While waiting for my interview on CSR in Mauritius (refer to previous post), I have decided to talk about an unexpected event that took place last week. I was interviewed by a journalist about my internship at PILS. I have learnd that the key rule concerning interviews is preparation. Sometimes the preparation needs to be quite intensive when dealing with controversial issues. So, I was a bit hesitant at first, when the journalist showed up and requested to interview me on the spot. But in the end, I decided that it would be a good opportunity to promote the organisation.
So, the interview started and I started talking about me in general. Then he asked me some questions and I noticed that he was “putting words in my mouth”. I have been warned about this habit of journalists, who act like that when they are expecting a specific outcome from the interview. So, to remedy the situation, I was very careful not to simply say yes or no to whatever questions he was asking. Instead, I was giving complete answers in well structured sentences.
I also had to keep in mind that I was representing the organisation and I had to find a way to send a message to the readership of the newspaper which was mainly composed of youngsters. Whenever I was unsure about any information, like the result of a small research we carried out, I was very careful to stick to facts and keep my personal opinion and interpretation private.
Overall, it was a nice experience and it allowed me to be more familiar with some interviewing techniques.
