Conducting interviews via e-mail

From Job Search Secrets

There was a time when all interviews were done face-to-face. Not
any more. We are now as likely to interview someone sitting on the
other side of the planet. Time zones conspire against us and, frankly,
it is sometimes near impossible to get any high-ranking boss to agree
to a half-hour telephone interview.

The next best thing is a
feature based on answers gleaned from an e-mail exchange. But there are
tricks to make sure you obtain the information you want.

How many questions?

You
can't make a 500-word article out of two quotes and a "You've all done
very well" statement, such as you often get out of senior managers. The
answer is to ask plenty of questions.

I often start my e-mail
with an apology, saying that I am sorry if the list of questions looks
a little daunting, but they will help me produce a better feature that
explains the role of "X" department in more depth. Nobody will object
to you trying to make his or her feature better! Having said that, more
than 15-20 questions and your e-mail starts to look like something from
the Spanish Inquisition. Phrasing the question

In verbal
interviews the secret is to use open-ended questions. But there is
actually far more to it than that when it comes to using e-mail.
Consider the following questions and their possible responses: Q. Was
your latest advertising campaign a success? A. Yes Hm, not much use
that one. OK, let's try the a different approach: Q. How successful was
your latest advertising campaign? A. Very Ah! Let's try that one again
wtih an open-ended question: Q. How did you measure the effectiveness
of your latest advertising campaign and what did the results tell you?
A. Well Steve... Now we are getting somewhere. When considering questions
in e-mails think about all the possible responses you might receive.
Try to come up with a question that forces the interviewee to tell you
much more about the subject. In one famous interview, someone asked
Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, how the Enterprise's warp
engines worked. He replied: "Very well, thank you!" Injecting
personality

When you interview someone face-to-face you usually
leave with a notebook full of very useable quotes. When you conduct the
same interview via e-mail people may be less forthcoming. The solution
is to ask questions about how the person felt about something, or what
emotions were stirred by the event you are discussing. This is likely
to give you quotes that include words like delighted, ecstatic,
disappointed, disgusted, elated, tired or exhausted - the words that
make good quotes. And finally

Always include a question like "Is
there anything else you would like to add or is there a question I
should have asked?" This shows that you are leaving the door open for
the interviewee to add more material and that you recognise your own
ignorance of the subject. Finally, always thank the interviewee in
advance for taking time out of their busy schedule to answer your
questions and would they prefer a telephone-based interview next time.
That way, the onus is placed back on them to make the time for you when
you come to interview them again!

By: Steve Nichols