3]

wear your favorite suit, tie, shoes, clones, make yourself look good will help alot. and clear speech

[SteveOsborne]

After doing hundreds of interviews (mostly over the telephone) for magazine articles and books I’ve written, I've learned a few tricks and techniques that might help make your interviews more successful:

1. Research your subject and interviewee before your interview. When I interviewed Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, for a magazine article, I did a ton of homework on him in advance, but I missed a few important aspects of his life. He was offended and I had to do some fancy footwork to regain his confidence and trust.

2. When you set up interviews, tell the interviewees how much time you will need. If they don’t have that much time, try to reschedule the interviews when they do. If that’s not possible, at least you will know in advance what your time restrictions are, and you can plan accordingly. The last thing you want is to be halfway through your question list, with some of the most important questions left to ask, and hear, “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I only scheduled 20 minutes for this interview. Do you have everything you need?”

3. After you’ve done your homework to prepare for an interview, write a list of questions to ask during the interview. Check these off as you ask them, but don’t be rigid. If the interview takes you in a different or unexpected direction, go with it and come back to your question list later. Additional questions will inevitably arise during an interview. That’s okay. Just add them to your question list on the fly.

4. Always thank the people you interview for their time. Do this before you begin the interview and again when you are finished. People like to be appreciated, and the people you interview are often taking valuable time out of their busy schedules to accommodate you.

5. Ask questions that require explanations. Asking "Do you enjoy being a multimillionaire?” will probably get you a perfunctory “Yes,” or “Of course,” and then silence. What are they supposed to say to such a question? But if you ask, “What do you like most about being a millionaire?” you’ll make the interviewee think and you’ll receive an answer that tells you something of interest.

6. Record your interview. Unless you type at superhuman speed, a recording will allow you to capture the actual, word-for-word statements. Using a lot of actual quotes will liven up your written piece and give readers a better feel for the person you’re interviewing. Keep the recording. You may need it after you’ve written the project if there’s a dispute over what was actually said. Recording to a microcassette recorder-transcriber is an excellent way to capture interviews. You can then transcribe the conversation using the transcriber and a foot pedal. Make sure, however, that you have a small gadget (approximately $30 at Radio Shack) that links your recorder directly into your phone line. Recording cell phone conversations is a newer science, and still a bit dicey. Using Skype to converse through your computer and software that will record those conversations is another option nowadays, but you must have a strong Internet connection to make a clear recording.

[selfhelpebooks]

Researching the company beforehand and telling this to the interviewer can be impressive.

[rqlguevarra]

This is great I learn from different tips, but for me, whenever I'm on the inteview stage, I make it sure that I am confident, ready, know what I am applying for, i have my eye contact and always give a great smile and handshake on the interviewer. Just be your self and focus.

[LesFex]

Really great information!!! I got information about interview and how to deal with interviews...Thanks to all.....

[marcel]

see http://del.icio.us/popular/careers and http://del.icio.us/popular/interviews

[bellapria]

Great tips everyone

[amnion]

The best interviews always come off like a great conversation. Read other interviews or even watch talk shows to see how others do it. You never want your interview to come off as rehearsed or like a Q&A session (which it is), but you need to turn it into something more elegant. Some ways you can do this:

1) Do your homework (already mentioned)
2) Gather a list of great questions that elicit good responses from the person (also already mentioned)
3) Prep the person before hand by letting them know what questions you'll be asking. This allows the person to get ready and be able to phrase answers to be more elegant and entertaining also.
4) Find out if there's anything they want to talk about. Maybe they're just dying to be asked a magic question and no one ever asks.
5) Be dynamic. Don't just go from question to question. Allow a conversation to unfold and insert questions in relevant places. Even if the conversation starts out boring or has some dulls spots, you can always edit the interview later.
6) Thank them for their time and find out if they want you to include any final stuff in there (links, etc)

[DrAnujGupta]

good ideas about how to handle clients... i got it. thanks to all.

[fashola]

The replies cover the essentials...