Recent research has shown that job candidates who mirror the interviewer’s body
language are perceived as offensive.
Answer:
Some college and university career centers offer services to alumni.
Answer:
When going to an interview, you should dress for the position above the one you’re
applying for.
Answer:
The interviews conducted by telephone or by computer and webcam are known as
virtual interviews.
Answer:
The use of applicant tracking systems is considered unethical by many companies.
Answer:
To take full advantage of feedback, ask for it early in the communication process and
use it to evaluate and revise your communication strategy.
Answer:
On the web, you can generally feel confident about information that is published by the
government and universities.
Answer:
The ACE process for communication can only be used in very complex situations.
Answer:
In the context of Internet, RSS stands for really simple syndication or rich site
summary.
Answer:
A buffer is an introductory sentence or paragraph that leads up to and softens the bad
news.
Answer:
During a live online presentation, if you are using a webcam, look frequently at the
camera (rather than at the screen) so that remote people feel that you are making eye
contact with them.
Answer:
Observing behavior can help you interpret meaning, especially if the behavior is
inconsistent with a spoken statement.
Answer:
Barriers to communication can occur at any point in the communication process.
Answer:
A report can be as short as a two-paragraph email.
Answer:
The following statement eases the impact of the bad news by placing it in a subordinate
clause:
“Although a replacement is not provided by the terms of your warranty, we are happy to
offer you a 15% discount on your next purchase.”
Answer:
Purpose statements alone are too general to help you think strategically about the best
content to use.
Answer:
The main goal of an informational report is to help readers draw conclusions to solve
problems or support business decisions.
Answer:
Any proposal longer than five or six pages should include an executive summary, which
briefly summarizes the most important information.
Answer:
Although logic is critical for business decisions, you may also need to appeal to an
audience’s emotions to persuade them.
Answer:
Indicating you don’t know a company-specific acronym is a sign of weakness.
Answer:
During an interview, if you are asked about your greatest weakness, a good way to
respond is with a backhanded compliment, framing a strength as a supposed weakness.
Answer:
In the case of a standalone presentation, the slides should include every word you plan
to say.
Answer:
Good teams are results-oriented, meaning the team’s success is measured by results, not
effort.
Answer:
Light backgrounds work best for presentations intended to be read on a computer,
projected in a small or well-lit room, or printed for your audience.
Answer:
The analyzing phase of the ACE process is relatively unimportant in persuasive
situations.
Answer:
Employers often administer employability tests to measure an applicant’s personality
style, leadership qualities, and specific content knowledge related to the position.
Answer:
Academic research and workplace research have nothing in common.
Answer:
A functional résuméis a traditional format that organizes the content in sequential order,
starting with the most recent and working backward.
Answer:
Two elements are typical at the end of requests: (1) an expression of gratitude or thanks
and (2) a specific call for action that makes clear what you need and when you need it.
Answer:
Outlining is not recommended for brief messages, such as emails or short presentations
at a meeting.
Answer:
How you communicate your knowledge and skills through your professional brandwill
determine your job opportunities as well as your continued success throughout your
career.
Answer:
At your company, a number of routine office tasks are loosely shared among entry-level
employees, who perform these duties in addition to their specific job descriptions. This
often results in tasks being done late, poorly, or not at all. You suggest to your boss that
outsourcing this work might be a good idea. He is interested and asks you to research
and recommend a service provider.
Which of the following best articulates the research question you have been asked to
explore?
A) Is it fair to make entry-level employees do this additional work?
B) How can we train the entry-level employees so that they will be able to perform
these tasks in a more efficient manner?
C) Which outsourcing service provider would be the best for us?
D) Is outsourcing the best solution to our problem?
E) Why aren’t our entry-level employees responsible enough to get this work done
themselves?
Answer:
Which of the following statements would be best to include in this letter?
A) This increase will allow us to give well-deserved bonuses to our salespeople.
B) This increase will allow us to upgrade our infrastructures and better compete with
our rivals.
C) This increase will allow us to embark on an aggressive media campaign to woo new
clients.
D) This increase will allow us to provide you with additional benefits and with 24-hour
support.
E) This increase will allow us to pay down some long-term debt.
Answer:
A request to your audience to do you a favor requires more persuasion when ________.
A) it is easy for them to accomplish
B) it aligns with their plans
C) it requires them to choose between alternatives
D) it is something that they would be happy to do
E) it involves little or no effort on their part
Answer:
Which of the following benefits would be the best to emphasize when you find out that
the principal decision maker in your audience has sent out a memo urging cost-cutting
measures just a few days ago?
A) Implementing this program will help us progress toward the company’s long-term
technology initiative.
B) Implementing this program will better enable employees to complete their
assignments and increase employee morale.
C) Implementing this program will raise the prestige of the company in the eyes of the
media and consequently the general public.
D) Implementing this program will decrease the amount of time that is spent on routine
paperwork.
E) Implementing this program will eradicate the financial losses currently incurred due
to duplicated effort of employees.
Answer:
Candace is getting ready to attend her first career fair. She knows that you have already
been to several career fairs, so she asks you to help her prepare.
Which of the following is an improper guideline for Candace to follow while preparing
for the career fair?
A) She should get there early so that she’ll have more time to speak with recruiters.
B) She should survey the layout and make a plan as to which employers she wants to
visit, in which order.
C) She should dress like a businessperson, not a college student.
