Try To Find Out As Much As Possible About Who You Are Meeting

If you are arranging a face to face interview and you have not met the person before, try to find out as much as you can about the person or persons you will be meeting. The information might come from colleagues or from people who have had dealings with them.

Be sure to learn what their position within the agency is. A junior staff member will not have any decision-making power and you might consider insisting on meeting with someone in authority rather than wasting your time talking to a person who is not really all that capable of transmitting your views accurately. Try to ensure that there is more than one person representing the donor agency: the importance with which the meeting is taken can often be measured by whether more than one person from the agency attends.

Even if you are making a written submission, it is best to know the details of the person you are writing to.