Interviewing Semester Notes

Chapter 1
 Two parties
o Interviews are dyadic
 Two distinct parties
 Interviewer party and the interviewee party
o Can involve more than two people, but never more than two parties
 Purpose and structure
o Interviews have a predetermined and serious purpose
 Differs from convo
o Planning and structure
o At least minimally structured
 Interactional / collaborative comm process
o Both parties are exchanging and sharing:
 Roles
 Responsibilities
 Feelings
 Beliefs
 Motives
 Info
o Interactional: exchanging and sharing
o Collaborative: meaning making
 Mutual creation and sharing of messages that have vb and nvb meaning
that express interest.
 Questions
o Tools of interview trade
 Gathering info and checking accuracy or messages sent and received.
 Interview definition
o Interactional, collaborative communication process involving two parties, at least
one of whom has a predetermined and serious purpose, that includes the asking of
questions.
 Types of interviews
o Info gathering
 Passive in interactions
 Obtain insightful and useful info
 Predetermined questions before interview
o Information giving
 Difficult
 Training, orienting, coaching, etc.
o Focus group
 6-10 persons
 Interviewer and unrelated interviewees Concentrates on a specific concern
 Developing idea, product, or concern.
  Difficult to arrange
o Selection interview
 Employment interview
 Aimed to see if they’re the best “fit” for org
 Also, could be called a placement interview
 Promotion, reassignment, or new role
o Performance interview
 Advancing an employee
 Terminating an employee
o Persuasive interview
 Alter or reinforce the way the party thinks, feels, and/or acts.
 Want to make someone change
o Counseling interviews
 Helping interview
 Technology
o Telephone
 Lack of physical presence
 Convenient
o Video
 Focus on the interaction and not on the technology
 More like being in person.
 Pluses:
 Detailed notetaking
 Referring to notes
 Checking watches
 Reading texts
o Email
 Good for audibly impaired
 Must be collaborated for the same time so no break in questioning
o Webinar
 Web based seminar
 Present to large group of persons.

Class Notes (Chapter 1)

- Definition of interviewing
1. The act of giving and receiving information
- Characteristics of an interviewing
1. Dyadic
 2 parties
 Interviewer/interviewee
2. Predetermined and serious purpose
 Planning and structure goals made
3. Interactional and collaborative
 Both must participate
4. Questions
-
Chapter 2
 5 dimensions of relationships
o Similarity
 Do not assume too much from too little
 Common ground (overlap)
o Inclusion
 Desire to be included is essential to motivation
 Must be a joint effort
o Affection
 You communicate more with people you like
 Establishing a “we” not you/me conversation
o Control
 Sharing control heightens collaboration between parties
 “What can I help to happen next”
o Trust
 Trust is key to openness and self-disclosure in interviews
 Mutual honesty
 Relational history / memory
o History: will have preconceived ideas (good or bad) of how the interaction is going to
happen
o Memory: will remind us of how previous interactions were in the past.
o They both play a part in the interviewing process because it will either aide or inhibit
positive interactions from both parties.
 Upward / downward communication
o ****
 Dialectical tensions
o Important but opposing needs or desires
o May cause anxiousness and fearful about an outcome of an interview
o Disclosure casualty
o Failure if you don’t know how to manage your dialectical tensions.
 Culture
o Need to know more about different cultures
o The less you know… the more anxious you could be about initiating
relationships/conversation.
 Directive and nondirective approach
o Directive:
 When you want or need to exert control over climate, formality, and pacing of
an interview.
 Goal is to control the process
 Information-giving interviews / interrogations / surveys & polls / persuasive
interviews (sales)
 Control interactions
o Nondirective:
  Interviewee to have considerable control over the amount and kinds of
information to give, length of answers to open-ended questions, the interview
climate, and formality of interactions.
 Goal is to relinquish control
 Counseling / health care / journalistic / oral history / performance review
 Interview is more flexible and adaptable
 Interviewee will feel more freely to volunteer up info
o Neither is suitable for ALL interview situations.
 Self-concept, self-identity, and why is it important for interviews
o Self-concept / self-identity:
 mental process by which you perceive and believe others perceive who you
have been, are at this time, and are likely to be in the future.
 Self-esteem/self-worth
o Success in an interview may depend on your ability or inability to convince yourself that
you will be successful.
 Self-fulfilling prophecy
 3 levels of interaction
o Level 1: interactions are safe and superficial (door slightly open)
 Low risk
 Prompt brief/simple questions
 Little to no relational history
 Low self-disclosure
o Level 2: interactions are moderately safe and revealing (door half open)
 Open-ended challenging questions
 E.g., political issues
 Prob into feelings / opinions
 Potentially harmful to the interviewee
 Less common than level 1
 Must have positive relational history (length of arrow)
 Self-disclosure is moderate
 Moderate risk taking.
o Level 3: interactions are high in risk-taking (door open)
 Avoidance of perceived threats in Q&A are difficult
 Embarrassing / harmful info
 Least common
 Parties must have a well-established and trusting relationship. (short arrow)
 Self-disclosure is maximum.
 Gender
o Women disclose more than men and are allowed to express emotions.
 Biggest issue in communication
o Assumption of communication and shared meaning.
 60-93% of communication (according to research) is nonverbal.
 Listening: evaluation/empathy
o Evaluation:
 Intent to criticize, judge, discriminate, or diagnose content of interactions and
how you hear and observe them.
 Avoid personal criticisms and judgements.
  Try to understand before responding.
 May diminish cooperation and level of disclosure
o Empathy
 Must communicate genuine concern, understanding, and involvement with the
other party.
 Goals: reassure, comfort, express warmth, and show sincere regard.
 “Walk in another’s shoes”
 Nonverbally
 Avoid: interruptions, criticisms, and judgments.
 Time and timing in interviews
o Time:
 Either party determines the time of the interview
 Not everyone treats time the same.
 Time is money
o Timing:
 Strategic selection of time and date for an interview to maximize the chances of
achieving your purpose
 Proxemics
o Optimal proxemics for an interview: social distance (4-12 ft)
 2-4 ft
o Whose turf are you on in an interview
o Optimum personal distances are based off of: age, gender, and culture.

Class notes: