Epic clarity report writer interview questions

I N T E R V I E W I N G P r i n c i p l e s a n d P r a c t i c e s

F I F T E E N T H E D I T I O N

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I N T E R V I E W I N G P r i n c i p l e s a n d P r a c t i c e s

F I F T E E N T H E D I T I O N

Charles J. Stewart Purdue University

William B. Cash, Jr.

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mheducation.com/highered

INTERVIEWING: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES, FIFTEENTH EDITION

Published by McGraw-Hill Education, 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121. Copyright © 2018 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Previous editions © 2014, 2011, and 2008. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education, including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stewart, Charles J., author. | Cash, William B., author. Interviewing : principles and practices / Charles J. Stewart, Purdue University, William B. Cash, Jr. Fifteenth Edition. | Dubuque : McGraw-Hill Education, [2017] | Revised edition of the authors’ Interviewing, [2014] LCCN 2016042444 | ISBN 9781259870538 (alk. paper) LCSH: Interviewing—Textbooks. | Employment interviewing—Textbooks. | Counseling—Textbooks. LCC BF637.I5 S75 2017 | DDC 158.3/9—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016042444

The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a website does not indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw-Hill Education, and McGraw-Hill Education does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at these sites.

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To the memory of William “Bill” Cash, Jr., student, co-author, and friend

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vii

A B O U T T H E A U T H O R S

Charles J. Stewart Charles J. “Charlie” Stewart is the former Margaret Church Distinguished Professor of Communication at Purdue University where he taught from 1961 to 2009. He taught undergraduate courses in interviewing and persuasion and graduate courses in such areas as persuasion and social protest, apologetic rhetoric, and extremist rhetoric on the Inter- net. He received the Charles B. Murphy Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching from Purdue University and the Donald H. Ecroyd Award for Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education from the National Communication Association. He was a Founding Fellow of the Purdue University Teaching Academy. He has written articles, chapters, and books on interviewing, persuasion, and social movements.

Charlie Stewart has been a consultant with organizations such as the Internal Rev- enue Service, the American Electric Power Company, Libby Foods, the Indiana Univer- sity School of Dentistry, and the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters. He is currently a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children.

William B. Cash, Jr. The late William “Bill” Cash began his work life in his father’s shoe and clothing store in northern Ohio. While still in high school, he began to work in broadcasting and adver- tising, and this led to bachelor’s and master’s degrees in broadcasting and speech com- munication at Kent State University. After completing his academic work at Kent State, he joined the speech communication faculty at Eastern Illinois University and began to consult with dozens of companies such as Blaw-Knox, IBM, and Hewitt Associates. Bill took a leave from Eastern Illinois and pursued a PhD in organizational communication under W. Charles Redding. He returned to the faculty at Eastern Illinois and created and taught a course in interviewing.

Bill Cash left college teaching and held positions with Ralston Purina, Detroit Edison, Baxter, and Curtis Mathis, often at the vice president level. After several years in industry, he returned to teaching and took a faculty position at National-Louis University in Chicago. He became the first chair of the College of Management and Business and developed courses in human resources, management, and marketing.

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ix

B R I E F C O N T E N T S

Preface xvii

1 An Introduction to Interviewing 1

2 An Interpersonal Communication Process 9

3 Questions and Their Uses 33

4 Structuring the Interview 49

5 The Informational Interview 71

6 The Survey Interview 99

7 The Recruiting Interview 129

8 The Employment Interview 155

9 The Performance Interview 193

10 The Persuasive Interview 215

11 The Counseling Interview 253

12 The Health Care Interview 275

Glossary 305

Author Index 319

Subject Index 323

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xi

C O N T E N T S

Preface xvii

1An Introduction to Interviewing 1 The Essential Characteristics of Interviews 1

Two Parties 1 Purpose and Structure 1 Interactional 2 Questions 2 Exercise #1—What Is and Is Not an Interview? 3

Traditional Forms of Interviewing 3 Information-Giving Interviews 3 Information-Gathering Interviews 3 Focus Group Interviews 4 Selection Interviews 4 Performance Review 4 Counseling 4 Persuasion 4 Technology and Interviewing 4 The Telephone Interview 5 Two-Way Video Technology 5 E-Mail 6 Webinars 6

Summary 7 Key TermS and ConCepTS 7 STudenT aCTiviTieS 8 noTeS 8 reSourCeS 8

2An Interpersonal Communication Process 9 Two Parties in the Interview 9

Relational Dimensions 10

Global Relationships 12 Gender in Relationships 12

Interchanging Roles during Interviews 13 Directive Approach 13 Nondirective Approach 14

Perceptions of Interviewer and Interviewee 14 Perceptions of Self 14 Perceptions of the Other Party 16

Communication Interactions 16 Levels of Interactions 17 Self-Disclosure 17 Verbal Interactions 18 Nonverbal Interactions 20 Verbal and Nonverbal Intertwined 20 Gender and Nonverbal Interactions 21 Culture and Nonverbal Interactions 21 Nonverbal Interactions in the Global Village 21

Feedback 22 Listening for Comprehension 23 Listening for Empathy 23 Listening for Evaluation 23 Listening for Resolution 24

The Interview Situation 24 Initiating the Interview 24 Perceptions 24 Timing 25 Location and Setting 26 Territoriality 26 Seating 27

Outside Forces 28

Summary 29

Key TermS and ConCepTS 30

STudenT aCTiviTieS 30

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xii Contents

noTeS 31

reSourCeS 32

3Questions and Their Uses 33 Open and Closed Questions 33

Open Questions 33 Closed Questions 34

Primary and Probing Questions 37 Types of Probing Questions 37 Skillful Interviewing with Probing Questions 40 Exercise #1—Supply the Probing Question 40

Neutral and Leading Questions 41 Exercise #2—Identification of Questions 42

Common Question Pitfalls 43 The Unintentional Bipolar Question 43 The Yes (No) Question 44 The Tell Me Everything Question 44 The Open-to-Closed Question 44 The Double-Barreled Question 44 The Unintentional Leading Question 45 The Guessing Question 45 The Curious Question 45 The Too High or Too Low Question 45 The Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Question 45 Exercise #3—What Are the Pitfalls in These Questions? 46

Summary 47

Key TermS and ConCepTS 47

STudenT aCTiviTieS 47

noTeS 48

reSourCeS 48

4Structuring the Interview 49 The Body of the Interview 49

Interview Guide 49

Interview Schedules 51 Exercise #1—Interview Schedules 52 Question Sequences 53

Opening the Interview 56 The Two-Step Process 57 Nonverbal Communication in Openings 60 Exercise #2—Interview Openings 62

Closing the Interview 63 Guidelines for Closing Interviews 63 Closing Techniques 64 Exercise #3—Interview Closings 66

Summary 68

Key TermS and ConCepTS 68

STudenT aCTiviTieS 69

noTeS 69

reSourCeS 70

5The Informational Interview 71 Planning the Interview 71

Formulate Your Purpose 71 Research the Topic 72 Choose the Interviewee 73 Examine Your Relationship with the Interviewee 74 Study the Situation and Location 75 Structure Your Interview 76 The Interview Opening 77

Conducting the Interview 77 Motivating Interviewees 77 Asking Questions 78 Note Taking and Recording 80 Managing Unique Situations 82 Managing Difficult Interviewees 85

Closing the Interview 89

Preparing the Report or Story 89

The Interviewee in the Interview 90

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Do Your Homework 90 Understand the Relationship 90 Know the Situation 91 Anticipate Questions 91 Listen to Questions 91 Answer Strategically 92

Summary 93

Key TermS and ConCepTS 94

probing role-playing CaSeS 94

STudenT aCTiviTieS 95

noTeS 96

reSourCeS 97

6The Survey Interview 99 Purpose and Research 99

Structuring the Interview 100 Interview Guide and Schedule 100 The Opening 100 The Closing 102

Survey Questions 102 Phrasing Questions 103 Sample Question Development 104 Probing Questions 105 Question Strategies 105 Question Scales 108 Question Sequences 112

Selecting Interviewees 112 Defining the Population 112 Sampling Principles 112 Sampling Techniques 113

Selecting and Training Interviewers 115 Number Needed 115 Qualifications 115 Personal Characteristics 116 Training Interviewers 116

Conducting Survey Interviews 117

Pretesting the Interview 117 Interviewing Face-to-Face 118 Interviewing by Telephone 118 Interviewing through the Internet 120

Coding, Tabulation, and Analysis 121 Coding and Tabulation 121 Analysis 121

The Respondent in Survey Interviews 122 The Opening 122 The Question Phase 123

Summary 123

Key TermS and ConCepTS 124

Survey role-playing CaSeS 124

STudenT aCTiviTieS 125

noTeS 126

reSourCeS 127

7The Recruiting Interview 129 Where to Find Talented Applicants 129

Preparing the Recruiting Effort 131 Reviewing EEO Laws 131 Exercise #1—Testing Your Knowledge of EEO Laws 133 Developing an Applicant Profile 134 Assessing Today’s Applicants 135

Obtaining and Reviewing Information on Applicants 136

Application Forms 136 Cover Letters 136 Resumes 136 Letters of Recommendation and References 137 Standardized Tests 138 Social Media 139

Conducting the Interview 140 The Atmosphere and Setting 140 The Interview Parties 140

Contents xiii

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Opening the Interview 141 The Body of the Interview 142 Asking Questions 143 Giving Information 146 Closing the Interview 147

Evaluating the Interview 147 Summary 149 Key TermS and ConCepTS 149 reCruiTing role-playing CaSeS 149 STudenT aCTiviTieS 150 noTeS 151 reSourCeS 153

8The Employment Interview 155 Analyzing Yourself 155

Questions to Guide Your Self-Analysis 155

Doing Research 157 Research Your Field 157 Research the Position 158 Research the Organization 158 Research the Recruiter 159 Research Current Events 159 Research the Interview Process 159

Conducting the Search 160 Networking 160 Web Sites, Classified Ads, and Newsletters 161 Career Centers and Employment Agencies 162 The Career/Job Fair 162 Knocking on Doors 163

Presenting Yourself to the Employer 163 Branding 164 Résumés 164 The Portfolio 173 The Cover Letter 173

Creating a Favorable First Impression 175 Attitudes 175 Dress and Appearance 175

Nonverbal Communication 177 Interview Etiquette 178

Answering Questions 179 Preparing to Respond 179 Structuring Answers 180 Responding Successfully 180 Responding to Unlawful Questions 181 Exercise #1—Which Questions Are Unlawful and Why? 182

Asking Questions 184 Guidelines for Asking Questions 185 Question Pitfalls 185 Exercise #2—Applicant Pitfalls 185 Sample Applicant Questions 186

The Closing 187

Evaluation and Follow-Up 187

Handling Rejection 188

Summary 188

Key TermS and ConCepTS 189

employmenT role-playing CaSeS 189

STudenT aCTiviTieS 190

noTeS 191

reSourCeS 192

9The Performance Interview 193 Approaching the Interview as a Coaching Opportunity 194

