• Prepare ahead.
  Review the skills and behaviors required by the position. Create a list of questions that target each important area. Use a consistent set of questions across all interviews for the same position.
  
  
• Ask some rapport building questions.
  While the tone of an interview is always business-like, building some rapport will make an interviewee more comfortable and help the information sharing process.
  
  
• Let the candidate do the talking.
  While you do want to allow time, usually at the close of an interview to answer questions, this is an important opportunity to gather information. The candidate should be doing 80% of the talking.
  
  
• Ask open-ended questions.
  Posing questions that require more than a yes/no response will encourage open conversation. 
  
  
• Take notes.
  Write down thoughts and impressions consistently during the interview so that you can refer back to an accurate account of responses. You also do not want to make the interviewee uncomfortable by making it appear that you're only writing down the "bad stuff."
  
  
• Seek contrary evidence.
  It is important to understand both a person's weaknesses and strengths. If an interviewee's responses are always “perfect,” ask them to share a situation in which things didn't work out quite as well.
  
  
• Avoid leading questions.
  Refrain from wording questions in a way that leads the interviewee into the response you’re looking for. For example, avoid wording such as, “Teamwork is very important in our company. Are you comfortable working in a team environment?”
  
  
• Ask for recounts of past work experiences.
  Focus on questions that require a candidate to explain how they handled a real situation that is relevant to the position. For example, “Can you describe a time when you worked as part of a team to complete a task? What were the greatest challenges? What was the process like?”
  
  
• Probe for specifics.
  Avoid vague, general or hypothetical responses. Specific details about past work scenarios and behaviors are far more valuable. Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.
  
  
• Control the interview.
  Maintaining control during the interview is vital if you are going to stay focused and on track. Don’t be afraid to politely interrupt or change the topic. You might try saying, “I think I have a good sense of your ability in organizing, I’d like to get to a few other questions now.”

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