NIHITO Masterclass with Chad Eckes

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Week Four: Conducting an Interview

  • 1.  Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-02-2022 09:20 AM

    Greetings and salutations PAC members! It's week four of the NIHITO Masterclass, and we have a fun assignment for you this week: conducting an interview!

    Please watch this video, where I explain how to prepare for your interviews, and some tips to keep in mind when interviewing.


    As I mention in the video, you will have to find a colleague to participate in the interview, to make this as real as possible. For your interview, you can use the topic and interview guide you created in week three, or you can come up with something different if that makes it easier. Feel free to conduct a full interview, but please limit the recording you post to the discussion group to 10 minutes or less (preferably the first 10 minutes of the interview), so that your peers can review them quickly and provide feedback.

    Also, I've attached two audio files to this post of me conducting in-depth interviews, to hopefully bring some of the tips to life. (Unfortunately, I couldn't use past recordings from our Techie Co. example we've been referring to in this class, since those recordings have confidential information on them.)

    The assignment is due Monday, May 9 at 12:00 PM Pacific. Be sure to also review and comment on at least one other member's recording.

    Please let me know if you have any questions, and enjoy the opportunity to practice your interviewing skills!

     

    Best,

    Chad

    @Jordan Adler, @Gauri Ahuja, @Inah Arthasarnprasit, @Sami Atieh, @Niraj Bhandari, @Candice Blackwell, @Pam Bloom-Pugliese, @Jodi McDowell, @Sarah Butler, @Shawn Clark, @James Cook, @Shashil R Dalvi, @Leonardo De Stefanis, @Michael DiPierro, @Kristen Ditsch, @Troy Drewry, @Andy Eunson, @Annabella Flores, @Maureen Gallagher, @Samantha Garrels, @Robert Gibson, @Noel Gomez, @Agnes Haber, @Carla Huff, @Shelby Isert, @Leslie Jackson, @Kartik Kakria, @Steve Kalnitzky, @Seema Kathuria, @Simran Kohli, @Praveen Koya, @Ayush Kumar, @Benny Kuo, @Will Kuo, @Keren Liran, @Dhanapal Manickam, @Joy McCaffrey, @Alicia McCallen, @Reilly McClure, @Natalya McLane, @Natasha Menon, @Paresh Mistry, @Kelly Monson, @Emma Montgomery, @Emily Nilson, @Amanda Nott, @Matt Ortiz, @Laura Patrick, @Jennifer Pfannstiel, @Jeff Platzer, @Robert Powell, @Steven Price, @Jeffrey Raugh, @Denise Rigoni, @Nancy Rourke, @Chantelle Sampat, @Joerg Schaffer, @Vija Seshadri, @Renu Sharma, @Yusuf Siregar, @Jenny Smith, @Sheridan Snyder, @Dave Stadler, @Tyler Steben, @Vincent Thilly, @Tiff Ting, @Randy Tomes, @C TB, @Cintia Trigonopoulos, @Francis Trudeau, @Daniel Turner, @Laisvune Valackaite, @Brandee Williams, @Alice Yang, @Mohamed Younsi, @Saba Younus, @Linda Zid



    ------------------------------
    Chad Eckes
    CEO & Founder
    C Squared E, LLC (www.csquarede.com)
    Minneapolis MN
    chad.eckes@csquarede.com
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    PAC Masterclass Week Four.pdf   3.74 MB 1 version


  • 2.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-07-2022 09:41 PM
      |   view attached

    Hi all,

    For this week although the assignment called for a recording, so as to not disclose personal information I've decided to use a transcript for an interview I had done with one of the stakeholders at Cali non-profit that I've been using as my example.

    Looking forward to the feedback as always!



    ------------------------------
    Simran Kohli
    Sales Engineer
    Juniper Networks
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    Week 4 - SKohli.pdf   38 KB 1 version


  • 3.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-08-2022 08:13 PM
    Hi, Simran: looks like you got some valuable insights from your interview. I like how you organized your key takeaways in your notes. Your questions were nicely open-ended to get your interviewee to share more depth on her perspective. Great job!

    ------------------------------
    Tiff Ting
    Technical Product Manager
    Iris Healthcare
    San Francisco, CA
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-08-2022 11:00 PM
    Thanks Tiff, appreciate the feedback!

    ------------------------------
    Simran Kohli
    Sales Engineer
    Juniper Networks
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-09-2022 11:20 AM
    I read your interview summary and enjoyed it. It is a very thorough template and interview with very detailed notes of what the interviewee shared and most importantly,  your key takeaways that can inform your research very easily. I will use your approach too when I actually do the interviews with prospective customers. Thanks for the amazing work and helping us all be better.

