Handling your emotions when the questioning gets personal

[Anh map 2,098]

Advice from VJ member zyggy who is a former CBP (Customs and Border Protection) officer regarding the situation where the interview questions get personal.

I thought it was a great piece of advice to help those going through the stress of the interview, AP, and even AOS.

A good way to try to check your emotions is to understand that the nature of personal questions is not a reflection on you, it's a reflection of finding the truth to make an informed decision. They are doing their job which is to determine the eligibility of an individual to receive a benefit.

It's business not personal. That's tough to soak in because getting an immigration visa to be with your family is a very personal issue, but they don't see it that way and neither should you. If you understand their perspective and keep that in mind, you can tailor your responses to meet that perspective. Do that and you're most of the way there.

[BinhJerome 14]

Advice from VJ member zyggy who is a former CBP (Customs and Border Protection) officer regarding the situation where the interview questions get personal.

I thought it was a great piece of advice to help those going through the stress of the interview, AP, and even AOS.

A good way to try to check your emotions is to understand that the nature of personal questions is not a reflection on you, it's a reflection of finding the truth to make an informed decision. They are doing their job which is to determine the eligibility of an individual to receive a benefit.

It's business not personal. That's tough to soak in because getting an immigration visa to be with your family is a very personal issue, but they don't see it that way and neither should you. If you understand their perspective and keep that in mind, you can tailor your responses to meet that perspective. Do that and you're most of the way there.

Good post, when I was preparing with Binh I would throw in personal questions that I thought they would never ask just to see how she would react with a question from out of the blue. I think Binh did quite well, there were a few very personal questions I asked and she gave me answers that were just as funny as the question I asked her. It helped our time making it more fun than actual work, and at the interview they did get very personal with their questions about my son and my ex wife so great post \

Jerome

[thongd4me 69]

Advice from VJ member zyggy who is a former CBP (Customs and Border Protection) officer regarding the situation where the interview questions get personal.

I thought it was a great piece of advice to help those going through the stress of the interview, AP, and even AOS.

A good way to try to check your emotions is to understand that the nature of personal questions is not a reflection on you, it's a reflection of finding the truth to make an informed decision. They are doing their job which is to determine the eligibility of an individual to receive a benefit.

It's business not personal. That's tough to soak in because getting an immigration visa to be with your family is a very personal issue, but they don't see it that way and neither should you. If you understand their perspective and keep that in mind, you can tailor your responses to meet that perspective. Do that and you're most of the way there.

That's tough to soak in because getting an immigration visa to be with your family is a very personal issue,

Good post AM. I might add that in a situation in which the above quote is operative, the person being affected may think that the CBP officer is fishing for a bribe.

That attitude may work at many other borders, but anyone taking it at the US POE won't need to have bought a return ticket to quickly find themselves in their country of origin.

Edited October 1, 2009 by thongd4me

[KnJ 0]

Advice from VJ member zyggy who is a former CBP (Customs and Border Protection) officer regarding the situation where the interview questions get personal.

Yes, Zyggy's advice is excellent, he posted that on a thread I made and it was hard to swallow at first but so fundamentally true.

I like jeromebinh's roleplaying/practice advice. To that end, I would be very interested in what personal questions people *have* been asked, and how they dealt with that, to positive or negative outcome?

Or, jeromebinh, what are you asking Binh?

ETA: also, moderator, this would be an excellent topic to have somewhere in the general forums, it applies to so many of us worldwide

Edited October 8, 2009 by KnJ

[b_weeks 6]

The CO lso has a very short amount of time to try and make an informaed decision based on the evidence, paperwork, and interview. So they're going to have to ask DIRECT questions.