Preparing for the Performance Interview 195 Reviewing Rules, Laws, and Regulations 195

Selecting Review Model 196 Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) Model 196 Management by Objectives (MBO) Model 197 Universal Performance Interviewing (UPI) Model 197 The 360-Degree Approach 200

The Performance Interview 202

xiv Contents

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Planning the Interview 202 Opening the Interview 202 Discussing Performance 203 Setting New Goals and a Plan of Action 204 Closing the Interview 204

The Employee in the Performance Review 204

The Performance Problem Interview 205 Determine Just Cause 206 Prepare for the Interview 206 Keep Self and the Situation under Control 208 Focus on the Problem 208 Avoid Conclusions during the Interview 209 Closing the Interview 209

Summary 209

Key TermS and ConCepTS 210

performanCe review role-playing CaSeS 210

STudenT aCTiviTieS 211

noTeS 212

reSourCeS 213

10The Persuasive Interview 215 The Ethics of Persuasion 215

What Is Ethical? 215 Fundamental Ethical Guidelines 216

Part 1: The Interviewer in the Persuasive Interview 217

Analyzing the Interviewee 218 Personal Characteristics 218 Educational, Social, and Economic Backgrounds 218 Culture 218 Values/Beliefs/Attitudes 219 Emotions 221

Analyzing the Situation 221 Atmosphere 221

Timing 222 Physical Setting 222 Outside Forces 222

Researching the Issue 223 Sources 223 Types of Evidence 223

Planning the Interview 223 Determine Your Purpose 223 Select Main Points 224 Develop Main Points 224 Select Strategies 226

Conducting the Interview 228 Opening 228 Need or Desire 229 Questions 230 Adapting to the Interviewee 231 The Solution 233 Considering the Solution 234 Handling Objections 234 Closing 236 Summary Outline 238

Part 2: The Interviewee in the Persuasive Interview 239

Be an Informed Participant 239 Psychological Strategies 239

Be a Critical Participant 240 Language Strategies 240 Logical Strategies 243 Evidence 245 The Opening 245 Need or Desire 246 Criteria 246 Solution 246 The Closing 247

Summary 247

Key TermS and ConCepTS 248

perSuaSion role-playing CaSeS 249

STudenT aCTiviTieS 250

Contents xv

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noTeS 251

reSourCeS 252

11The Counseling Interview 253 Ethics and the Counseling Interview 253

Establish and Maintain Trust 254 Act in the Interviewee’s Best Interests 254 Understand Your Limitations 254 Do Not Impose Your Values, Beliefs, and Attitudes 255 Respect Diversity 255 Maintain Relational Boundaries 256 Do No Harm 256

Prepare Thoroughly for the Counseling Interview 256

Select an Interviewing Approach 257 Select a Structure 258 Select the Setting 259

Conducting the Interview 260 The Opening 260 Encourage Self-Disclosure 261 Listen 262 Observe 262 Question 263 Respond 264 The Closing 268 Evaluate the Interview 268 The Telephone Interview 268

Summary 269

Key TermS and ConCepTS 269

CounSeling role-playing CaSeS 269

STudenT aCTiviTieS 271

noTeS 272

reSourCeS 273

12The Health Care Interview 275 Ethics and the Health Care Interview 275

Patient-Centered Care (PCC) 276 Sharing Control 278 Appreciating Diversity 278 Creating and Maintaining Trust 280

Opening the Interview 281 Enhancing the Climate 281 Establishing Rapport 282 Opening Questions 283

Getting Information 283 Barriers to Getting Information 284 Improving Information Getting 285 Addressing the Language Barrier 288

Giving Information 289 Causes for Loss and Distortion of Information 289 Giving Information More Effectively 291

Counseling and Persuading 292 Barriers to Effective Counseling and Persuading 293 Effective Counseling and Persuading 293

Closing the Interview 296

Summary 296

Key TermS and ConCepTS 297

HealTH Care role-playing CaSeS 297

STudenT aCTiviTieS 298

noTeS 298

reSourCeS 304

Glossary 305

Author Index 319

Subject Index 323

xvi Contents

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xvii

P R E F A C E

This fifteenth edition of Interviewing: Principles and Practices continues to focus on the fundamental principles applicable to all forms of interviewing and to seven specific types of interviewing while incorporating the latest in research, interpersonal communication theory, the uses of technology and social media, the role of ethics in interviewing, and EEO laws that affect employment and performance interviews. While we have included recent research findings and developments, the emphasis remains on building the interviewing skills of both interviewers and interviewees. Several chapters address the increasing diversity in the United States and our involvement in the global village as they impact the interviews in which we take part.

A major goal of this edition was to make it more user-friendly by sharpening the writing style, eliminating unnecessary materials and redundancies, making definitions and explanations more precise, and employing different print types to emphasize critical words, terms, concepts, and principles. We have restructured several chapters to provide clarity and logical progressions from point to point.

Changes in the Fifteenth Edition

• Chapter 1 includes a more focused development of the definition of interviewing to enable students to see the similarities and differences of interviewing from other types of interpersonal communication with an emphasis on collaboration between parties. There is a detailed discussion of how technology, beginning with the telephone, has impacted the nature of interviews, the growing use of two-way video technology to conduct interviews, and the serious implications this has for how we communicate interpersonally.

• Chapter 2 includes an expanded treatment of the nature and types of relation- ships in interviews and how these affect the essential collaborative process that ensues; the importance of trust, self-esteem, and self-worth in what parties are willing to disclose during interviews; the dangers of assuming that communica- tion is taking place; and how gender and cultural differences affect our use and interpretation of language.

• Chapter 3 includes sharper and clearer explanations and illustrations of question types, the uses of questions as the tools of the trade, and a refined treatment of common question pitfalls that make it more difficult to perform interview tasks efficiently and effectively.

• Chapter 4 includes clearer and expanded explanations of interview guides and schedules, question sequences, rapport and orientation in openings, types of openings and closings, and the importance of making openings and closings dia- logues rather than monologues.

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xviii Preface

• Chapter 5 includes expanded discussions of planning for and structuring infor- mational interviews, using criteria for selecting interviewees, conducting and taking part in videoconference interviews, and managing difficult interviewees.

• Chapter 6 includes refined discussions of qualitative and quantitative surveys, sampling techniques, incentives designed to increase participation, advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face interviews, and the telephone survey.

• Chapter 7 includes revised and expanded discussions of searching for new talent (internships, career and job fairs, kiosks, and Web sites), reviewing EEO laws, understanding and adapting to the unique characteristics of the millennial gen- eration, reviewing applicant materials prior to the interview, structuring inter- views, asking on-the-job questions, and closing the interview effectively.

• Chapter 9 includes emphases on conducting the performance review interview as a coaching opportunity, selecting an appropriate review model, employing a 360-degree approach, establishing a relaxed and supportive climate, orient- ing the employee, and avoiding a “gunnysacking” approach in the performance problem interview in which the interviewer stores up grievances and then dumps them on an employee all at once.

• Chapter 10 includes new and revised materials on ethics and persuasion, the cri- teria essential for successful persuasive interviews, how to establish substantial similarity with the interviewee, the use of questions in persuasive interviews, how to anticipate and respond to objections, and how to be an active and critical interviewee.

• Chapter 11 includes revised treatments of the nature of the counseling interview; the role of lay counselors who are similar to counselees and open, caring, and good listeners; a code of ethics for the counseling interview; trust as the corner- stone of the counseling relationship; respect for and understanding of the inter- viewee’s capabilities of making sound choices and decisions; the necessity to be culturally aware in today’s global village; and maintaining relational boundaries.

• Chapter 12 includes emphasis on the roles we all play in health care interviews, the critical importance of relationship between health care provider and patient, the sharing control during the interview, the influences of culture and gender in health care interactions, ways to lessen the negative impact of long waiting peri- ods, opening questions, reasons for patient resistance to disclosure during inter- views, ways to lessen the loss of information during and after interviews, how collaboration can promote self-persuasion, compliance with recommendations, and closing interviews.

Chapter Pedagogy

The role-playing cases at the ends of Chapters 5 through 12 provide students with opportunities to design and conduct practice interviews and to observe others’ efforts to employ the principles discussed. Student activities at the end of each chapter provide ideas for in- and out-of-class exercises, experiences, and information gathering. We have made many of these less complex and time-consuming. The up-to-date readings at the

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Preface xix

end of each chapter will help students and instructors who are interested in delving more deeply into specific topics, theories, and types of interviews. The glossary provides stu- dents with definitions of key words and concepts introduced throughout the text.

Intended Courses

This book is designed for courses in speech, communication, journalism, business, supervision, education, political science, nursing, criminology, and social work. It is also useful in workshops in various fields. We believe this book is of value to beginning students as well as to seasoned veterans because the principles, research, and techniques are changing rapidly in many fields. We have addressed theory and research findings where applicable, but our primary concern is with principles and techniques that can be translated into immediate practice in and out of the classroom.

Ancillary Materials

The 15th edition of Interviewing: Principles and Practices, is now available online with Connect, McGraw-Hill Education’s integrated assignment and assessment platform. Connect also offers SmartBook for the new edition, which is the first adaptive reading experience proven to improve grades and help students study more effectively. All of the title’s website and ancillary content is also available through Connect, including:

• A sample interview that illustrates the type of interview, situation, principles, practices, and mistakes parties make to challenge students to distinguish between effective and ineffective techniques, questions, and responses and know how to remedy them.

• An Instructor’s Manual, written by Charles Stewart, for each chapter. • A full Test Bank of multiple choice questions that test students on central con-

cepts and ideas in each chapter. • Lecture Slides for instructor use in class.

Acknowledgments

We wish to express our gratitude to students at Purdue University and National-Louis University College of Management, and to past and present colleagues and clients for their inspiration, suggestions, exercises, theories, criticism, and encouragement. We thank Suzanne Collins, Mary Alice Baker, Vernon Miller, Kathleen Powell, Garold Markle, and Patrice Buzzanell for their resources, interest, and suggestions.

We are very grateful to the following reviewers for the many helpful comments and suggestions they provided us:

Merry Buchanan, University of Central Oklahoma Rebecca Carlton, IU Southeast

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xx Preface

Valerie B. Coles, University of Georgia Stephanie Coopman, San Jose State University Erin F. Doss, Indiana University Kokomo Cheri Hampton-Farmer, The University of Findlay Delia O’Steen, Texas Tech University Christopher S. Perrello, Syracuse University Cynthia A. Ridle, Western Illinois University Sue Stewart, Texas State University

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1

An Introduction to Interviewing1C H A P T E R

A few years ago one of the authors was talking to a hospital administrator at a fund-raising event, and the administrator asked what classes he was teaching. When the author mentioned a class in interviewing that included several nursing stu- dents, the administrator replied that nursing students didn’t need an interviewing course because jobs in nursing were plentiful. This administrator was exhibiting a common misconception about interviewing, that it is merely a job-seeking activity. In fact, inter- viewing is the most common form of purposeful, planned, and serious communication. An interview may be formal or informal, minimally or highly structured, simplistic or sophisticated, supportive or threatening, and momentary or lengthy. It may share char- acteristics with brief interactions, social conversations, small groups, and presentations, but it differs significantly from each.

