Human Resources Skills: Interviewing Skills

Course Overview

This course is designed for anyone who has to conduct interviews - whether you are a journalist, writer, researcher or just someone who is required to undertake interviews face to face or over the phone as part of your job.

• The course covers asking the right restions, opening gambits, avoiding closed answers, keeping an interview on-track and how to ensure you leave an interview with the information you need.
• The course also covers tips and tricks for dealing with reluctant or difficult interviewees.

Course Outline

Interviews vs conversations

• Developing an interview technique
• Staying focused during an interview

Preparing for an interview

• Essential preparation
• What to research and how to research it

Discovering the angle

• Choosing an angle for the interview
• Establishing credibility and building rapport
• Structuring your questions
• Maintaining the angle
• Body language

The interview arc

• What is the interview arc and how does it function?

Different types of interview

• Phone, email and face to face
• Advantages and disadvantages of each
• Adapting your interview style for each medium
• Avoiding closed answers

Transcribing

• Notes or recording?
• Organising your interview notes - what to use and what to throw away

Using quotes

• How to obtain quotes from an interview effectively and ethically

The difficult interview

• How to deal with reluctant or difficult interviewees

On or off the record?

• Using information gleaned both on and off the record effectively
• Legal implications

Practical exercises

Questions and answers

Human Resources Skills: Interviewing Skills / HR-IS