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The work of an interviewer requires a wide range of skills and abilities. Some of the
characteristics/qualities FSs tried to identify in potential hires included:
• intelligence;
• dependability;
• sensitivity/objectivity;
• voice quality;
• reading ability;
• listening skills;
• motivation;
• availability; and
• flexibility.
It was essential that staff hired to serve as interviewers understood and were committed to
the standards of confidentiality and excellence required by the NSDUH. To help ensure this, all
individuals hired to serve as FIs were required to read and sign a Data Collection Agreement (see
Exhibit 3.2). Failure to comply with the provisions of this agreement would have resulted in
termination from the NSDUH.
FI candidates were interviewed by the FS using behavior-based questions which required
the candidates to provide examples about how they had handled specific situations in the past.
For example, an FS might say "Tell me about the last time you were in a situation where you had
to approach a stranger to extract some sort of information. How did you do it?" Also during the
interview, the FS fully explained the requirements and responsibilities of the NSDUH
interviewer's job, described the project expectations, and defined the required time commitment.
The FS then probed the candidate's job and interviewing history. At the conclusion of the
interview, if the FS still considered the person a viable FI candidate, the FS conducted reference
checks. If the reference checks were satisfactory, the FS then recommended the candidate for
hire. Criminal background and driving history checks were then completed before the candidate
attended a training session.
FSs attempted to hire bilingual interviewers who spoke Spanish fluently in those sample
areas with large populations of Hispanics. Before an FS hired a bilingual candidate, each
applicant was screened by a bilingual staff member to assess the applicant's Spanish-language
abilities. The assessment involved reading and speaking in Spanish. The bilingual candidate had
to meet these assessment requirements satisfactorily before he/she could be hired and trained as
an RTI-Certified bilingual interviewer.
Another subset of specialized interviewers was the TFIs. Each RD region had access to a
team of TFIs with proven interviewing experience. These TFIs were hired at an out-of-pattern
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