The objectives of this chapter are to identify the essential characteristics of inter- views, distinguish interviews from other forms of communication, identify and discuss traditional types of interviews, and examine the growing roles of technology in con- ducting and participating in interviews.

The Essential Characteristics of Interviews

Two Parties Each interview is a dyadic—two party—process that typically involves two people such as a physician and a patient, an applicant and a recruiter, a police officer and an eyewitness, and political candidate and a donor. Some interviews involve more than two people but never more than two parties. For instance, four reporters may be inter- viewing a college golf coach, a travel director may be interviewing a husband and wife, or a surgical team may be interviewing the guardians of an elderly relative. In each case, there are two distinct parties—an interviewer party and an interviewee party. If a single party is involved (three students reviewing for a political science exam) or more than two parties are involved (four construction management firms bidding for a construction project), the interaction is not an interview.

Purpose and Structure One or both parties must arrive at an interview with a predetermined and serious purpose, a component that distinguishes the interview from social and unplanned conversations. Conversations and momentary meetings are rarely organized or

Interviews are daily occurrences.

Dyadic means two parties.

Interviews are structured.

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2 Chapter 1

planned in advance, but interviews always have a degree of planning and structure that may include an opening, selection of topics, pre- pared questions, and background information. The predetermined purpose—to get or give informa- tion, to seek employment or recruit an employee, to counsel or be counseled, to persuade or be per- suaded—will determine the nature of the planning and structure of the interview.

Interactional Interviews are interactional because both parties share and exchange roles, responsibilities, feelings,

beliefs, motives, and information. When one party does all of the talking and the other all of the listening, a speech—not an interview—is taking place with an audience of one or two. John Stewart writes that communication is a “continuous, complex, collab- orative process of verbal and nonverbal meaning making.”1 This collaborative “meaning making” entails a mutual creation and sharing of messages that come from words and nonverbal signs (lowered voice, wink, a frown) that may express interest, compassion, understanding, belief, or disagreement during an interview. As communication pro- cesses, interviews are dynamic, ongoing, ever-changing interactions of message sending and receiving with a degree of system and structure. Once an interview commences, the parties cannot not communicate.2 Even when they communicate poorly, they com- municate something.

Questions Asking and answering questions play critical roles in all interviews. They are the dom- inant feature in market surveys and journalistic interviews. In others such as recruit- ing, counseling, and health care, questions share time with information sharing. And in others such as sales, training, and performance review, questions play strategic roles in obtaining or clarifying information and in altering a party’s ways of thinking, feel- ing, or acting. They are literally the tools of the trade interview parties use to check the accuracy of messages sent and received, verify impressions and assumptions, and provoke feelings and thoughts. Chapter 3 will introduce you to the types and uses of questions.

An interview, then, is an interactional communication process between two parties, at least one of whom has a predetermined and serious purpose, that involves the asking and answering of questions.

With this definition as a guide, determine which of the following interactions con- stitutes an interview and which does not.

Parties exchange and share.

Questions play multiple roles in interviews.

■ More than two people may be involved in an interview, but never more than two parties—an interviewer party and an interviewee party.

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An Introduction to Interviewing 3

Exercise #1—What Is and Is Not an Interview?

1. Three teachers are reviewing the School Board’s proposal for hiring a new Vice Principal.

2. A college recruiter for the women’s basketball team is meeting with a family about a full-ride scholarship for April.

3. A police officer is speaking with an eyewitness to the crash of a school bus. 4. A student is talking to his professor about a field project assignment. 5. A member of a survey research team is talking to a stock broker about the effects

of low oil prices on energy stocks. 6. A professor is asking questions during her history class about a reading on the

cold war. 7. An employee runs into his supervisor at a grocery store and remembers to ask

about taking a personal leave day to attend The Final Four. 8. An auto sales associate is discussing a new Chevrolet model with a husband

and wife. 9. A tennis player is talking to two surgeons about surgery on her elbow.

10. Two members of a law firm are discussing the ramifications of an intellectual properties case.

Traditional Forms of Interviewing There are many traditional forms of interviewing, and these are usually identified according to situation and function. As you read this book, you will discover that many require one or both parties to have specialized training, specific abilities, and the willingness to share beliefs, attitudes, and feelings with others. Let us look at seven of these traditional forms.

Information-Giving Interviews When two parties take part in orienting, training, coaching, instructing, and briefing sessions, they are involved in information-giving interviews, the purpose of which is to exchange information as accurately, effectively, and efficiently as possible. Information-giving interviews seem simple when compared to others—merely relating facts, data, reports, and opinions from one party to another, but they are deceptively difficult. Because this type is so common and critical in health care interviews, Chapter 12 discusses the principles, problems, and techniques of information giving.

Information-Gathering Interviews When two parties take part in surveys, exit interviews, research sessions, investigations, diag- nostic sessions, journalistic interviews, and brief requests for information, the interviewer’s purpose is to gather accurate, insightful, and useful information through the skillful use of questions, many created and phrased prior to the interview and others created on the spot to probe into interviewee responses, attitudes, and feelings. Chapter 5 discusses the principles and practices of moderately structured informational interviews such as journalistic interviews

Information giving is common but difficult.

Information gathering is pervasive in our world.

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4 Chapter 1

and investigations. Chapter 6 discusses the principles and practices of highly structured sur- veys and polls. And Chapter 12 discusses information gathering in the health care setting.

Focus Group Interviews The focus group interview usually consists of six to ten similar but unrelated interviewees with a single interviewer and concentrates on a specific issue or concern such as cus- tomer or client perspectives about a new or developing idea, product, or service. The interviewer guides the interview with a carefully crafted set of questions designed to generate interactions among the interviewees that produce a wide range of information, experiences, opinions, beliefs, attitudes, and understandings. Advocates of focus group interviews claim these interactions produce higher quality information and feedback.

Selection Interviews The most common selection interview occurs between a recruiter attempting to select the best qualified applicant for a position in an organization and an applicant attempting to attain this position. The placement interview occurs when a supervisor is trying to determine the ideal placement of a staff member already in the organization. This interview may involve a promotion, a restructuring of an organization, or a reassignment. Because the selection or employment interview plays such a major role in all of our personal and professional lives, we will focus in detail on the recruiter in Chapter 7 and the applicant in Chapter 8.

Performance Review When two parties focus on the interviewee’s skills, performance, abilities, or behavior, it is a performance review (what once was called an appraisal interview). The purpose is to coach a student, employee, or team member to continue that which is good and to set goals for future performance. Chapter 9 focuses on models for conducting perfor- mance reviews and the principles essential for the performance problem interview.

Counseling When an interviewee has a personal or professional problem, the parties take part in a coun- seling interview in which the interviewer strives to help the interviewee attain insights into a problem and possible ways of dealing with this problem. Chapter 11 addresses the prin- ciples and practices of conducting and taking part in counseling interviews.

Persuasion In a persuasive interview, one party attempts to alter or reinforce the thinking, feeling, or acting of another party. The sales interview comes immediately to mind, but we are involved in persuasive interviews on a daily basis. They range from informal interactions such as one friend attempting to persuade another to go on a Caribbean cruise to a team from a construction management firm trying to persuade a university board of trustees to select its firm to manage the construction of a multimillion-dollar classroom and office complex. Chapter 10 focuses on the often complex interactions in persuasive interviews.

Technology and Interviewing Beginning with the invention of the telephone, technology has had an ever-increasing influence on how we conduct and take part in interviews. Most importantly, interview

Selection is critical in the lives of people and organizations.

Performance review is essential to employee and employer.

Persuasion is more than selling a product or service.

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An Introduction to Interviewing 5

parties no longer need to be face-to-face with one another but may be ear-to-ear, keyboard-to-keyboard, or screen to screen.

The Telephone Interview Telephone interviews have become so commonplace that states and the federal govern- ment have passed “Don’t Call” legislation to protect our privacy and sanity, particularly at dinner time. The popularity of telephone interviews is easy to understand. They save time, reduce monetary expenses, and eliminate the necessity of sending one or more interviewers to widespread geographical locations. The telephone is most effective in interviews in which you want to ask brief and simple questions in a short time ranging from 10 to 15 minutes.

A major drawback of the telephone interview is the lack of physical presence of the parties. Hearing a voice is not the same as observing another’s appearance, dress, manner, eye contact, face, gestures, and posture. Missing from telephone interviews are the subtle cues interviewers use to indicate that it’s time to switch roles, to con- tinue or end an answer, or that the interview is nearing the closing. While some inter- viewees prefer the anonymity and relative safety of the interview, others (particularly older ones) prefer face-to-face contacts and fear the growing frauds perpetrated over the telephone. One study found that interviewers prefer face-to-face interviews to the telephone, particularly if it is lengthy, and this negative attitude may affect how inter- viewees reply.

Two-Way Video Technology The growing sophistication of video technology such as Skype has reduced some of the problems associated with the telephone interview and enables parties to observe and hear one another in real time. These technologies enable interview parties in traditional interviews such as journalistic, employment, and medical and nontra- ditional interviews such as the videoconference to interact visually over long dis- tance, faster, and with less expense. Advocates claim that two-way video interaction is a “virtual interview” because it is almost “like being there in person.” In the “vir- tual interview,” video production techniques are essential to “send the right vibe.” These include selecting quality microphones and video technology, checking light- ing and sound, manipulating the background or set with mood lighting and colors, selecting appropriate furniture, controlling distractions such as pets and family members, and maintaining the “illusion of eye contact.” Unfortunately, even the best technology and manipulation of the scene enable the parties to see only head or upper body shots that are not the same as the total presence of face-to-face inter- views. Some people find it difficult to interact freely and effectively with people on screens. With fewer interruptions and the absence of traditional cues that signal when a question has been answered or a point made, turns between parties tend to be longer and fewer in video interviews. This problem is enhanced in the videocon- ference in which each party may consist of two or more people. Reasons for liking videoconferences and Skype have serious implications for the communication that takes place. These perceived pluses include taking more notes, referring to notes, checking watches, and reading text messages. Both parties must be aware of the

The telephone interview is convenient and inexpensive.

Both parties must focus attention on the interaction.

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6 Chapter 1

importance of upper-body move- ment, gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions that are magni- fied on the screen when little else is visible to the other party. This may be why a high percentage of suggestions for being effective in “virtual interviews” pertain to video production concer ns and techniques.

