The Value of a Pre Interview Call
Launch library · evergreen read
A short conversation before the recorded interview, covering logistics and expectations rather than substantive questions, does quiet but valuable work. It gives a subject a first impression of the interviewer's manner, and a calmer, more familiar subject on the day tends to answer with less guardedness. A calmer, more familiar subject on the day tends to answer with considerably less initial guardedness.
The pre-interview call is also a chance to clarify practical matters that are awkward to raise mid-sitting: how long the conversation will run, whether any topics are off limits, how the material will eventually be used. Settling these beforehand removes friction that would otherwise surface at an inconvenient moment. Settling these details early removes friction that would otherwise surface awkwardly mid-conversation.
Skipping this step is tempting when time is short, but it often costs more time later, in the form of a subject who spends the first several minutes of the actual interview still working out the basic shape of what is being asked of them. Skipping this step to save time often costs more time later, once the sitting has actually begun.