I have 5 kids ages 7-18.  
They’re very social kids.  They have friends at my house every. single. day.

I make a lot of small talk with them.

It’s not super easy to do small talk with 7 year olds…except for one of my 7 yr olds friends.  James.  That kid LOVES to talk. 

What about small talk in interviews?

While I personally do not do live interviews there are plenty of people who do.

If you’re going to do it, here are some suggestions from Jam, an OFS who used to train call center agents.

In the addition to the usual interview questions like:
– what are your plans in 5 years, or
– what are your strengths and weaknesses

Jam recommends that you start and end the interview with a bit of small talk. Ask about the shows they like to watch or what their neighborhood is like.

He writes:
————
Small talk during an interview does the following:
– It puts the person you’re interviewing at ease, inviting candor and encouraging them to give more honest answers
– These are questions they don’t really prepare for. How they talk when answering these questions are closer to what your customers would likely hear when they’re answering calls.
– Even if you have training materials and standard scripts ready, it’s important that your customer service VA would know how to react when things go off script. 
————

I’ve usually found that it wasn’t a “tell me about your skills” type of question that makes the difference when interviewing. 

There’s way more to hiring than skills.

John

PS. My hiring process includes 6 specifics to look for when interviewing OFS: OneVAAway.com
Why would you not use it when it has a 100% money back guarantee?  Find someone great or I give your $49 back.