This follows and supplements prior Newsletters and offers more tips for successfully conducting ethical, nonconfrontational interviews. As a student of the art, you should try out these and other techniques to see what works best for you. One size does not fit all! And, if you are currently employing one or more of these approaches, look at this as validation of your own process.
- Each interviewing experience should provide more clarity to the process, teach you something about human nature and allow you to further develop your abilities. You really do learn by doing. Certainly, the biggest determinant is having an interest in knowing and learning what the interviewee knows and who he / she is. Part of that interest is driven by your own natural curiousity and mindset. Do you approach each interview with an open mind, an interest in getting to the truth and also some more in-depth knowledge of with whom you are dealing? Do you self-critique after the interview
- Sometimes, telephone interviews are a fact of a busy life, but know going into the event that this form of communication eliminates the visual, and it disallows usage of one of your critical senses. No opportunity to observe eliminates the possibility of seeing and recognizing body cues that are unbalanced in relation to speech and emotion. Know also, however, that this disadvantage can be minimized if you are a slave to preparation and practiced at recognizing verbal cues
- The ultimate goal of a pre-employment interview, an interview of a claimant or the examination of a witness is not only to get the facts out but to allow you, the interviewer, an opportunity to formulate an opinion about truthfulness. It is important to remain objective, but it is similarly important to understand motivation even when his / her statements can be independently confirmed. If there is an area in conversation where the individual becomes uneasy, continue to inquire about the subject. Behaviors including yawning, giggling, evasiveness, audible stomach noises, etc. may be coincidental, or they may relate to untruthful responses.
There are many other effective, ethical interviewing considerations, and more will be presented in upcoming RNI Newsletters. Please watch for them, and, in the meantime, “play” with and “test” these suggestions!
Research North, Inc. (RNI), is a professional private detective service providing support to the business community, the insurance industry and individuals in Michigan and Wisconsin since 1981. The company also offers pre-employment background checks to small and medium sized businesses through a subsidiary called Backgroundcheckswork.com that is fully staffed by professional investigators who are retired from law enforcement.
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