Success Against All Odds
Pilar

I work for a company that collects data from undocumented immigrants. Because I am bilingual, I am often assigned to interview Spanish-speaking immigrants and was sent to an area where there was a high percentage of refusals for them to talk to our company, so high that my boss believed this segment was lost.

I did what I often do. I offered empathy. I connected with the feelings and needs of the respondents.

I saw them as human beings who see me as a stranger and experience me as an unwanted intrusion in their lives and homes. Often, they feel angry, frustrated, afraid, anxious, and apprehensive.

The first thing I do is acknowledge their feelings. I take my eyes off of my computer screen and look directly into their eyes. I no longer look at the screen and am fully present to them. For the moment, I drop the script and attune to them.

In that moment, they are not the respondent and I am not the interviewer. We are simply two individuals, fully present to each other. In that moment, we are connected. It is in this wordless connection that they begin to relax.

If I sense there is some resistance, then I start guessing their feelings and needs. I guess their feelings and needs because I don’t really know them, so what I will do is ask, “Are you feeling frustrated? Tired? Afraid?”

They may say, “exactly.”

I may also ask, “Do you have a need for safety? For rest? For respect?” (Some are angry that I have shown up without an appointment.)

They may say, “exactly.”

At that point, I hand them a brochure so they can check that I am connected to a legitimate business.

From there, the doors to the magic kingdom open. I have established enough rapport, through empathy, that I am now invited into their homes and the screening process begins.

Last quarter, I was working with one segment of 100% undocumented respondents, and my interview response rate was #2, very close to #1, because I used empathy.

Empathy is a respectful understanding of what others are experiencing. In empathy, I listen to another’s feelings and needs, without judgment. This is why I have such a high interview response rate.

It is the genuine connection that works, and it is this genuine connection that makes my interviewing a joy for me and for them.

Celebrations: