Chapter Fourteen:

The Competent Interviewer:

"...interviewers should have a variety of interests and a wide range of experiences. These interviewers have the capacity to empathize with a greater range of people, because their experience may parallel those of clients. These interviewers also have a broader base for communication" (p. 391).

I would also argue that those individuals with a "wide range of experiences" are more likely to view other people, including clients, with an acceptance and understanding that promotes "genuineness" and "unconditional positive regard" the other two elements along with empathy that are the keys to effective interviewing. How do you obtain this "wide range of experiences" that are so important?

Travel, especially outside of the United States, good novels including those from the literature of other nations, quality movies, especially those depicting the fundamental issues of human nature and including those from other nations, volunteer work as is required by the Social Work Program, observing life and all its visual wonders---the mystery and majesty of nature, architecture, paintings and sculpture, watching the stars on a clear night..........you are constantly surrounded by LIFE and as you immerse yourself in that life, experience it deeply, study and learn from it, you build the foundation of experiences that make you an ever greater interviewer. Although experiences can cost time and money, they can simply be obtained while you walk across campus to class. You have no reason to put off the process of building those life experiences. Remember, it is quality, always quality, not quantity that counts. Pay attention to the details in all that you experience at the same time that you see the themes in all of life---and then do the same when you are interviewing your clients.

As the authors of your text note in the closing paragraph on page 405: "...ultimately interviewing can only be learned experientially."

So go forth and practice your interviewing skills and practice living!

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

Helen Keller

'The Open Door'