E-Mail The advent of e-mail enabled us to communicate almost instantly with others around the world at any time of day or night. It is a convenient and inexpensive means of sending and receiving mes-

sages. The question persists as to when sending and receiving “electronic mail” becomes an interview and not what its name clearly implies, mail. An interview is interactive in real time. If two parties are sitting at their keyboards at the same time and asking and answering questions without breaks in the interaction, includ- ing probing immediately into answers or altering questions to make them clearer or more effective, an interview is taking place. Otherwise, it is merely an electronic questionnaire. It is wise to make the e-mail interview your last choice such as when time, financial constraints, geographical distances, and unavailability of video tech- nology make a face-to-face interview impossible. In the e-mail interview, there is no opportunity for the parties to see or hear one another, so all nonverbal elements critical to the interpersonal communication process are nonexistent. Some would argue that the e-mail interview is fairer for the person who is orally challenged, but the same argument applies for the person who is verbally challenged. Studies of e-mail interviews identify other disadvantages such as difficulty in opening inter- views, establishing rapport, determining emotional reactions, and translating verbal symbols and acronyms.

Webinars Webinars in which a presenter lectures or speaks to an audience on the Web are becoming popular for conferences, training sessions, seminars, and workshops. They are typically not interviews but electronic presentations. If a webinar is more collaborative and interactive between two parties with questions and answers in real time and perhaps over a telephone line or voice over technology, it may be an inter- view and more spontaneous and interpersonal than an e-mail interview. It is wise, however, to use a webinar for its primary purposes—training and teaching—rather than interviewing.

The Internet lacks the nonverbal cues critical in interviews.

Webinars are rarely interviews.

■ The Internet can provide important information on positions and organizations and background on interviewers and interviewees.

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An Introduction to Interviewing 7

Summary

Interviewing is an interactional communication process between two parties, at least one of whom has a predetermined and serious purpose, that involves the asking and answer- ing of questions. This definition encompasses a wide variety of interview settings that require training, preparation, interpersonal skills, flexibility, and a willingness to face risks involved in intimate, person-to-person interactions. The increasing flexibility of technology is resulting in significant numbers of interviews no longer occurring face-to-face, and this is posing new challenges and concerns.

Interviewing is a learned skill, and your first hurdle into becoming a more skilled inter- viewer or interviewee is to overcome the assumption that what you do often you do well. Ten years of interviewing experience may mean that you have repeated the same mis- takes over and over, year after year. Skilled interview participants are aware that practice makes perfect only if you know what you are practicing.

The first step in developing and improving interviewing skills is to understand the deceptively complex interviewing process and its many interacting variables. Chapter 2 explains and illustrates the interviewing process by developing step-by-step a model that contains all of the fundamental elements that interact in each interview.

Key Terms and Concepts

Learn more about the growing uses of electronic interviews in a variety of settings. Search at least two databases under headings such as telephone inter- views, conference calls, and video talk-back. Try search engines such as ComAbstracts (http://www .cios.org), Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com), Infoseek (http://www.infoseek.com), and ERIC (http://www

.indiana.edu/~eric_rec). In which interview settings are electronic interviews most common? What are the advantages and disadvantages of electronic inter- views? How will new developments affect electronic interviews in the future? How will the growing use of electronic interviews affect the ways we conduct traditional face-to-face interviews?

O N T H E W E B

Beliefs Collaborative Conversation Counseling Dyadic Electronic interviews E-mail interviews Exchanging Feelings Focus group interviews Information-gathering interviews

Information-giving interviews Interactional Internet Interpersonal Meaning making Motives Parties Performance review Persuasion Predetermined purpose Process

Questions Selection interview Serious purpose Skype Structure System Technology Telephone interview Two-party process Videoconference interview Virtual interview Webinar

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8 Chapter 1

Student Activities

1. Keep a journal of interviews in which you take part during a week. How many were traditional, face-to-face interviews and how many were electronic? Which types tended to be traditional and which electronic? How were they similar and different? How did interactions vary? How did lack of presence, eye contact, appearance, facial expressions, and gestures appear to influence electronic interviews? How did you and the other parties try to compensate for this?

2. Make a list of what you consider to be essential characteristics of good interviews and then observe two interviews on television. How well did the interviewers and interviewees meet your criteria? What did they do best? What did they do poorly? How did the settings and situations seem to affect the interactions? If one or both parties were “celebrities,” how did this seem to affect interactions, roles played, amount of time each asked and answered questions, and content of responses?

3. Select a person you know superficially (classmate, co-worker, member of a fitness club) who is willing to be interviewed. Take part in a 10-minute interview and try to discover everything you can about this person. Which topics were covered and which avoided? How did the phrasing of questions seem to affect answers? How did your relationship with the other party affect the openness with which the two of you shared and revealed information?

4. Take part in a traditional job fair and a virtual job fair on or near your campus. After you have taken part in each, list what you liked and disliked about each. What did the face-to-face encounter with a prospective employer offer that an electronic encounter could not? And what did the electronic encounter offer that a face-to-face encounter could not? How did you prepare for each encounter? If the virtual job fair experience entailed simulated interviews, how did you react to these encounters?

Notes

1. John Stewart, ed., Bridges Not Walls, 11th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), p. 16.

2. Michael T. Motley, “Communication as Interaction: A Reply to Beach and Bavelas,” Western Journal of Speech Communication 54 (Fall 1990), pp. 613–623.

Resources

Anderson, Rob, and G. Michael Killenberg. Interviewing: Speaking, Listening, and Learning for Professional Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

DeJong, Peter. Interviewing for Solutions. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, 2013.

Holstein, James A., and Jaber F. Gubrium, eds. Inside Interviewing: New Lenses, New Concerns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2003.

Martin, Judith N., and Thomas K. Nakayama. Experiencing Intercultural Communication. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.

Stewart, John. Bridges Not Walls: A Book about Interpersonal Communication. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012.

Parsons, Steven P. Interviewing and Investigating. New York: Aspen Law, 2013.

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9

An Interpersonal Communication Process2C H A P T E R

To improve your interviewing skills, you must start by understanding the deceptively complex process and its interrelated and interacting variables. An interview is far more complex than merely asking and answering questions or talking to someone. The objectives of this chapter are to develop a model of the process that summarizes, explains, and portrays the intricate and often puzzling nature of the typical interview. The completed model in Figure 2.8 looks very complicated because it sum- marizes a very complicated process.

Two Parties in the Interview The overlapping circles in Figure 2.1 represent the two parties in every interview. Each party is a unique sum of culture, environment, education, training, and experi- ences. Each party is an aggregate of personality traits that range from optimistic to pessimistic, trusting to suspicious, honest to dishonest, patient to impatient, flexible to inflexible, and compassionate to indifferent. Each of you has specific beliefs, attitudes, and values. And each party is motivated by ever-evolving needs, interests, desires, and expectations.

You must also be aware that each person in each party communicates intra- personally as well as inter-personally. You literally talk to yourself. What you say to yourself and how you say it will influence the verbal and nonverbal messages you send and how you experience an interview. In a very real sense, “the whole person speaks and the whole person listens.”1

Even though each party is made up of unique individuals, both parties must col- laborate to make the interview a success. The circles overlap in Figure 2.1 to indi- cate the relational nature of the interview process in which the parties interact with one another. Each has a stake in the outcome of the interview, and neither party can go it alone. This relationship may commence with this interview or be another act in a relational history that dates from hours to weeks, months, or years. When parties begin a relational history, interactions may be brief or awkward because neither knows what to expect, how best to start the interaction, when to speak and listen, and what information to share. In some cultures, “all strangers are viewed as sources of potential relationships; in others, relationships develop only after long and careful scrutiny.”2 Stereotypes such as age, gender, race, and ethnicity may play significant negative roles in zero-history situations, particularly during the anxious opening minutes of

Interviewing is more than asking and answering questions.

Each party con- sists of unique and complex individuals.

Each interview contributes to a relational history.

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10 Chapter 2

an interaction.3 On the other hand, negative expectations and attitudes may exist from previous interactions.

Your relationships may be intimate (close friends), casual (co-workers), functional (physicians), formal (supervisors), and distant (elected officials). They may change during immediate interactions and over time. What might begin as a functional relationship with an attorney or teacher may evolve into a close personal relationship lasting for decades because each interaction affects how you communicate who you are and what you are for each other. Your relationships change as interview situations vary and change. For instance, you may have a formal relationship with a professor in the classroom setting, a functional relationship when the professor is counseling you in an office setting, a casual relationship at a picnic for majors, and an intimate relationship years after you have completed your degree. Sarah Trenholm and Arthur Jensen write that you must acquire relational competence to know when and how to adapt to the roles you play in relationships with others and to develop “workable rules and norms” for differing situations.4

Relational Dimensions Your relationships are multidimensional, with five being critical to interviews: similar- ity, inclusion, affection, control, and trust.

Similarity You tend to find it easier to interact with others and form relationships when you share gender, race, cultural norms and values, education, experiences, beliefs, interests, and expectations. Important similarities enable you to understand and communicate with one another and thus to establish common ground that is portrayed by the overlapping circles in Figure 2.1. Expanding this perceived overlap during an interview reduces perceived

A situation may alter a relationship.

A few similarities do not equal rela- tional peers.

Figure 2.1 The interview parties

Parties

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An Interpersonal Communication Process 11

dissimilarities that may impede interactions and development of a meaningful relation- ship. Beware of surface similarities such as age, race, ethnicity, or dress that may lead you to perceive far more significant similarities with a party than you actually have.

Inclusion Interview parties enhance relationships when both are motivated to speak and listen, question and respond, and are open and straightforward. The more you are involved and share in an interview, the more satisfied you will be with the interactions and outcome. It is not merely what you do or gain in an interview but what you do with another. It should be a collaborative, joint effort. Both parties depend on one another for the suc- cess of each interview.

Affection You cultivate interview relationships when both parties respect one another and there is a marked degree of friendship or warmth. Establishing a we instead of a me-you feeling requires communication that both parties see as pleasant, fair, and productive. Relationships waiver when signs of affection are inconsistent, ambivalent, or negative. In one study, parties lowered their loudness to express disliking as well as liking for one another. In others, decreased talk time seemed to indicate liking by showing greater attentiveness or disliking by exhibiting disengagement from the interaction.5

Sometimes you come to an interview with an ambivalent or hostile attitude toward the other party because of a relational history or what James Honeycutt calls relational memory. He writes that “even though relationships are in constant motion, relation- ship memory structures provide a perceptual anchor [so that] individuals can determine where they are in a relationship.”6 Relational memory may aid parties in dealing with what researchers call dialectical tensions that result from conflicts between “important but opposing needs or desires,” or “between opposing” or contrasting “‘voices,’ each expressing a different or contradictory impulse.”7 Kory Floyd writes that dialectical tensions are a “normal part of any close, interdependent relationship, and they become problematic only when people fail to manage them properly.”8

Control Since the interview is a collaborative process, each party is responsible for its successes and failures. John Stewart has introduced the concept of “nexting” that he claims is the “most important single communication skill.” Each party should be asking “What can I help to happen next,” rather than how can I control the nature and content of this interaction.9 The felt need to control interactions may result from personality traits, the competitive spirit our society fosters, and organizational rules. Hierarchies present in families, schools, churches, government, and corporations make upward and downward communication difficult for each party. Edward Hall writes that “People at the top pay attention to different things from those in the middle or bottom of the system.”10

Trust Trust is critical in interviews because outcomes affect parties personally—their income, their careers, their purchases, their profits, their health, and their futures. Trust comes

Wanting to take part leads to col- laboration.

