interview protocols - email vs phone

It may be that it's impossible to schedule a time to answer questions by email - it can be pretty time-consuming. If that's the case, well, you've got no choice but to buy some recording equipment and get them to call you in your lunch hour. Forget the nerves, you'll get over them.

"1. nerves." Jog on the spot for 15 minutes beforehand, giving yourself enough time to catch your breath. Long slow breathing (not necessarily deep) will alleviate many nervous symptoms.

"2. i work in office and boss alert etc", (ask your boss straight, man to man, get it out and above board, and go and doi it. Or do it from home.

"3.no releveant toys to record discussion", do what lots of hacks do. after checking with interviewee first, have a normal domestic tape recorder recording the room atmos, with you in it on the phone, and repeat out loud the answers of the interviewee (salient points), and fill in the rest from memory.

I believe that if you've got an integrated phone / recording system (e.g. you're effectively using the ansafone to record a conversation) there is a legal requirement for the m/c to give an audible signal, yes.

If you're connecting a tape recorder to the phone by attaching a mic to the handset 'though.... how would either the phone or the recorder know?!

Re: discussing with your boss - I'd suggest that the wisdom of this depends very much on your position and how you think your boss is likely to respond to the knowledge that you have this external interest and the potential / perceived threat you may eventually want to ditch the day job to pursue this full-time.

If you're the newly-appointed Chief Executive of Marks & Spencer, for example, your boss may feel that your attentions ought possibly to be focused a little more on the job in hand, after you've just accepted that £1.25M golden handshake and everything (you may find you'll need to do quite a few interviews to generate the equivalent of an £850K PA salary + bonuses etc.).

If you're Junior Assistant Table Wiper & Floor Polisher (2nd Class) No. 837 at McDonalds in Kings Cross, he may be slightly less bothered.

I still can't believe I spent my first 3-4 years as a freelancer attempting to type out what the person was saying, as they were speaking. (This worked fine when I was talking to somebody from a stoner metal band, but other times, not well at all.)

1. Phone-to-cassette-recorder equipment is surprisingly inexpensive at Radio Shack, whether you're using a cell phone or a land-line phone.

2. For getting time away from the job to do this, try to sked the phoner for either the very beginning or very end of the day; and then tell the boss you need to come in late / leave early due to cable installation or refrigerator repair or something silly like that. My experience has been that most subjects prefer to do evening interviews anyway.

3. While email interviews are more convenient and efficient, I find that far more interesting information comes out of the phoners: the spontaneity and digressions result in great unexpected material.

4. I get around the nerves thing by talking to subjects the same way I would chat up a stranger at a bar. I conduct conversations rather than interviews.

Hope this is useful.

Christ, if I conducted phone interviews like I was chatting up a stranger at the bar I'd be a bundle of nerves! Try to keep it like a relaxed conversation - albeit, one with a purpose - and you'll be fine.