This game is intended to be a fun way for students to practice interview skills.

Download available here: Extreme interview game

For best result, print two-sided, flipped on long edge. Start with a test print and make minute adjustments as needed, then print in color on card stock and laminate if desired.

Scorecard and instructions download available here: Extreme interview game scorecard and instructions

The Extreme Interview Game

Instructions:

The Extreme Interview Game is intended to help students develop their skills at staying focused and asking follow-up questions even if they encounter difficult situations. Most of the time people are very happy to share their stories and experiences, especially if the interviewer builds trust, shows respect and sincere interest in the person as the expert on their own experiences (these skills should be introduced before playing the game as the game is intended to help them practice those skills). This game tests their skills by putting them up against more challenging interviewees! Students enjoy the game while polishing their interview skills.

Start by having each student develop 3 questions related to their research topic.
Divide the class into groups of 4-6 (even-numbered teams work best).
Each group divides into 2 teams.
The youngest player on Team 1 will start out as the interviewee, the next youngest player will start as the interviewer.
The interviewee will draw an interviewee strip.
The interviewer begins to interview the interviewee using their 3 questions. The interviewee must play the role listed on their card. Continue the interview for 2 minutes no matter what (this teaches the interviewer how to ask follow-up questions and get the participant talking).
After 2 minutes (and only after 2 minutes), the interviewer on Team 1 tries to guess the role of the interviewee. If the interviewer on Team 1 guesses correctly, Team 1 receives 1 point. If not, Team 2 can try to guess for a chance to steal the point!
Next, Team 2 will take a turn. The youngest person on Team 2 will be the interviewee and the next youngest person will be the interviewer.
The interviewer begins to interview the interviewee using their 3 questions. The interviewee must play the role listed on their card. Continue the interview for 2 minutes no matter what (this teaches the interviewer how to ask follow-up questions and get the participant talking). [An alternative is to have the interview use 1 question and ask 3 follow-up questions before they are allowed to be done.]
After 2 minutes (and only after 2 minutes [or 3 follow-up questions]), the interviewer on Team 2 tries to guess the role of the interviewee. If the interviewer on Team 2 guesses correctly, Team 2 receives 1 point and Round 1 is over. If not, Team 1 can try to guess for a chance to steal the point after which Round 1 is over.
Continue rotating back and forth between the two teams while switching who is the interviewer and interviewee on each team for each round.
Keep taking turns in this way until you get through all of the cards.

*After the game: discuss some best practices or ideas to be used by the interviewer if encountering each of these types of interviewees in real life (even if not as extreme).

Some discussion questions that can be used after the game:

If any of the students have experience with interviews, which of these types of interviewees have they seen in real life?
Which type of interviewee was the most challenging in the game (in real life)? Why?
Which interviewee type presented the biggest challenge to specific aspects of effective interviewing: (1) Building trust/breaking the ice. (2) Asking unbiased questions. (3) Making the person feel like the expert. (4) Avoiding unbiased encouragement (“How interesting! Please tell me more!” vs. “That’s right! That happened to me too!”).
Pick one of the types and identify some strategies an interviewer could use to get richer information from the person.
Which type of interviewee do they think is most common in real life? Why?
What is the most important thing they have learned from this game? Perhaps they might identify the skill they think would be the most beneficial in interviewing.

Scorecard:

	Team 1 score	Team 2 score
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
TOTAL

Interviewee roles:

THE CLOSED-OFF interviewee: Your job is to be as closed-off as possible. Shrug your shoulders. Grunt. Say, “I dunno.”, “Yes.”, “No.” Shrug your shoulders some more. Look at the ground. Look off blankly into the distance. Ask: “What?” a lot. You get the idea…

THE OFF-TOPIC interviewee: Your job is to be talkative. VERY talkative. But the catch is that you never stay on topic. If the interviewer asks you about social media, start talking about your Math class. If the interviewer asks about your math class, start talking about your worst-ever gymnastics experience. Consider turning everything back to your favorite sport/movie/song. You know what to do here!

THE “BACK ATCHA” interviewee: Your role is to be as interested in the interviewer as possible. If they ask you what your favorite subject in school is, say. “I don’t know. What’s yours?!” Be sure to be overly enthusiastic and interested in the interviewer’s life. Smile enormously! Be wide-eyed! Lean forward and nod encouragingly as you turn everything back on the interviewer.

THE DOWN-TO-BUSINESS interviewee: Your role is to be totally down-to-business. When the interviewer tries to break the ice/build trust, brush off their chitchat and just say, “Let’s do this. I’m ready to talk about whatever it is. Let’s go”

ROBOT interviewee: Your job is to talk in the most monotone voice possible. Also, use absolutely NO body language. Make them feel like they are interviewing a robot—but not a realistic robot like C3P0—like a really boring robot that doesn’t seem human at all.

UNCOMFORTABLE interviewee: Your job is to be “uncomfortable” with every question the interviewer asks. ONE RULE: You cannot use the word “uncomfortable”. If you do, the interviewer gets the point!

GRUMPY interviewee: Your job is to be grumpy, upset and otherwise intolerable. Complain about the temperature in the room. Ask, “Where did you come up with these questions?!” “Is this study IRB approved?” “I have some complaints about this study. Who can I talk to?”

UNCONFIDENT interviewee: Be unconfident! Doubt everything you say! Ask the interviewer if you are answering the right way. Do it so much that the interviewer can barely concentrate!

SLEEPY interviewee: Try to be polite, but, occasionally be sure to drift off, look down. Rest your head on your hands.

OVERCONFIDENT interviewee: Be that person! Tell the interviewer that you know what this study is about. Give the interviewer advice about how to do the interview better. Occasionally, after your answers, say something like, “Nailed it! BOOM!”

INTELLIGENT interviewee: Pretend you have a Ph.D. in whatever it is the interviewer is asking you about.

SAD interviewee: Get emotional about everything the interviewer asks. Apologize for choking up. Make it subtle but make it persistent.

DRAMATIC interviewee: Say everything with diction, pizazz, flair! Life is your stage!

Note for instructors:

This game is designed to test new interviewers in some of the pitfalls they may encounter: Failing to let the interviewee talk 90% of the time, feeling intimidated, getting the participant to freely share, not knowing what to do if asked whether the interview is IRB approved, not knowing what to do if a question appears to be too sensitive for the participant, etc. Often, this game leads to some very productive discussions about how to overcome these challenges.