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By Martin Yate
6. Reflexive Questions
Reflexive questions are great top-closers and conversation forwarders. They help you calmly maintain control of the conversation no matter how loquacious the interviewee. If, for instance, an applicant starts to ramble about various experiences, it is easy to interrupt with a reflexive question that will allow you to proceed with other topics. This is done by adding to the end of a statement phrases like these: don't you? couldn't you? wouldn't you? didn't you? can't you? aren't you? For example: "With time so short, I think it would be valuable to move onto another area, don't you?" The candidate's reflex is to agree, and the conversation moves on.
7. Mirror Statements
This is a subtle form of probing used in conjunction with that most effective tool, silence. The technique is to mirror or paraphrase a key statement and follow it by closing your mouth, nodding, and looking interestedly at the interviewee.
Use mirror statements to capture the essence of a candidate's answer and to get more detail. Repeat the substance of key comments ("So, whenever you are two hours late for work, you take off two hours early to make up for it"), then sit and wait for the interviewee to expand on the mirror statements.
8. Loaded Questions
Loaded questions are much abused because they can allow the interviewer to play power games. The question style requires the interviewee to decide between tough options. For instance: "Which do you think is the lesser evil, embezzlement or forgery?" There is, however, a fine line between absurd loaded questions and carefully balanced judgment-call questions. For most interviewers, the technique is useful to probe the interviewee's decision-making approaches. The
easiest and most effective way to employ it is to recall a real-life situation where two divergent approaches were both carefully considered; then frame the situation as a question, starting with, "I'm curious to know what you would do if..." or, "What would be your approach to a situation where..."
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