3 Common Mistakes When Conducting an Interview : Megan Waldrep

I’ve embarrassed myself enough on interviews to now know not what to do. Here are three top tips so your next interview goes smoothly.

3 Common Mistakes When Conducting an Interview

1. When using the “Voice Memos” app to record the interview, make sure your phone is on airplane mode so calls won’t interrupt your flow. I’ve been 20 minutes deep in an interview and had my phone ring. Not only is it unprofessional, but it also stops the voice recording so you have to go back into the app to start a new recording. Not cool.

2. RESEARCH your subject beforehand. I once found myself backstage after a show at the Santa Barbara Bowl asking a band how they met. Turns out, they are related. Straight up brothers and sisters. So, yeah. That went well.

3. Send your subject questions in advance. I’ve only recently started doing this and I’ve discovered it helps in getting well-thought-out answers instead of short, generic ones. For example, asking someone what they think of fashion may result in, “it’s fun and creative!” If they had more time, they may go into why fashion is important to them. The kind of weighty answers you want to flesh out a story.