    ------------------------------
    Seema Kathuria
    Senior Product Marketing Manager
    Cisco Systems, Inc.
    Fremont CA
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-15-2022 02:57 PM
    Appreciate the kind words Seema. This is actually something I'm working on adapting to myself, after I saw a colleague do it and was taken aback by how simple it was to list out the key takeaways to each question and not have to go back and forth over all my notes during review to see if I had missed something important. Glad you see the value in it!

    ------------------------------
    Simran Kohli
    Sales Engineer
    Juniper Networks
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-08-2022 08:09 PM
    Edited by Tiff Ting 05-08-2022 08:10 PM
    Hi, everyone! This homework gave me an excuse to test out Otter.ai, which does a pretty good job of automatically transcribing audio recordings. I used Google Meet for the video call with my colleague and recorded it there to capture her sharing her screen for me to refer to later. I've uploaded the first 9 mins of our call and Otter's generated transcript in case you want to skim over it. I used my interview guide from last week to structure our conversation. The entire interview took under 45 mins, and my interviewee spoke almost 80% of the time. :) Looking forward to hearing your feedback!

    ------------------------------
    Tiff Ting
    Technical Product Manager
    Iris Healthcare
    San Francisco, CA
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    txt
    Edited.txt   6 KB 1 version


  • 8.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-08-2022 11:09 PM

    Hi Tiff,

    I like how you were able to follow along closely with your interview guide but also leave the room to be more flexible and navigate the conversation by asking some ad-hoc questions based on the answers you were getting from your interviewee. Great work!



    ------------------------------
    Simran Kohli
    Sales Engineer
    Juniper Networks
    ------------------------------



  • 9.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-09-2022 11:30 AM
    Hey Tiff! I really enjoyed your starting off on a such a positive note/question: What do you like about working at xyz company? I want to follow that too since it can help the interviewee feel at ease and be starting on a positive note/with positive energy and share some great context with you as the interviewer, going into the interview :) I also thought that was interesting you asked "what do you least enjoy". It is so interesting to hear both sides of the story from the interviewee to get a sense of what the person really "feels" vs. just the "tasks" they do or have to do. 

    Great you listened a lot and put the person at ease throughout the interview. Also you had some good open-ended questions and kept this conversational. Also, I am impressed with Otter.ai and would like to try that when I interview folks in future. Thanks also for sharing that tool and your transcript from it! Nice and makes it so easy to take notes later after the interview by just copying and pasting... 

    "Walk me through your process.." is a great one so you can really get into detail on what the person does and be able to then ask more contextual questions from there onwards. Nice work!


    ------------------------------
    Seema Kathuria
    Senior Product Marketing Manager
    Cisco Systems, Inc.
    Fremont CA
    ------------------------------



  • 10.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-15-2022 04:23 PM
    Hi Tiff,
    Thanks for sharing. In addition to the interview itself, I appreciated learning about the technology you used for the interview. And that's amazing that your interviewee spoke for such a high percentage of the time, makes it easier to come up with helpful insights.
    Great job!
    Linda

    ------------------------------
    Linda Zid
    Senior Product Marketing Manager
    Lytho
    Phoenix AZ
    ------------------------------



  • 11.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-08-2022 10:38 PM
    Here is the "mock" interview of a "mock" Chief Information Security Officer of an IT services company.  I just took 4-5 min of the recording and spliced two of the Q&As together: https://www.veed.io/view/0a0e8650-4162-422c-afdf-ac673704b36d


    I will share I didn't follow my interview guide strictly but I appreciated having it to reference in case I "forgot" anything I wanted to ask in the 40 min.
    I would  love feedback.

    ------------------------------
    Seema Kathuria
    Senior Product Marketing Manager
    Cisco Systems, Inc.
    Fremont CA
    ------------------------------



  • 12.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-09-2022 02:57 PM
    Hi Seema,
    I really liked your interview and found it very interesting (as this is not an area that I am very involved in). If I had to make one comment, it would be to try and shorten your questions or try to ask one at a time instead of asking two or three at once. That way you can be sure you are getting answers to each of you questions.

    I thought you did a great job and look forward to seeing more of your work.

    ------------------------------
    Robert Powell
    Product Manager
    Jenzabar, Inc
    Harrisonburg VA
    ------------------------------



  • 13.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-09-2022 12:11 PM
      |   view attached
    Please find my attached interview for assignment 4. I look forward to your feedback.

