In this lesson, you learn the importance of practicing good listening skills during the interview.
Several years ago, I completed a graduate program in therapeutic counseling. My hope was to be able to help people regain control of their lives after experiencing some type of psychological trauma.
One of the things I learned back then, and have since had reinforced more times than I care to count, is that counselors really can't help anyone until they know what the problem is—and counselors can't know what the problem is until clients tell them.
Active listening skills, one of the most important tools that a counselor has to work with, help encourage clients to talk freely and openly about problems and difficulties that they're facing. And the more freely a client talks about problems, the better equipped the counselor is to help. Getting people to talk about subjects that they may not want to discuss is the first step in any effective therapeutic intervention.
Plain English
Active listening . An interview technique, with origins in the field of psychotherapy, that helps assure candidates that the interviewer is listening to them intently. Active listening involves encouraging candidates to talk openly and freely by often reflecting back to them the meaning of their communication, both verbal and nonverbal, in ways that promote further exploration and awareness.
Interviewing candidates for employment involves the same basic challenge. To hire the right person for a job, it's necessary to gain a real understanding of each candidate who applies. It's important to know who they are, how they think, what their goals and aspirations are, and whether they have the competencies needed to be successful in the job.
But to evaluate each candidate fairly and accurately, the interviewer must obtain the necessary information, and that means getting the candidate to talk even about subjects that may be uncomfortable to discuss (past failures, weaknesses, problems with former employers or co-workers, and so on). The more the candidate talks, the better the interviewer understands the candidate and can decide whether he or she is qualified for the position.
Active listening skills promote warmth and honest communication. But even more important, they help strip away superficial levels of communication by encouraging candidates to talk about skill-related experiences and the deeper personal meanings that often accompany them.
Plain English
Communication . Any means (verbal or nonverbal) of giving information or news to another. One of the main functions of communication in the context of a job interview is to impart knowledge, and provide job-related information.
Here are some of the benefits of active listening, along with some typical interviewer responses that help bring them about:
Active listening demonstrates to a candidate that the interviewer is intensely interested in what's being said: "You seem to be saying that you have felt undervalued in your present employment and that you feel frustrated as a result."
Even more important, it demonstrates that the candidate has not only been heard, but also understood: "If I'm hearing you correctly, you would like a chance to work for a company that would value someone with your skills and abilities."
It provides an opportunity for the interviewer to discover and correct any misunderstandings or inaccurate interpretations that may develop during the course of an interview: "If I understand you correctly, you like the company you're presently working for, but you dislike your immediate supervisor. Is that correct?"
It communicates unconditional acceptance to the candidate, which encourages further exploration: "You feel undervalued in your present work."
It keeps the focus where it belongs—on the candidate and the specific behavior being probed: "It seems that you feel that your ability to lead others is being overlooked in your present employment, and that you want to find employment that will allow you to not only manage, but also lead. Is that correct?"
It encourages deeper levels of communication: "You want to be recognized for your leadership abilities … Tell me about a time when you were placed in a leadership role. What is there about it that you liked? What did you dislike?"
It encourages open and honest communication: "You say that you resent not having a leadership role in your present job, and you seem hurt by it."
Active listening, as the term implies, requires active participation on the part of the listener; the listener does more than just listen. It calls for the listener to become actively involved in the process of communication by periodically confirming understanding of what's being said by the speaker. Developing active listening skills demands practice.
When using active listening while conducting job interviews, there are several important points to remember.
First, be genuinely curious about what the applicant is saying. Even if you're tempted to tune out because you've heard the question and the usual response a hundred times, force yourself to be curious about what the candidate is saying.
Tip
Make an effort to engage with the candidate, and suddenly you'll find yourself taking real interest in what's being said. There's nothing more encouraging to a candidate than to have an interviewer really listen and to confirm that listening with appropriate questions or statements.
Second, don't be judgmental. When a candidate makes statements that you disagree with, don't voice your disagreement. Remember that this is the candidate's opportunity to tell a story about the use of a certain skill or ability, or simply to express an opinion. Reserve your judgment for the evaluation phase of the process—that's where it belongs. During the interview, focus only on making sure that you understand exactly what the candidate is saying.
Third, make a conscious effort to resist distractions, whether internal or external. Active listening requires total concentration on what's being said. Control those distractions that are controllable so that the concentration of everyone participating in the interview process remains unbroken.
Fourth, reflect content back to the candidate. When you tell candidates what you think they're saying, you encourage them to continue speaking, you show sincere interest in their presentations, and you demonstrate concern for the accuracy of the message they're conveying.
Fifth, listen for the emotions behind a candidate's words. Those emotions can include happiness, sadness, fear, disappointment, frustration, anxiety, and every other emotion. When you hear a candidate talking in emotional terms, learn more about why the emotional response is there by saying, "You sound frustrated with your present job. What is there about it that frustrates you most?"
