Testimonials
Below are some comments and testimonials from our clients.
Comments
Am now aware of the technical terms and am more conscious of what is happening during an interview (i.e. - norming, box and return, theme). Have done these things in the past but now I know what they are and how they work so I expect I will implement them more effectively during my interviews.
"Straight to the point" factual information presented in a clear and concise manner by an SME who is an expert in both the theory and practical sides of the subject.
The course broke down what I thought I already knew into a logical sequence and took a deep dive into areas which hadn't occurred to me.
"... quality training that has practical applications in our work."
Even though it was an intensive three days, I found the course to be of great value in improving my work practices & interpersonal communication skills.
The lecturer was well versed in his subject matter and had valuable experience in relation to the material being presented.
The course was very well presented & kept interesting.
This course has "put into words" and given meaning to many processes in the interview that were previously instinctive & not really thought about in depth. Course would be of great benefit to people not previously involved in interviews.
It has given me new skills that work and that are effective.
This is one of the best courses I have ever been on.
... the course is very relevant to what we do and is a good confidence and communication builder.
... you come away from this course with practical strategies that are beneficial & easy to implement in both professional and personal life.
I think it should be mandatory when working in our roles as we are seeking information from people and you need the appropriate skills to get the most from your interview. You may only have one chance.
Again -basic life skills almost. Awareness of how you behave/react and its effect on the responses which are produced, desired or required. Not just career specific it is life oriented.
Having more confidence and asking the right questions gains me better results. I also love talking to people so I now have more skills to guide me which has made my job more fun. I also go out there and give one thing a go at a time and review how it went.
It gives a good grounding and provides better understanding "why people behave the way they do under the circumstances" make you better prepare to deal with the situation effectively and able to build rapport.
We interview everyday .... now I realise how badly we do it ...even in a non business environment. This training has provided me with a life key not a business tool.
Credible facilitators who have "been there, done that" make it easier to accept the information being delivered
This was a comprehensive course that covered significant information and a wide variety which made it interesting and valuable.
... the information & skills learnt encompass all areas of life not just in my current job.
These skills are transferable and will assist all departmental staff in dealing with clients.
I had a face to face job interview recently and practised many of the skills shown in the course. The training is not just applicable to formal interviews, but interactions in general, giving consideration to your actions and behaviour, developing/improving listening skills, asking appropriate questions, giving feedback.
Testimonial 1
After doing the interview course, I have been busy trying to put it all into practice bit by bit. I wanted to tell you about an interview I did the other week using some of the techniques I have learnt, especially as I am very happy about the outcome, so here goes:
An allegation had been received via our “dob-in line” in relation to a dependent of a visa holder. The informer claimed that the dependent daughter was in fact married with a small child; however she had left them behind in the Philippines. The plan was she would come to Australia claiming to be a dependent of her father’s, study and then obtain enough skills to apply for permanent residency and bring her husband and child over. As a result of this allegation, I contacted the visa holder and his 24 year old daughter and they both agreed to come in for an interview.
Upon arrival I first invited the father (visa holder) into the interview room. I used sentences such as “I am sure together we can sort this matter out” several times and I could actually see him relax his shoulders. I commenced the interview by confirming a number of things so I could observe his body language when telling the truth. I then proceeded to ask him questions in relation to his daughter and noticed that he did this funny double blink every time he lied. By making a note of this I was then able to go back at bit later on in the interview and challenge some of his statements. By doing this several times, the visa holder finally broke down and started to cry whilst admitting he had been lying on the visa application as his daughter was in fact married.
I asked him ‘to tell me all about it’. The visa holder claimed he was in Singapore at the time of his daughter’s marriage (double blink) which was when he filled out the visa application. Only upon arrival back in the Philippines was he told she was now married (double blink). He of course realised that once he found out he should have told Immigration and was very sorry he had not done so. The visa holder also admitted he should have told Immigration about his grandson whose existence he now admitted. The visa holder however insisted he had completed the visa application and not his daughter (double blink).
I then invited the daughter into the interview room (without her father). The daughter was crying from the word go and straight away admitted to be married and having a son. Once she had finished crying, I said that ‘we needed to work together and get all the facts and sort the matter out’. As with her father, I could see the use of the word ‘we’ immediately put her at ease and she started to relax. I then asked her to ‘tell me all about her wedding”, which she happily did. In between her telling me about the wedding, I asked her if her family attended and asked: “and your father gave you away?”, “Oh yes” she happily chatted, her father just managed to get back from Singapore in time to attend the wedding etc….. I then proceeded to compliment her on her level of English and said: ‘I am sure you did not need any help when filling in your visa application?” She was very proud to tell me, she in fact was able to do it all herself. She also admitted that the plan was for her to obtain permanent residency and bring her family over……
So as you can see I was able to confirm the allegation we received in full. I never actually realised how powerful that word ‘we’ can be in an interview situation until doing the interview course. Also it is amazing how people give themselves away when lying by doing little things like double blinking when lying as per above. I do a number of interviews every week and am so aware now of their body language. I am also currently reading Lillian Glass’s book at the moment “I know what you are thinking”, which is basically building on the knowledge I gained from the interview course.
I am lucky in that one of my colleagues who also did your course also really enjoy doing interviews. We are constantly swapping stories and leaning from each other, which also helps.
Thank you
Testimonial 2
Further more I would like to share with you some positive feedback regarding the Behavioural Interviewing Course which I completed in June in Perth.
In early July I was the Case Officer for an Online Child Sex Exploitation referral. As part of that investigation I was required to execute a search warrant at the alleged offender’s premises.
Upon entry, the alleged offender in this matter declined to talk to police and requested a lawyer be present. As it was the early hours of the morning he was unable to contact a lawyer and agreed to continue the conversation with me. During this time I continually spoke with him and built a rapport which proved to be invaluable.
I recommenced the conversation which was a pseudo record of interview and immediately referred to my interview plan. This was meant for later on but I knew that this was going to be a prime opportunity. During the preamble I commenced mirroring techniques and it was about 15 minutes into the interview that this commenced to take effect. During that time the alleged offender was guarded and short in his responses however as he became more pliable his responses became more in-depth which in turn led to the flood gates opening.
During the two hour conversation I continually referred to my interview plan, continued to mirror him, read body language, looked for inconsistency in his phrasing of words, tone of language and used opened ended questions with quite long pauses of silence in which he felt the need to talk to me.
The problem with these investigations is that you have no real evidence until the computer is forensically analysed. However during this conversation I was able to make him draw on specific incidents which we have been able to verify and have him make substantial admissions.
As a police officer for 11 years I have done countless record of interviews and after completing your course look back and wish I could redo some of them knowing what I know now. I believe the Behavioural Interviewing course is a great tool for all police officers as it addresses the art of interviewing and its lost techniques. I will certainly continue to use what I have learnt and I have recommended it to several colleagues with in my office who are keen to attend when it is advertised again.
Kind Regards