We interact more freely with persons we like.

Hierarchy may hinder the flow of information and self- disclosure.

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12 Chapter 2

from mutual honesty, sincerity, reliability, fairness, and even-temper—in other words when you see interactions with one another as being safe. When you are anxious during interactions, you tend to become cautious and fearful about outcomes, and the first casualty is level of disclosure. You are reluctant to be direct and open to share informa- tion, beliefs, opinions, and attitudes. The risk may be too great. Cultivate and protect relationships to assure productive interviews.

Global Relationships Social, political, and work worlds are becoming increasingly global, so it is necessary to understand how relationships are created and fostered in other countries and cultures. The less you know about others, the more likely you are to be anxious when initiating relationships. Martin, Nakayama, and Flores warn, for instance, that “in intercultural conflict situations, when we are experiencing high anxieties with unfamiliar behav- ior (for example, accents, gestures, facial expressions), we may automatically withhold trust.”11 You may fear the consequences of your words and actions that may offend the other party or make you look stupid.

In the United States, we tend to have numerous friendly, informal relationships and place importance on how a person looks, particularly early in relationships. We create and discard relationships frequently, while Australians make deeper and longer-lasting commitments. Arabs, like Americans, develop relationships quickly but, unlike Ameri- cans who dislike taking advantage of relationships by asking for favors, Arabs believe friends have a duty to help one another. The Chinese develop strong, long-term relation- ships and, like Arabs, see them involving obligations. In Mexico, trust in relationships develops slowly, is given sparingly, and must be earned. Betrayal of trust results in the greatest harm possible to a relationship. Germans develop relationships slowly because they see them as very important, and using first names before a relationship is well- established is considered rude behavior. Japanese prefer not to interact with strangers, want background information on parties before establishing relationships, prefer doing business with people they have known for years, and take time establishing relationships.

Gender in Relationships Although men and women are more similar than different in how they communicate and how they establish and refine relationships, research has revealed significant dif- ferences.12 Men’s talk tends to be directive and goal-oriented with statements that “tend to press compliance, agreement, or belief.” Women’s talk tends to be more polite and expressive, containing less intense words, qualifiers (perhaps, maybe), and disclaim- ers (“Maybe I’m wrong but . . .” “I may not fully understand the situation, but . . .”).13 Women use communication as a primary way of establishing relationships, while men communicate “to exert control, preserve independence, and enhance status.”14 Women give more praise and compliments and are reluctant to criticize directly in the work- place while men remain silent when a co-worker is doing something well and take criticism straight.15 Women report “greater satisfaction with their interactions than do men.16 On the other hand, researchers have found that “women are more likely to betray and be betrayed by other women.” Men report they are more often betrayed by other men with whom they are competing.17

Trust is essen- tial in every interview.

Relationships develop differ- ently in differ- ent cultures.

Gender differ- ences have evolved but not disappeared.

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An Interpersonal Communication Process 13

Interchanging Roles during Interviews While one party may dominate an interview, both speak and listen from time to time, ask and answer questions, and assume the roles of interviewer and interviewee. Neither party can expect the other to make the interview a success. John Stewart writes that “human communicators are always sending and receiving simultaneously. As a result, each communicator has the opportunity to change how things are going at any time in the process.”18 The small circles within the party circles in Fig ure 2.2 portray the exchange of roles in interviews.

The extent to which roles are exchanged and control is shared is often influenced by the status or expertise of the parties, which party initiated the interview, type of interview, situation, and atmosphere of the interaction—supportive or defensive, friendly or hostile. These factors determine which approach an interviewer selects— directive or nondirective.

Directive Approach In a directive approach, the interviewer establishes the purpose of the interview and controls the pacing, climate, and formality of the interview. Questions are likely to be closed with brief, direct answers. An interviewee may assume occasional control during the interview, but the interviewer tends to dominate the process. Typical direc- tive interviews are information giving, surveys and opinion polls, employee recruiting, and persuasive interviews such as sales. The directive approach is easy to learn, takes less time, enables you to maintain control, and is easy to replicate.

The following exchange illustrates a directive interviewing approach:

1. Interviewer: Did you attend the in-service training last night?

2. Interviewee: Yes.

A single party cannot make an interview a success but can ensure its failure.

A directive approach allows the interviewer to maintain control.

Figure 2.2 The switching of roles

Parties

E R

E R

Roles Roles

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14 Chapter 2

3. Interviewer: How long did it last?

4. Interviewee: Nearly an hour-and-a-half.

5. Interviewer: What was the single point you found most insightful?

6. Interviewee: That we must remain open at all times to new ideas.

Nondirective Approach In a nondirective approach, the interviewee has significant control over subject matter, length of answers, interview climate, and formality. Questions are open-ended to give the interviewee maximum freedom to respond. Typical nondirective interviews are journalistic, oral history, investigations, counseling, and performance review. The non- directive approach allows for greater flexibility and adaptability, encourages probing questions, and invites the interviewee to volunteer information.

The following is a nondirective interview exchange:

1. Interviewer: How was the in-service training last night?

2. Interviewee: It was very interesting and the presenter was excellent.

3. Interviewer: What were the main issues covered in the presentation?

4. Interviewee: The main one was developing relationships with clients, and the presenter discussed the importance of the first contact in forming a relational his- tory, how to maintain relationships over time, and how to handle conflicts that might threaten a relationship.

5. Interviewer: Which points did you find most helpful?

6. Interviewee: I think the ones on how relationships develop in different cultures and countries were most helpful since a growing number of our clients are from outside of the United States.

Although choice of an interviewing approach may be influenced by organizational, societal, or cultural norms and expectations, be flexible in how you employ each approach and consider a combination. For instance, recruiters often start interviews with a nondirective approach to relax the applicant and get the person talking, then switch to a more directive approach when asking questions and giving information, and return to a nondirective approach when answering the applicant’s questions.

Perceptions of Interviewer and Interviewee When you arrive at an interview, you bring two important perceptions with you, per- ceptions of self and perceptions of the other party, and these may change positively or negatively as the interview progresses. These critical perceptions are portrayed by the double-ended arrows in Figure 2.3.

Perceptions of Self Your self-concept or self-identity is a mental portrait of how you interpret and believe others interpret what and who you have been, are at the moment, and will be in the

A nondirec- tive approach enables the interviewee to share control.

Be flexible and adaptable when selecting approaches.

Perceptions drive our interactions.

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An Interpersonal Communication Process 15

future. John Stewart writes that we “come to each encounter with an identifiable ‘self,’ built through past interactions, and as we talk, we adapt ourselves to fit the topic we’re discussing and the people we are talking with, and we are changed by what happens to us as we communicate.”19

Self-esteem or self-worth is a critical element of your self-identify because you exert a great deal of mental and communicative energy trying to gain and sustain recog- nition and approval from family, peers, society, organizations, and professions because you have a “persistent and compelling” need to give an accounting of yourself.20 When you feel respected or valued, you have high self-esteem and are likely to be more per- ceptive, confident, and willing to express unpopular ideas and opinions. When you feel disrespected or under-valued, you have low self-esteem and become self-critical, feel uncertain, and are hesitant to express unpopular ideas and opinions. Success in an inter- view may depend upon your ability or inability to convince yourself that you will be successful—a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Culture and Gender Differences Self-identity and self-esteem are central in American and Western cultures that empha- size the individual. They are not central in Eastern cultures and South American coun- tries. Japanese, Chinese, and Indians, for example, are collectivist rather than individualist cultures and are more concerned with the image, esteem, and achievement of the group. Attributing successful negotiations to an individual in China would be considered egotisti- cal, self-advancing, and disrespectful. Success is attributed to the group or team. Failure to appreciate cultural differences causes many communication problems for Americans.

Gender matters in self-identity because “gender roles are socially constructed ideas about how women and men should think and behave.”21 We expect men to be more asser- tive, in charge, and self-sufficient and women to be “feminine,” submissive, and to show

What we per- ceive ourselves to be may be more important than what we are.

Many citizens of the global village are less concerned with self than with group.

Figure 2.3 Perceptions of self and others

Parties

E R

E R

Roles Roles

Perceptions

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16 Chapter 2

empathy and emotional expressiveness. Not all men and women act this way, of course, but we cannot ignore the impact of gender and self-identity on interviews.

Perceptions of the Other Party The way you perceive the other party may influence how you approach an interview and how you interact as it progresses. For example, you may be in awe of the oth- er’s reputation and accomplishments. The other party may differ from you in size, physical attractiveness, age, gender, race, or ethnic group. Previous encounters may lead you to look forward to or dread an interview. If you keep an open mind and are adaptable, differences may become assets rather than liabilities. Warmth, understand- ing, and cooperation in your verbal and nonverbal interactions can overcome negative preconceptions.

Communication Interactions The curved arrows in Figure 2.4 that link the two parties symbolize the communica- tion levels that occur during interviews. Each level differs in relational distance, self- disclosure, risk encountered, perceived meanings, and amount and type of content exchanged.

Allow interac- tions to alter or reinforce perceptions.

Figure 2.4 Communication interactions

Parties

E R

E R

Roles Roles

Perceptions

Communication Interactions

3

2

1

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An Interpersonal Communication Process 17

Levels of Interactions Level 1 interactions are safe and nonthreatening. You may portray interaction levels as metaphorical doors with the Level 1 door being slightly open. Questions, for instance, generate brief, socially acceptable, comfortable responses such as yes or no, simple facts, and ambiguous words and phrases such as “Okay,” Pretty good,” “Not bad,” and “Can’t complain.” Either party may close the door quickly and safely when necessary. The thickness of the arrow indicates that Level 1 exchanges dominate the interview and there is relational distance between the parties because no prior or close relationship exists.

Level 2 interactions are half-safe and half-revealing. Parties delve more deeply into personal and controversial topics and probe into beliefs, attitudes, and positions on issues. The metaphorical door is half-open (the optimist’s view) or half-closed (the pessimist’s view) as parties reveal feelings, opinions, and potentially harmful informa- tion. They are more willing to take risks but want an opportunity to close the door when necessary. The thickness of the arrow indicates that Level 2 interactions are less common, and the length of the arrow indicates that a closer relationship is necessary for a successful interview.

Level 3 interactions are risk-taking with full disclosure in personal and contro- versial topics that reveal feelings, beliefs, and attitudes. The metaphorical door is wide open with little opportunity to retreat from or dodge negative reactions. The arrow is thin and short to indicate that Level 3 interactions are uncommon and the relationship between parties must be established and trusting.

