Interviewing
15
Interviewing
T
his chapter is dedicated to something that will be of great importance throughout your professional life—interviews. An interview is a goal-driven transaction characterized by questions and answers, clear structure, control, and imbalance.
An interview is usually a dyadic transaction, meaning that it takes place between two people. A talk show host asking questions of a celebrity would be one example of a dyadic interview. Sometimes, however, a person may be interviewed by two or more people or in a panel situation. Consider, for instance, when someone testifies before Congress and is asked a series of questions by a panel of senators. We introduce various types of interviews in this chapter, but we primarily focus on employment interviews, since those are the types of interviews the majority of people reading this book are most concerned about at this point in their lives.
Interviews share many characteristics with other types of communication. Certainly, all of the properties of communication discussed throughout the book remain intact.
Communication within an interview is transactional and symbolic (both verbal and nonverbal), requires meaning, is both presentational and representational, and takes much for granted. An interview requires effective listening (engaged, relational, and critical) on the part of everyone involved in order to be successful. Furthermore, identity, relational, and cultural work are all being conducted during an interview. There are certain characteristics, though, that make interviews very unique types of communication, and we will examine those later.
This chapter ultimately focuses on how to conduct and participate in employment interviews. We begin by discussing the preparation for an interview. We then examine what must take place during the beginning of an interview. Next, we explore what happens during the question-and-answer portion of an interview. From an interviewer standpoint, we
Interviewing
T
his chapter is dedicated to something that will be of great importance throughout your professional life—interviews. An interview is a goal-driven transaction characterized by questions and answers, clear structure, control, and imbalance.
An interview is usually a dyadic transaction, meaning that it takes place between two people. A talk show host asking questions of a celebrity would be one example of a dyadic interview. Sometimes, however, a person may be interviewed by two or more people or in a panel situation. Consider, for instance, when someone testifies before Congress and is asked a series of questions by a panel of senators. We introduce various types of interviews in this chapter, but we primarily focus on employment interviews, since those are the types of interviews the majority of people reading this book are most concerned about at this point in their lives.
Interviews share many characteristics with other types of communication. Certainly, all of the properties of communication discussed throughout the book remain intact.
Communication within an interview is transactional and symbolic (both verbal and nonverbal), requires meaning, is both presentational and representational, and takes much for granted. An interview requires effective listening (engaged, relational, and critical) on the part of everyone involved in order to be successful. Furthermore, identity, relational, and cultural work are all being conducted during an interview. There are certain characteristics, though, that make interviews very unique types of communication, and we will examine those later.
This chapter ultimately focuses on how to conduct and participate in employment interviews. We begin by discussing the preparation for an interview. We then examine what must take place during the beginning of an interview. Next, we explore what happens during the question-and-answer portion of an interview. From an interviewer standpoint, we
References: Anderson, R., & Killenberg, G. M. (2009). Einhorn, L. J. (1981). An inner view of the job interview: An investigation of (1994). Mastering communication (2nd ed.) Merton, R. K. (1957). Social theory and social structure Stewart, C. J., & Cash, W. B., Jr. (2000). Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 1139–1146.