INTEVIEWER AND INTERVIEWEE

Interviews are auditions. Interviewer and interviewee have the stage on which to present themselves.At the interview - the candidate is in their interviewee role. They represent themselves - with confidence or otherwise. There is a major theatrical component.





SKILLS REQUIRED FOR AN INTERVIEWER

To be an effective Grid interviewer, you need the skills and understanding described below:

Understanding.

Enough understanding of, and commitment to, Kelly’s core values and the way that Grid gives expression to them; and enough of the basics of Personal Construct Theory to help you in planning and analysis. You don’t need in-depth study of PCP to be a good Grid interviewer, but you do need to know that Grid was designed to give expression to a special way of understanding one another.
Interview Design.

The ability to design an interview protocol, from the universe of options available to you, which will support the purpose for the particular interview(s) and – where applicable – the project you have in mind. Designing a protocol means specifying the element class; the elements and how they will be created; the purpose for the interview; the qualifiers, which direct the interviewee to focus on the elements in a way that supports the purpose; and, crucially, the method(s) of analysis you will use. Don’t assume that you can leave the choice of analysis until later.
Interpersonal Skills.

The interpersonal skills needed for the interview. In some ways this is a different set of interpersonal skills than those you would use in a counselling or fact-finding interview – in particular, you need to suppress everything you may have learned on an ‘active listening’ course, to repress the urges you may have to summarise or re-phrase what the interviewee says, and to be unafraid of silence. Also, in the early stages of your experience with Grid, you need to manage the process of capturing the data – into a computer, which Enquire Within® supports, or on cards – without being clumsy.
Feedback skills.

When and how you use these depends on the nature of your interview. In a counselling interview or similar, you might be incorporating feedback into the interview itself. On the other hand, there are some types of project where your main feedback could be to a group of managers. Good feedback, especially face-to-face, means that you have learned the art of silence (see the point above); you also need the capacity to analyse the interview as it happens, although you may do more detailed analysis later.
Analysis skills. There are many different ways of analysing Grid data – and by no means all of them depend on using a computer – but you need to analyse what you have discovered, in terms of your purpose.
Imagination and Inventiveness.

Finally, as you become more practised, you should hope to acquire some imagination and inventiveness. You should know which rules you can break, if breaking them suits your purpose and you understand the consequences of breaking them. You should be able to develop more than one configuration to meet your purpose, which is possible in many cases. You’ll learn how to manage difficult interviewees, break log-jams, be able to spot when the interview is going off-course and adapt accordingly.

What to Avoid

You Ask the Wrong Type of Questions

During a one-on-one interview, it is helpful to ask open questions that allow the candidate to cite examples from previous experience, discuss points in more detail, or explain how their abilities are suited to the position. Asking yes/no questions is not nearly as useful; they can hinder the flow of conversation and provide little scope for further discussion.

You Spend Too Much Time Talking

One-on-one interviews can often be dominated by the interviewer’s voice, with the job specification, business profile, and administrative issues accounting for too much of the interview. An interview is primarily an opportunity to learn more about the candidate. Thus, allow the candidate to do most of the talking. Get a good sense of the candidate’s communication skills and their ability to speak under pressure. Use open questions and leave time at the end of the interview for the candidate’s questions.

You Neglect to Minimize Disruptions

Disruptions can jeopardize the success of an interview, causing both the interviewer and candidate to lose track of the discussion and key points. To ensure a successful interview free of disruption, conduct it in a private, quiet room and notify colleagues that an interview will be taking place. Turn off cell phones, laptops, and other potentially-disruptive devices, and allow enough time so that other scheduled interviews do not overlap.