Self-Disclosure You must strive to move beyond Level 1 to Level 2 to Level 3 to obtain information, detect feelings, discover insights, and attain commitments. This requires maximum self-disclosure, and is often not easy to do. Unlike being a member of a group or audi- ence into which you can blend or hide, the interview places your social, professional, financial, psychological, or physical welfare on the line. Interviews deal with your behavior, your performance, your reputation, your decisions, your weaknesses, your feelings, your money, or your future.

There are a number of ways to reduce the risks of self-disclosure. Understand the relationship you have with the other party. If it is minimal, begin with a safe level of disclosure and be sensitive to the potential effects of your disclosure on the other party and people not involved in the interview. Provide only relevant and appropriate infor- mation. Disclose at the level at which the other party reciprocates.22 Be cautious when interacting online because research indicates that we tend to have fewer inhibitions than when interacting face-to-face and make “hyper-personal” revelations we may regret.

Gender Women tend to disclose more than men and are allowed to express emotions such as fear, sadness, and sympathy. Because women appear to be better listeners and more responsive than men, disclosure is often highest between woman-to-woman parties (perhaps because talk is at the very heart of women’s relationships), about equal in woman-to-man parties, and lowest among man-to-man parties.

Level 1 interac- tions are safe and superficial.

Level 2 interac- tions require trust and risk- taking.

Level 3 interac- tions involve full disclosure.

We are on the line in many interview settings.

Women disclose more freely than men.

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18 Chapter 2

Culture Culture may determine what you disclose, when, to whom, and how. For example, people in the United States of European descent disclose on a wide range of topics including personal information. Japanese disclose more about their careers and less about their families. Asians disclose more to people with high expertise and ability to exhibit honest and positive attitudes than to those who like to talk and show emotions. People in high-context, collectivist cultures such as China are expected to work for the good of the group or team and both know and adhere to cultural norms. They disclose less than those in low-context, individualistic cultures such as the United States and Great Britain. Westerners strive to succeed as individuals and know less about their cultural norms, and this lack of familiarity with cultural norms makes them more flex- ible. Conflicts may result in interviews when you over-disclose, under-disclose, or dis- close to the wrong party from differing cultures. Be aware that perceived similarity, competence, involvement, and the need to take the relationship to a higher level may trump cultural differences in self-disclosing.

While cultures vary, the notion of politeness—maintaining positive rather than negative face—is universal. According to “politeness theory,” all humans want to be appreciated and protected. Littlejohn writes,

Positive face is the desire to be appreciated and approved, to be liked and honored, and positive politeness is designed to meet these desires. Showing concern, complimenting, and using respectful forms of address are examples. Negative face is the desire to be free from imposition or intrusion, and negative politeness is designed to protect the other person when negative face needs are threatened. Acknowledging the imposition when making a request is a common example.23

You encounter situations in which politeness is essential whenever you are involved in challenging, complaining, evaluating, disciplining, advising, and counseling. Guerrero, Andersen, and Afifi write that “people face a constant struggle between wanting to do whatever they want (which satisfies their negative face needs) and wanting to do what makes them look good to others (which satisfies their positive face needs).”24 Severe “face threatening acts” include behavior that violates an important cultural, social, or professional rule; behavior that produces significant harm; and behavior for which the party is directly responsible. The desire to be polite—to avoid hurting or upsetting another and to show appreciation, understanding, or agreement—is one of the most common causes of deception.

Verbal Interactions Perhaps the greatest single problem with human communication is the assumption of it. Virtually all of us assume, for instance, that if we share a language—words—we share meanings. Unfortunately, words are arbitrary connections of letters that serve as symbols for nearly everything we encounter in our daily and professional lives, and these imperfect symbols may cause misunderstanding, confusion, embarrassment, hurt feelings, and antagonism. Let us examine some of our assumptions.

Culture may dictate what we disclose and to whom.

Positive and negative face are universal motives.

Never assume communication is taking place.

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An Interpersonal Communication Process 19

We assume the words we use are commonly understood by those who share our language. Journalism professor Michael Skube at Elon University has been keeping track of common words his students do not know. These include impetus, lucid, advo- cate, satire, brevity, and novel.25 Many of us assume that words have single meanings that are clear to everyone, even when used out of context. But simple words such as game may refer to a computer game, wild animal, sport, prank, or a person willing to try new things. We assume words and their meanings are clear even when they are ambiguous such as a “nice” apartment, “affordable” education, “simple” instructions, and a “living” wage. When does a person become “middle aged” or “old?” Since you typically hear words rather than see them in interviews, you may run into problems caused by sound alike words such as see and sea, do and due, sail and sale, and to, too, and two. Apparently neutral words may have negative or positive connotations depend- ing on how a person uses them. When is a running suit “inexpensive” or “cheap,” an SUV “used” or “pre-owned,” a laptop a college “expense” or an “investment?” While we have technical words to describe high-performance automobiles according to their looks, acceleration, power, and mechanical characteristics, we often resort to jargon common at the time such as cool, mean, awesome, or hot. We name or label people, places, things, and ideas to reveal how we see reality. A recession becomes a downturn; we purchase a lite beer rather than a diet beer; and we order a quarter-pounder rather than a four-ouncer. We have finally begun to substitute woman for girl, firefighter for fireman, and police officer for policeman. This is not so-called political correctness but labeling reality and showing respect in a society based on equality. The moral of this discussion of words is that you must select words carefully even with interview parties who share your language and reward your assumptions.

Language and Gender Men and women tend to use language differently. For example, men use power speech forms such as challenges, orders, leading questions, first-person pronouns such as I and me, and memorable phrases such as “Make my day,” “Get a life,” and “Read my lips.” Women use powerless speech forms such as apologies, qualifiers, disclaimers, excuses, indirect questions, nonfluencies such as “Uh” and “Umm,” and third-person pronouns such as we and us.26 Our society expects men to use more intense language than women because it is considered masculine. When women use intense language, they are often seen as bitchy, pushy, or opinionated. While gender is important in how men and women use words, you must recognize that other factors also affect language choice including context of the inter- view, subject matter, status differences, and roles being played.

Language and the Global Village North Americans value words that are precise, direct, explicit, straightforward, and often start sentences with “I.” Chinese are taught to downplay self-expression. Japanese tend to be implicit in words rather than explicit and to employ ambiguous words and quali- fiers. Koreans try to avoid negative or no responses and imply disagreements to maintain group or team harmony. Arab-speaking people employ “sweet-talk” and accommodat- ing language with elaborate metaphors and similes. Idioms such as “bought the farm,” “get your feet wet,” and “wild goose chase” are unique to North Americans and pose

Words rarely have single meanings.

Gender differ- ences may lead to power differences.

Global use of words may be more significant than foreign words.

Naming is an effort to alter social reality.

Slang comes and goes and often deter- mines who’s in and who’s out.

Words are rarely neutral.

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20 Chapter 2

problems even for those who speak English. For instance, Wen-Shu Lee who was fluent in English and taking a graduate class in the United States was confused when a fellow student looked at her notes and commented, “That’s Greek to me.” When she replied that it was Chinese rather than Greek, the American student laughed, and then she realized the student had used a common idiom.27

Irving Lee observed many years ago that we tend to “talk past” rather than “to” one another.28 You can reduce this tendency by choosing words carefully, expanding your vocabulary, being aware of common idioms, and learning the meanings of popular and professional jargon. Do not assume that the words you use everyday are under- stood and processed similarly by others different from you in gender, age, race, culture, or ethnic group.

Nonverbal Interactions Because the parties in interviews are in such close proximity, they are likely to take note of what the other does and does not do: movement, eye contact, facial expres- sion, touch, glance, change in voice. Any behavioral act may send a message intention- ally or unintentionally, correctly or incorrectly. For instance, you can invite turn-taking or change of role by nodding your head, pausing, or leaning back. Poor eye contact may signal that you are hiding something, a limp handshake that you are timid, a puzzled facial expression that you are confused, crossing your arms or raising an eyebrow that you are agitated. Remain silent to encourage the other to talk or keep talking, to signal agreement, or to show you are not in a hurry to move on to a new topic or to close the interview. Show interest by leaning forward, maintaining eye contact, or nodding your head.

Physical appearance and dress reveal how you view yourself, the other party, this situation, and the importance of the interview. Both are particularly important in initiat- ing zero-history relationships and the first minutes of interviews. You tend to respond more favorably toward attractive and well-dressed people and perceive them to be poised, outgoing, interesting, and sociable. Unfortunately, you may react more favor- ably toward attractive persons who are neither too fat nor too thin, tall rather than short, shapely rather than unshapely, and pretty and handsome rather than plain or ugly. Few match all of these social criteria, so strive to eliminate these biases during interviews and building relationships.

Verbal and Nonverbal Intertwined Although we have separated verbal and nonverbal interactions in previous discussions for instructional purposes, it is impossible to isolate one from the other. The non- verbal often complements the verbal when you call attention to important words or phrases through vocal emphasis (like underlining, italicizing, or highlighting in print). You complement words with tone of voice, speaking rate, facial expression, and eye contact. The nonverbal reinforces words with a head nod or head shake. The non- verbal may substitute for words when you point to a chair without saying “Sit here,” or nod your head to say “Enter.” Silence can signal disagreement more tactfully than words. Research indicates that nonverbal signals exchange feelings and emotions more accurately than words; convey intentions relatively free of deception and confusion;

Language problems are avoidable.

Nonverbal signals send many different messages.

Any behav- ioral act, or its absence, can convey a message.

In mixed mes- sages, the how may overcome the what.

Verbal and nonverbal messages are intricately inter- twined.

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An Interpersonal Communication Process 21

be more efficient; and impart ideas indirectly. Subjects indicated they thought nonverbal behaviors were more truthful than verbal messages and, if the messages conflicted— they were more likely to believe the nonverbal. How trumps the what.

Gender and Nonverbal Interactions Women are more skilled at and rely more on nonverbal communica- tion than men. Facial expressions, pauses, and bodily gestures are more important in women’s interac- tions than men’s, perhaps because

women are more expressive than men. Women tend to gaze more and are less uncom- fortable when eye contact is broken. Men’s lower-pitched voices are viewed as more credible and dynamic than women’s higher-pitched voices. Female parties stand or sit closer than opposite-sex parties, and males maintain more distance than opposite-sex or female parties.

