Today was a first for me…my first face-to-face interview. I interviewed a wonderful doctor and longtime friend from the summer camp I’ve worked at for the last 15 years on his thoughts on diabetes pumps. His insight was just what I needed, and conducting my first f2f (I’ve done phone and email interviews before) with him eliminated a lot of worry on my part. However, I did learn a few lessons:
1) Always call to re-confirm.
I scheduled this interview over a week and a half ago with his secretary and didn’t think about re-confirming between then and today. But when I called to make sure his office was in the building I thought it was in, his secretary informed me that he doesn’t see patients on Thursday. I reminded her that I’m a camp colleague and interviewing for a magazine article. She was OK with that, but when I sat down with him, he mentioned that she’d forgotten to put it on his calendar, and, as a result, he had limited time with which to interview with me. No prob, as the questions were fairly simple, but I wished I’d have called last week to remind them.
2) Don’t always press on your questions (but be sure you get the answers you need)
In the interviews I’ve conducted, I often find that once I start asking questions, my pre-planned questions aren’t half as interesting as some of the stuff my interviewees come up with. I once interviewed an internet marketing guy and had five simple questions to ask. I asked one, and we talked for an hour and a half on some of the most fascinating facts of his work I had no idea existed. I got more than I needed, and even some extra for future fodder. (maybe I should post on that giant corkboard…lol). Plus, it gives a greater connection between the two of you if they can go deeper into their thoughts and responses without you badgering them with another question. I asked the right question from the start, and within that one response, he answered my first five questions. Cool.
3) Scout out your locale prior to the interview.
This is a no-brainer if you’re going somewhere unfamiliar. I wasn’t–listen, I spent six years as an undergrad at Ohio State, so I feel more than qualified to go anywhere on campus with ease…anywhere but the medical campus. Lucky for me, doc’s office was on the corner across from student parking (believe me, they’ll never know…) but the garage parking beside the office was staff and docs only. (I’m not a doctor but I play one on the internet…). Good thing I was on the corner. Further back in the med campus, there’s only (limited) street parking (limited). Did I say limited? Next time, I’ll be sure to make sure of parking in advance.
That’s all for now. Had a grand time with Dr. Sam. Such a fun guy, and I learn something every time we talk. He also made me miss camp even more, if that’s possible. (is it possible to miss something even more than you miss it when you obsess over it?)
Tomorrow I’m meeting with a non-profit client I volunteer for to discuss work on a project I haven’t started. Guess I should get cracking on that…or I might have more lessons to share tomorrow!
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