    ------------------------------
    Robert Powell
    Product Manager
    Jenzabar, Inc
    Harrisonburg VA
    ------------------------------



  • 14.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-09-2022 02:55 PM
    Hi Robert,

    I like the way you continue the conversation with Professor Dany, getting both quantitative and subjective information to see if there is a fit for your product, do you need ot build new features to address this clients needs etc. Nice work!!


    Vijay

    ------------------------------
    Vijay Seshadri
    ------------------------------



  • 15.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-13-2022 01:55 PM
    Hi Robert,

    I enjoyed your interview. It seemed like your solution is built to save instructors time. It seemed like the person you were interviewing did not have a system in place to help with making things easier. He was doing many things manually and with multiple systems. I like how in your interview you kept referring to "percentage of time" spent on tasks. This tactic would get you the information you need as well as potentially steer him towards your solution. Good work.

    ------------------------------
    Noel Gomez
    Product Marketing Manager
    Instructure
    ------------------------------



  • 16.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-09-2022 02:49 PM
    Edited by Vija Seshadri 05-09-2022 03:03 PM
      |   view attached
    Team - I am able to share "transcript" (but unable to share a recording). Thank you.

    Thank you,
    Vijay

    ------------------------------
    Vijay Seshadri
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    Week 4 - Interviewing.pdf   142 KB 1 version


  • 17.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-09-2022 03:04 PM
    This looks great Vijay, I liked how conversational the interview seemed from your notes.  The only suggestion I would have would be to dig into what they liked about the shipping partners they mentioned so you could gain insight into what they are looking for.

    Great work!

    ------------------------------
    Jodi Bonnett
    Enterprise Portfolio Manager
    Cambridge Investment Research, Inc.
    Nashville TN
    ------------------------------



  • 18.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-09-2022 02:58 PM
      |   view attached
    Hello - I've enclosed my interview with a colleague in regards to a client portal.  By interviewing a colleague instead of a true client I was able to avoid any privacy conflicts.  
    Thank you for the assignment!

    ------------------------------
    Jodi Bonnett
    Enterprise Portfolio Manager
    Cambridge Investment Research, Inc.
    Nashville TN
    ------------------------------



  • 19.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-09-2022 03:08 PM
    Hi Jodi,

    I like the way you lead conversation especially "whenToni mentions as well have to work till 80", you mention " we all do", move on the conversation instead of joking around else many a time valuable time is lost "joking around". Thanks for the reiteration!!

    Good one.

    Vijay

    ------------------------------
    Vijay Seshadri
    ------------------------------



  • 20.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-09-2022 06:07 PM
    Here is my mock interview. I know I am late getting this posted, but would appreciate any feedback anyone has.

    https://instructure.zoom.us/rec/share/JNO4b9hQk1yFGZudu7wQwVzIqtIKrZAgdJuQgfs5iQuztMTLPm1gmTsFncGEsOaI.T-bwZbmnLWRDswU4?startTime=1652132298000
    Passcode: x^VJ&9FT

    ------------------------------
    Noel Gomez
    Product Marketing Manager
    Instructure
    ------------------------------



  • 21.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-11-2022 09:25 AM
    Noel,

    Great job with your interview.  I am assuming you have done these before, you are very comfortable and confident with your topic and your delivery.  Very personal which made the interview more of a conversation than an interview.  I liked the way you rephrased/confirmed his points at times and prompted at times to get the feedback you were seeking.

    Best,

    James

    ------------------------------
    James Cook
    VP Product Management
    Accelitas
    Atlanta, GA
    ------------------------------



  • 22.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-11-2022 09:28 AM
    Hi All,

    My interview attached.  This is with one of our sales reps, so we have a very informal relationship as you can tell from the conversation.  Also, this is not on my original topic, this is another topic (similar but different) that we are trying to get some insights on.  The timing worked well for this assignment.

    Appreciate your thoughts on this.

    James

    ------------------------------
    James Cook
    VP Product Management
    Accelitas
    Atlanta, GA
    ------------------------------



  • 23.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Incognito Member
    Posted 05-11-2022 09:37 AM
    This post was removed


  • 24.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-17-2022 05:26 PM
    James,

    Thanks for submitting your interview recording.  Your professional tone and ability to listen intently were strong, and you didn't interrupt your colleague while she was speaking.  Further, you at times confirmed what you heard from your colleague by "playing back" what she said.  Those are both good habits for interviewing people.