Culture and Nonverbal Interactions Different cultures share many nonverbal signals. People nod their heads in agreement, shake their heads in disagreement, give thumbs down for disapproval, shake fists in anger, and clap hands to show approval. There are significant differences, however. In the United States, African-Americans maintain eye contact more when speaking than when listening. They give more nonverbal feedback when listening than European- Americans. In general, African-Americans are more animated and personal, while European-Americans are more subdued. They avoid eye contact with superiors out of respect, a trait often misinterpreted by European-Americans who see lack of eye contact as a sign of disinterest, lack of confidence, or dishonesty. And African-Americans tend to touch more and stand closer together when communicating than do European-Americans.29

Nonverbal Interactions in the Global Village Americans are taught to look others in the eye when speaking, while Africans are taught to avoid eye contact when listening to others. An honest “look me in the eye” for a Westerner may express a lack of respect to an Asian. An American widens his or her eyes to show wonder or surprise, while the Chinese do so to express anger, the French to express disbelief, and Hispanics to show lack of understanding. Americans are taught to smile in response to a smile, but this is not so in Israel. Japanese are taught to mask negative feelings with smiles and laughter. Americans are taught to have little direct physical contact with others while communicating, but Mediterranean and Latin countries encourage direct contact. On a loudness scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being high, Arabs would be near 10, Americans would be near the middle, and Europeans would

Women are more adept at nonverbal com- munication.

■ Be aware of cultural differences in nonverbal communication.

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22 Chapter 2

be near 1. Arabs perceive loudness as signs of strength and sincerity and softness as signs of weakness and deviousness. Not surprisingly, many Americans and Europeans see Arabs as pushy and rude. A firm handshake is important in American society but signals nothing in Japan.

Many gestures you observe in different cultures and countries have different mean- ings. A simple wave means “hello” in the United States and “come here” in Algeria. A finger to the forehead means smart in the United States and stupid in many Euro- pean cultures. A thumb up means “way to go” in the United States and “screw you” in Iran. A circular motion of a finger around the ear means crazy in the United States and “you have a telephone call” in the Netherlands. Fingers in a circle means “okay” in the United States and is an obscene gesture in Brazil.

Feedback Feedback is immediate and pervasive in interviews, and is essential when verifying what is being communicated and how. The large, double-ended arrow that links the top of the party circles in Figure 2.5 symbolizes the heavy stream of feedback between interview

Be aware of the diversity of nonverbal messages in dif- ferent parts of the world.

Figure 2.5 Feedback

Parties

Feedback

E R

E R

Roles Roles

Perceptions

Communication Interactions

3

2

1

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An Interpersonal Communication Process 23

parties. Feedback is both verbal (questions and answers, arguments and counterargu- ments, agreements and disagreements, challenges and compliances) and nonverbal (facial expressions, gestures, raised eyebrows, eye contact, vocal utterances, and posture).

You can detect critical feedback and assess how an interview is progressing by observ- ing and listening to what is and is not taking place or being said. During the interview, does the other party select a power position and move closer or farther apart? Are there changes in tone or attentiveness? Are there changes in eye contact, voice, or posture? Is there more or less willingness to disclose information, feelings, and attitudes? Do not read too much into small nonverbal actions and changes. A person may fidget because a chair is hard, not because a question is threatening; pay less attention because of noise and interruptions, not disinterest; speak loudly because of habit, not because of a hearing impairment. Poor eye contact may indicate shyness or culture, not deceptiveness or mistrust.

Listening skills are essential to obtaining information, detecting clues, and gen- erating Level 2 and Level 3 responses. Few people listen well. Surveys of hundreds of corporations in the United States reveal that poor listening skills create barriers in all positions from entry level to CEO. An interviewee may not listen carefully to a question, while the interviewer may not listen carefully to the answer. Parties may be so absorbed in their primary roles as questioner or respondent that they do not listen well. Unfortunately, most of our educations prepare us to talk, not listen. There are four approaches to listening—for comprehension, for empathy, for evaluation, for resolution—and each plays a specific role in giving, receiving, and processing informa- tion accurately and insightfully.

Listening for Comprehension When listening for comprehension, you are striving to receive, understand, and remem- ber an interchange as accurately and completely as possible, not to judge. This approach is essential when giving and getting information and during the first minutes of inter- views when determining how to react. When listening for comprehension, listen carefully and patiently to each question and answer. Listen to content and ideas as well as tone of voice and vocal emphasis for subtle meanings. Ask questions to clarify and verify.

Listening for Empathy When listening for empathy, communicate genuine concern, understanding, and involvement. Empathic listening reassures, comforts, expresses warmth, and shows regard. It is the ability to place your self in another’s situation. When listening with empathy, show interest and concern nonverbally, by not interrupting, and by being non- judgmental. Reply with tact and understanding and provide options and guidelines.

Listening for Evaluation When listening for evaluation (critical listening), you judge what you hear and observe. You are ready to judge when you comprehend the verbal and nonverbal interactions. Openly expressing criticism may diminish cooperation and level of disclosure. Use evaluative listening only after listening carefully to content and observing nonverbal cues. Ask questions for clarifications of exchanges and validations of your interpretations. Do not become defensive when an interview party reacts critically to your criticisms.

Be perceptive, sensitive, and receptive.

It is difficult to listen with your mouth open and your ears closed.

The intent of listening for comprehension is to understand content.

The intent of empathic listen- ing is to under- stand the other party.

The intent of evaluative listening is to judge content and actions.

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24 Chapter 2

Listening for Resolution Dialogic listening focuses on ours rather than mine or yours and believes the agenda for solving a problem or task supersedes the individual.30 Dialogic listening is most appropriate in problem-solving interviews in which the goal is the joint resolution of a problem or task. When listening for resolution, encourage interaction, trust the other party to make significant contributions, paraphrase and add to the other party’s responses and ideas while focusing on the present, and center your attention on the communication that is taking place.

Active and insightful listening is a difficult, invisible skill to attain, partly because our educations and experiences as children, students, employees, and sub- ordinates prepare us to be passive listeners. Become a more effective listener by being as satisfied as a listener as a talker, by attending carefully and critically to both verbal and nonverbal signals, by learning to ignore distractions such as surroundings, appearances, and interruptions, and by knowing which is the most appropriate listen- ing approach to use.

The Interview Situation Every interview takes place at a specific time, in a specific place, and with specific surroundings. These variables, and how you perceive them, impact every aspect of the interactions that take place. The enveloping circle in Figure 2.6 portrays the inter- view situation and the imploding arrows represent the variables that influence the process.

Initiating the Interview The arrows in Figure 2.6 that emerge from the top of the circle indicate that either party may initiate an interview. For instance, you may initiate an interview with an academic counselor or the counselor may initiate an interview with you. The particulars of the situation often determine who initiates the interaction and why. You may initiate an interview with a physician because of a persistent cough, or a physician may initiate an interview with you to discuss results of medical tests following a recent illness. The initiator may enhance the climate of an interview by initiating the interview directly rather than through a third party and by explaining the purpose, nature, and use of the information to be exchanged.

Perceptions The arrows that extend from the parties to the situational circle indicate that each may perceive an interview situation similarly or differently. For example, a recruiter and applicant may see the purpose, need, and timing of an employment interview similarly. However, the recruiter may see the interaction as a routine event, while the applicant may see the interaction as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Each may have very differ- ent goals, a physician to complete a routine examination efficiently and effectively and the patient to get good news and escape.

You are more likely to communicate at Levels 2 and 3 if you perceive the situa- tion to be familiar rather than strange, informal rather than formal, warm rather than

The intent of dialogic listen- ing is to solve problems.

Listening, like speaking, is a learned skill.

Who initiates an interview and how it may affect control, roles, and atmo- sphere.

Perceptions are critical in moving beyond Level 1 interactions.

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An Interpersonal Communication Process 25

cold, private rather than open, and close rather than distant physically, socially, and psychologically.

Timing Selecting the best time for an interview is tricky because each party may have an ideal time of day for communicating openly and effectively. Some of us are morning people and are ready to go before many people awaken; some of us are afternoon people and work best after lunch; and some of us are evening people and communicate effectively well into the night when most people have gone to bed. The same goes for days of the week and time of year. Monday morning and Friday afternoon have traditionally been

Each of us have optimum times for interactions.

Figure 2.6 Situational variables

Parties

Feedback

Communication Initiator

Roles Roles

PerceptionsPerceptions Perceptions

Communication Interactions

E R

E R

Situational Variables

3

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26 Chapter 2

poor times to exchange information and deal with critical issues. Holiday times are good for some types of interviews and poor for others. Become familiar with inter- view parties before arranging interviews. The legendary “cold call” that has interrupted dinners and sleeping has led states and the Federal Government to pass “don’t call” legislation. Be aware of events that will or have preceded an interview such as being the third person of the day to ask for a raise, request a person to take a political survey, or request an extension for an assignment. Tax time is not good timing for conducting fund-raising interviews.

Location and Setting First of all, whose turf is best for an interview. For instance, you may feel more com- fortable and less threatened in your home, room, office, business, or in a neutral place such as a lounge area or restaurant. You protect your turf. Think of your reactions when you walked into your room or office and found another person in your chair or at your desk. Create or select a well-lighted, pleasantly painted, moderate-sized room with comfortable furniture, temperature, and ventilation. Some organizations have created professional settings that resemble living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, and studies that make interview parties feel at home and ready to communicate.

Objects and decorations may create an appropriate atmosphere and interview climate. Trophies, awards, degrees, and licenses attractively displayed communicate achievements, professional credibility, and stature in a field. Pictures, statues, and busts of leaders or famous persons communicate organizational and personal history, suc- cess, recognition, endorsement, and contacts. Models or samples may display state-of- the-art products and services. Carpeting, wall hangings, wallpaper, and curtains can provide a warm, attractive atmosphere conducive to effective communication.

Noise in an interview is anything that interferes with the communication process, including background noise, doors opening and closing, music, others talking, objects being dropped, and traffic. The interview may be interrupted by a cell phone or a text message. People coming in and out of the room, walking by an open door, or asking for assistance are common distractions. Eliminate negative influences of noise by selecting locations free of background noise or taking simple precautions.

Territoriality All of us are territorial animals to varying degrees. You may select a seat, arrange books and papers, and place coats and hats strategically around you to stake out your physi- cal and psychological space. You may resent those who invade this carefully crafted space with their choice of seating, possessions, eyes, voices, or bodies. Think of how you reacted to common invasions of territory such as another student walking into a professor’s office while you were discussing a problem, a nearby diner listening to your conversation with a recruiter, or a colleague talking loudly at the next desk while you were talking to a client.

Proximity of interview parties affects your comfort level. You may feel uncom- fortable with persons who insist on talking nose-to-nose, and react by backing up, placing furniture between you, or terminating the interview. Trenholm and Jensen write about “territorial markers” and use the term “personal space” to describe an

Take into account events before and after interviews.

Surroundings help create a productive climate.

Control noise to focus attention on the interac- tion.

Relationship affects ter- ritorial comfort zones.

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An Interpersonal Communication Process 27

“imaginary bubble” around us that we consider to be “almost as private as the body itself.”31 Researchers have identified intimate distance (touching to 18 inches), personal distance (11⁄2 to 4 feet), and social distance (4 to 12 feet). Two to four feet—approxi- mately an arm’s length or on opposite sides of a table or desk—is an optimum distance for most interviews.