Sixth, don't interrupt a candidate with a follow-up question. Sometimes while you're actively listening to a candidate, you'll suddenly think of an important follow-up question that simply must be asked. When that happens, jot it down and ask it later. Interrupting a candidate who's attempting to answer specific behavioral questions is a little like throwing cold water on a fire.
And seventh, while we're on the subject of note taking, plan to take plenty of notes about what the candidate says. Not only does note taking demonstrate the importance of what's being said, but it also will prove invaluable when it comes time to evaluate candidates.
The manner in which the interviewer responds to a candidate will either facilitate communication or inhibit it. The following is a list of facilitative responses that will help you listen actively:
Unconditional acceptance ("That must have been very difficult for you. Thank you for sharing your feelings with us.")
Obvious open-mindedness ("That's an interesting way of looking at that situation.")
Open behavioral questions.
Patience ("Take your time.")
Reflective comments.
Positive reinforcement.
Empathetic remarks.
Support comments.
Structuring.
Supportive body language.
Inhibiting responses will keep a candidate from speaking freely and deeply about important matters. Here are a few of the most common inhibiting responses:
Criticism.
Rejection.
Moralistic responses ("I never would have believed that anyone would actually do something like that.")
Self-indulgent disclosures ("Sometimes people ask me about the secret to my financial success in life and I tell them that since I was a lad I've always saved 10 percent of everything I earn, and I give another 10 percent to charity. I've always felt that if you can't live on 80 percent of your income, you can't live on 100 percent of it either.")
Intolerance.
Dogmatic statements.
Sarcasm.
Obvious impatience.
Plain English
Facilitative responses . The responses of an interviewer that encourage a candidate to talk freely about the areas explored in the interview. Inhibiting responses Those responses of an interviewer that prevent candidates from wanting to talk about important matters. Facilitative responses produce excellent interviews; inhibiting responses are destructive.
Body language has become a hot topic in human resources circles over the past few years. Body language can be revealing, but sometimes an interviewer can get the wrong message entirely.
For example, some people routinely hold their chin in their palm hand when they're contemplating something important. But in an interview session, this kind of body language could easily be interpreted as suggesting someone who is unfocused and inattentive.
Over the years, I've developed the habit of sitting with my arms crossed while carrying on a business-related conversation. But in an interview situation, that kind of body language could be interpreted as evidence of closed-mindedness and defensive posturing.
Tip
Make an effort to examine your own unique body language, especially during interview sessions. Try to avoid body language that may conflict with the principles of active listening.
When you encounter a candidate whose body language seems to communicate one thing but whose verbal responses seem to communicate something else, it's usually best to check your interpretations of these nonverbal cues with the candidate. Do so in a way that doesn't cause embarrassment, but be direct. Ask the candidate if your interpretation of a certain body language is correct. ("It seems that whenever we discuss your present employment your body language appears to indicate a reluctance to discuss the matter in any detail. Is there a reason for that? Or, am I simply misinterpreting your body language?")
Also, remember that you have no idea of the context of the interview in the life of the candidate. A number of years ago, I interviewed a young lady for a professional position for which she seemed eminently qualified. During the interview, however, she became distracted and unfocused. Her body language suggested extreme anxiety.
I attempted to confirm the message from her body language by asking whether she was feeling anxious about the interview. The young lady began to sob uncontrollably. When I inquired what was wrong, she said that a few hours beforehand, she had received a telephone call from her sister telling her of her father's sudden death. In spite of the news, she attempted to muster up enough strength to complete the interview, but the news proved too overwhelming.
Had I relied only on the nonverbal cues presented by the candidate, I would have probably concluded that the job and the candidate were not a good match. But having inquired further, I learned that it was the context of the interview that was the problem, not the candidate. We rescheduled our interview for another time, and the young lady was eventually hired and today manages an entire division of the same firm.
Always confirm nonverbal cues with a candidate. Body language can be prompted by many things other than the interview—or, for that matter, nothing at all.
From the standpoint of active listening, what's really important is the interviewer's nonverbal cues. To communicate acceptance, interest, and support, the interviewer should practice making eye contact with the candidate while leaning slightly forward from a seated position. Eye contact should be broken only when notes are being written or other members of the interview panel are being addressed.
Be careful not to convey boredom by paying attention to something other than what the candidate is saying, by yawning, or by constantly looking at your watch or a room clock. These kinds of messages can put a real damper on what might otherwise be a good interview.
When the interviewer mentally engages with the candidate and practices good active listening skills, nonverbal communication usually takes care of itself.
Active listening is a technique that has its roots in psychotherapy and helps encourage candidates to talk freely and openly about behavioral situations.
Active listening helps move an interview from superficial levels to deeper levels, giving the interviewer an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the person being interviewed.
Among other important benefits, active listening provides the interviewer an opportunity to immediately clear up any misunderstandings or to obtain needed clarification.
Interviewers should be constantly aware of the messages that they are giving applicants through verbal and nonverbal forms of communication. How an interviewer responds to a candidate (verbally and nonverbally) will be either facilitative or inhibiting.