    While your interview was with a known colleague and on a topic you were both familiar with, I'd encourage you even in those situations to try more open-ended questions that start with "Tell me about," "How," "What," etc.  Pretty much all of your questions started with "Did you ..." or "Do you ...," which while effective in this situation with a colleague who knew what you were seeking, may not be as effective with others where your relationship is unestablished.  Further, using open-ended questions with your colleagues may elicit even richer, emotional responses, which can help you understand the person better.

    Overall I sense you're experienced with these kinds of conversations/interviews, and you can pivot during an interview with the types of questions you ask.  Good work and thanks for all of your participation in the Masterclass.

    Best,
    Chad

    ------------------------------
    Chad Eckes
    CEO & Founder
    C Squared E, LLC (www.csquarede.com)
    Minneapolis MN
    chad.eckes@csquarede.com
    ------------------------------



  • 25.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-17-2022 06:29 PM
    Thanks for the feedback Chad, I will utilize your recommendations moving forward!

    The course has been great.

    James


    ------------------------------
    James Cook
    VP Product Management
    Accelitas
    Atlanta, GA
    ------------------------------



  • 26.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-12-2022 08:42 AM

    Hi everyone

    I'm using last week's interview guide for this week's interview in which I interviewed a colleague of mine. I am focusing more on the high-level investing journey of the customer rather than the IPO feature in the app for this specific interview.

    Attached are the links to the interview recording and transcript as well as a brief interview note I made.

    I did the interview on Google Meet with help of tl:dv to record and transcribe it, but it's still on the limited plan so the interview link will only be live for 7 days (apologies if you can't access it after 7 days).

    Thank you and really appreciate the feedback!



    ------------------------------
    Yusuf Siregar
    Product Manager
    Stockbit
    Jakarta, Indonesia
    ------------------------------



  • 27.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-17-2022 05:49 PM
    Yusuf,

    Very nice job on the interview.  I listened to 13 minutes, and noted good these points:

    1.  You started by explaining the purpose of the interview and also reassuring the participant that the information would remain confidential
    2.  You asked open-ended questions
    3.  You often "played back" what the participant told you, confirming you understood the responses
    4.  You established and maintained a conversational tone, keeping your cadence and volume moderate and also asking impromptu questions (e.g., "I'm curious, how do you ..."?)

    My suggestions for the future are that you try to ask your questions in fewer words, without too much rambling.  This can be accomplished by really thinking through the wording of the question in advance, so that the participant will understand it, but it won't take you too long to express.  Also, related to that, when you ask a question, try not to give examples of what the participant's answer might be.  I really liked your question "How do you define success?," but then you provided the participant with some possible examples of what success might be like.  I'd suggest you just ask the question and wait for a response.  If the participant doesn't understand the question or misinterprets it, then rephrase the question, and perhaps provide a few examples of what types of answers might be logical.  

    Does that all make sense?

    Thanks again for your work here and throughout the Masterclass.  I hope it has been helpful

    Best,
    Chad

    ------------------------------
    Chad Eckes
    CEO & Founder
    C Squared E, LLC (www.csquarede.com)
    Minneapolis MN
    chad.eckes@csquarede.com
    ------------------------------



  • 28.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-24-2022 12:22 PM

    Hi Chad

    I appreciate your thorough feedback.

    I agree with your point on my tendency to ramble when asking questions, leading to too many words, which can be difficult for the interviewee to understand. However, I duly noted your suggestion to take a moment and think about the question's wording before asking it to the interviewee.

    Providing sample answers to a question is a bad habit of mine I need to stop doing; Reflecting, deep down, this comes from my anxiety, which thinks the question is too complicated or too vague, making the interviewee confused. So my action plan would be to get rid of my stress and ask the question, even though this means the interviewee would need to pause for a moment or ask clarifying questions.

    Thanks!



    ------------------------------
    Yusuf Siregar
    Product Manager
    Stockbit
    Jakarta, Indonesia
    ------------------------------



  • 29.  RE: Week Four: Conducting an Interview

    Posted 05-19-2022 02:23 PM
      |   view attached
    I was able to conduct my interview yesterday.  I've attached the transcript only as I did not record the actual video chat.  I thought it went very well and I really liked having the interview guide to help me stay on track with the questions.  Thanks for your feedback!

    ------------------------------
    Brandee Williams
    Product Manager
    Nelnet Campus Commerce
    Lincoln Ne
    ------------------------------