Relationship, status, situation, and feelings of parties toward one another, influ- ence the size of the bubble with which you are comfortable. High-status people stand or sit closer to low-status people, while low-status people prefer greater distances when dealing with superiors. You may maintain a greater distance with a stranger than with close associates, peers, and friends. Some people want to “get in your face” when angry, while others widen the space because their anger is translated into distancing themselves from you physically, socially, and psychologically.

Age, gender, and culture may determine space preferences. People of the same age stand or sit closer together than those of mixed ages, particularly when the age differ- ence is significant. All-male parties tend to arrange themselves farther apart than all- female or mixed-gender parties. North Americans prefer greater personal distances than do Middle Eastern and Latin American peoples. Arabs and Latin Americans see us as distant and cold, while we see them as intruding into our space. Northern Europeans prefer greater personal distance than Southern Europeans.32

Seating Where you sit and on what you sit is often determined by status, gender, cultural norms, and relationship. A superior and a subordinate may sit across a desk from one another, arrangement A in Figure 2.7, with one sitting in a large leather swivel chair while the other sits on a simple chair. Two chairs at right angles near the corner of a desk or table, arrangement B, creates a less formal atmosphere and a greater feeling of equal-

ity between parties. Students often prefer this arrangement with college professors.

Remove physical obstacles and reduce the superior-subordinate atmosphere by placing chairs at opposite sides of a small coffee table or by omitting the table alto- gether, arrangements C and D. A circular table, arrangement E, is popular in counseling and inter- views involving more than two people. It avoids a head-of-the-table position, allows participants to pass around materials, and provides a surface on which to write, review printed items, and place refresh- ments. Arrangement F is most suit- able for a focus group.

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■ A corner seating arrangement is preferred by many interviewers and interviewees.

Age, gender, and culture influence territorial preferences.

Seating may equalize control and enhance the interview climate.

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28 Chapter 2

Outside Forces Outside forces such as those identified in Figure 2.8 may suggest or dictate who takes part, when, and where; attitudes assumed; topics covered; structure followed; questions asked; and answers given. Organizational policies, union contracts, pressures of a politi- cal campaign, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws, and competitors influence perceptions, levels of exchanges, self-disclosure, and interviewing approach. What may take place following the interview—a report you must submit, accounts in the media, possible grievances or lawsuits, reactions of peers—may make parties careful and wary or headstrong and hasty. You may feel pressure to relate that you “followed the rules,” “drove a hard bargain,” “got a deal,” or told the other party “where to get off.” Remember that the interview parties are seldom truly alone in the process.

Outside forces determine roles in many interviews.

Figure 2.7 Seating arrangements

E

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We are not really alone with the other party.

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An Interpersonal Communication Process 29

Summary

The summary model developed step-by-step in this chapter appears to be very com- plicated precisely because the interview is a very complicated process. If you are to understand what takes place in an interview and why, you must understand the interacting variables and the roles you play when taking part in a purposeful, planned, and serious interaction with another party.

Each interview involves two parties made up of complex individuals who may have prior relational histories or form a relationship as the interview progresses. In this collab- orative process, the parties may exchange roles, maintain and alter perceptions of self, the other party, and the situation; exchange verbal and nonverbal messages; and disclose information, attitudes, opinions, and feelings at one or more levels from very safe and unrevealing to very open and highly revealing. Each party must listen appropriately for comprehension, empathy, evaluation, or resolution and realize that silence may be more effective than talking.

Figure 2.8 Outside forces

Parties

Feedback

Communication Initiator

Roles Roles

PerceptionsPerceptions Perceptions

Communication Interactions

E R

E R

3

2

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Situational Variables

Outside Forces

Family Associates Friends Employers Government agencies Professional associations Etc.

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30 Chapter 2

Each party must be flexible and adaptable in choosing which approach to take (direc- tive, nondirective, or a combination) not only because each party is unique and each situ- ation is different, but because each party is molded and affected by demographics such as age, gender, race, and culture. This chapter has tried to enhance your awareness of how demographics and culture affect self-esteem, disclosure, levels of communication, language, nonverbal communication, and territoriality. In the global village of the twenty- first century, be aware of how different people and different cultures communicate.

Student Activities

1. Interview four students on your campus: one from Central America, one from southern Europe, one from the Near East, and one from Asia. Ask them to identify and illustrate verbal and nonverbal communication problems they have encountered since coming to the United States. How have they managed to work through these problems?

2. Watch a 10–15 minute television interview with a person who had been accused of a crime or unethical behavior. How effective was the interviewer in getting to Level 2 and 3 interactions? How did the interviewee attempt to avoid disclosing potentially damaging information?

3. Research indicates measurable differences in communication between genders. Observe interactions between two males, two females, and a male and a female to see what differences if any you can detect in proximity, eye contact, gestures, body movements, and territoriality. What influence do you believe the prior relationships of the parties had on these nonverbal and situational factors?

4. Watch three 10–15 minute interviews between sportscasters and professional ath- letes, one in which an athlete is about to take part in a game, one in which an athlete just won a game, and one in which an athlete just experienced a loss. Which forms of listening did the participants in these interviews use most often? How did the situa- tions appear to have affected the participants’ abilities to listen?

Complex communication process Control Culture Defensive climate Dialectical tensions Dialogic listening Directive approach Downward communication Feedback Gender Global relationships Idioms Initiating

Levels of interactions Listening Noise Nondirective approach Nonverbal interactions Outside forces Perceptions Personal space Politeness theory Proximity Relational dimensions Relational distance Relational history Relational memory

Role competence Self-concept Self-disclosure Self-esteem Self-fulfilling prophecy Self-identity Silence Situation Supportive climate Territorial markers Territoriality Upward communication Verbal interactions

Key Terms and Concepts

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An Interpersonal Communication Process 31

Notes

1. Robert S. Goyer, W. Charles Redding, and John T. Rickey, Interviewing Principles and Techniques: A Project Text (Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown, 1968), p. 23.

2. Judith N. Martin and Thomas K. Nakayama, Intercultural Communication in Contexts (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007), p. 371.

3. Judith N. Martin and Thomas K. Nakayama, Experiencing Intercultural Communication (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011), pp. 255–256.

4. Sarah Trenholm and Arthur Jensen, Interpersonal Communication (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), pp. 38–39.

5. George B. Ray and Kory Floyd, “Nonverbal Expressions of Liking and Disliking in Initial Interaction: Encoding and Decoding Perspectives,” Southern Communication Journal 71 (March 2006), p. 60.

6. Trenholm and Jensen (2013), p. 31.

7. Kory Floyd, Interpersonal Communication: The Whole Story (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011), p. 317; Trenholm and Jensen (2013), pp. 29, 276–277.

8. Floyd, p. 317.

9. John Stewart, ed., Bridges Not Walls: A Book about Interpersonal Communication (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), p. 317.

10. Edward T. Hall, “Context and Meaning,” in Larry A. Samovar and Richard E. Porter, eds., Intercultural Communication: A Reader (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2000), p. 35.

11. Judith N. Martin, Thomas K. Nakayama, and Lisa A. Flores, Intercultural Communica- tion Experiences and Contexts (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004), p. 334.

12. Brant Burleson and Adrienne Kunkel, “Revisiting the Different Cultures Thesis: An Assessment of Sex Differences and Similarities in Supportive Communication,” in K. Dindia and D. J. Canary, eds., Sex Differences and Similarities in Communication (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2006), pp. 137–159.

13. Trenholm and Jensen (2013), pp. 95–97.

14. John Stewart and Carole Logan, Together: Communicating Interpersonally (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998), p. 84.

15. Trenholm and Jensen (2013), p. 315.

16. Stewart, p. 293.

17. Stewart, p. 334.

18. Stewart, p. 20.

19. Stewart, p. 26.

20. Trenholm and Jensen (2013), pp. 85 and 270.

21. Floyd, p. 77.

22. Stewart (2012), pp. 214-215; Trenholm and Jensen (2013), pp. 193–194; Floyd, pp. 98–99.

23. Stephen W. Littlejohn, Theories of Human Communication (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1996), p. 262.

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32 Chapter 2

24. Laura K. Guerrero, Peter A. Andersen, and Walid A. Afifi, Close Encounters in Relationships (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001), p. 46.

25. Michael Skube, “Writing Off Reading,” Washington Post, August 20, 2006; www.washingtonpost.com.

26. Guerrero, Andersen, and Afifi, pp. 297–298; Diana K. Ivy and Phil Backlund, Explor- ing Gender Speak: Personal Effectiveness in Gender Communication (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994), pp. 163–165.

27. Wen-Shu Lee, “That’s Greek to Me: Between a Rock and a Hard Place in Intercultural Encounters,” in Larry A. Samovar and Richard E. Porter, eds., Intercultural Communi- cation: A Reader (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2000), pp. 217–219.

28. Irving J. Lee, How to Talk with People (New York: Harper & Row, 1952), pp. 11–26.

29. Trenholm and Jensen (2013), pp. 331–333.

30. Stewart, p. 192–194.

31. Trenholm and Jensen (2013), p. 55.

32. Martin and Nakayama (2011), pp. 176–178.

Resources

Martin, Judith N., and Thomas K. Nakayama. Experiencing Intercultural Communication. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2014.

Samovar, Larry A., Richard E. Porter, Edwin R. McDaniel, and Carolyn S. Roy. Communica- tion between Cultures. Belmont, CA: CENGAGE Learning, 2017.

Stewart, John, ed. Bridges Not Walls: A Book about Interpersonal Communication. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012.

Trenholm, Sarah, and Arthur Jensen. Interpersonal Communication. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Wood, Julia T. But I Thought You Meant . . . Misunderstandings in Human Communication. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1998.

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33

Questions and Their Uses3 Questions play integral roles in every interview and often dominate the process. Technology editor Jamie McKenzie writes, “Questions may be the most power- ful technology we have ever created” because “they allow us to control our lives and allow us to make sense of a confusing world” by leading “to insight and understand- ing.”1 Questions need not be complete sentences with question marks at the end. They are words, phrases, statements, or nonverbal acts that invite answers or responses.

Questions are literally the “tools of the trade” in interviews and have unique char- acteristics, perform specific functions, and enable you to perform tasks efficiently and effectively. Each type of question has a name (just like golf clubs, screw drivers, or wrenches) that makes it easier for you to select at the proper time.

The objectives of this chapter are to introduce you to the types of questions, their specific uses and limitations, and common question pitfalls to avoid. Let us begin with the most fundamental types of questions: open and closed.

Open and Closed Questions Open and closed questions vary in the amount of information they solicit and degree of interviewer control. Information ranges from a single word to lengthy descriptions, narratives, and reports of statistical data. Control ranges from minimal for open-ended questions to maximum with closed questions.

Open Questions Open questions vary in degree of openness in which respondents have considerable freedom to determine the amount and kind of information to give.

Highly Open Questions Highly open questions place virtually no restrictions on the interviewee.

• Tell me about Prague. • What do you remember about the tornado hitting your school on that April

afternoon? • Describe the Australian Outback for me.

A question is any action that solicits an answer.

Open questions invite open answers.