D) She should wait for recruiters to make the first move to start a conversation as a sign
of professionalism and respect.
E) She should research the companies and positions she is interested in prior to the
career fair, so that she will appear knowledgeable and interested.
Answer:
Which of the following statements is true about leadership?
A) The leader of a team must never be changed.
B) It is crucial for a team to have one single leader.
C) The person with the most creative ideas on the team must be its leader.
D) Leadership can rotate during different phases of a project.
E) A good leader always encourages groupthink.
Answer:
John, a sales executive, has written a trip report about his recent trip to Germany where
he met with some current and potential clients. Which of the following does NOT
describe a communication purpose of this trip report?
A) getting a picture of potential new business
B) planning resources for the potential new business
C) reviewing and evaluating follow-up plans for trip activities
D) serving as a checklist against which to measure progress on new business
opportunities
E) analyzing whether new business plans can be implemented as proposed
Answer:
Oftentimes, you cannot survey the entire population because there are simply too many
people to contact. In these cases, you can identify a representative portion of your
population which is referred to as a ________.
A) league
B) sample
C) cohort
D) clique
E) cluster
Answer:
Which of the following statements is most likely to be true about identifying your
weakness?
A) Identifying your weakness helps you identify your sellable qualities.
B) Being aware of your weaknesses has no benefits.
C) Knowing your weaknesses helps you identify areas for improvement.
D) Recognizing your weaknesses helps you in identifying an appropriate job location
for you.
E) Recognizing your weaknesses is counterproductive and wastes time.
Answer:
A report is prepared using a presentation software and much of the information in the
report is conveyed through graphs, diagrams, and other visual elements. This report is
created in the form of a(n) ________.
A) memo report
B) email report
C) letter report
D) formal report
E) presentation report deck
Answer:
Wikipedia is a website which allows several people to work with each other to develop
content and knowledge. This is an example of a(n) ________.
A) social bookmarking site
B) blog
C) online message board
D) crowdsourcing site
E) microblog
Answer:
You have prepared a presentation about a new program that you wish to have
implemented. You are planning to deliver it to various audiences within your company.
Which of the following benefits would be the best to emphasize when your primary
audience is from the human resources department?
A) Implementing this program will help us progress toward the company’s long-term
technology initiative.
B) Implementing this program will better enable employees to complete their
assignments and increase employee morale.
C) Implementing this program will raise the esteem of the company in the eyes of the
media and consequently the general public.
D) Implementing this program will enable the company to complete the projects at
lower costs.
E) Implementing this program will eradicate the financial losses currently incurred due
to duplicated efforts of employees.
Answer:
The question-and-answer session with the audience during your presentation ________.
A) helps you build your credibility by demonstrating your expertise and openness
B) is not an effective way to make your presentation interactive
C) does not allow you to deflect or address your audience’s criticism
D) undermines and trivializes the important parts of your presentation
E) does not allow you to emphasize and expand on important points
Answer:
A positive closing to a bad-news message ________.
A) refers to the negative news
B) apologizes for the bad news
C) is forward-looking
D) downplays a ‘silver lining”
E) reiterates the circumstances of the problem
Answer:
The concept of ________ comes from the film industry, and it helps you see the big
picture of the presentation before you get too involved in creating individual slides.
A) animations
B) a storyboard
C) a slide deck
D) message headlines
E) standalone presentation
Answer:
“Miranda, you spend so much time cleaning up the mess your department makes that
maybe you can help us figure out how to fix our problem.”
Which of the following best revises the statement above in unbiased language?
A) “Miranda, please tell us what you’d do if your department was responsible for this
mess.”
B) “Miranda you have the most experience with these issues since your department
makes most of the mistakes. So how would you handle this issue?”
C) “Miranda, you’re an old hand at cleaning up other people’s mess, so maybe you will
share the wisdom of your experience with us.”
D) “Miranda, you have a lot of experience with damage control, so maybe you can tell
us how you’d handle our situation.”
E) “Miranda, can you give us a crash course in how to fix this disaster?”
Answer:
A ________ interview brings together several job candidates who are interviewed at the
same time. This type of interview can use the standard Q&A format, or they can be
project-based action interviews.
A) group
B) telephone
C) panel
D) one-on-one
E) career fair
Answer:
You received a request for information that included a list of questions numbered 1
through 10. When you reply, ________.
A) answer the first five questions only, as 10 is too many to address in one message
B) include your answers ordered 1 through 10 as well
C) reorder the questions according to their relative importance
D) label your answers A through J, to downplay the inappropriately large number of
questions asked
E) answer only as many questions as you can fit on one page
Answer:
Jodi creates a short, informal report for a relatively large internal audience. After she
sends it she is anxious, because the medium she used for her report doesn’t offer a
guaranteed way to ensure it was received. Which of the following mediums was most
likely used by Jodi?
A) memo report
B) email report
C) letter report
D) formal report
E) presentation report deck
Answer:
At your company, a number of routine office tasks are loosely shared among entry-level
employees, who perform these duties in addition to their specific job descriptions. This
often results in tasks being done late, poorly, or not at all. You suggest to your boss that
outsourcing this work might be a good idea. He is interested and asks you to research
and recommend a service provider.
Articulate the research question presented to you by your boss, and discuss why you
might need to broaden or narrow it.
Answer:
It is recommended that you update your status________ so people in your network are
reminded about you and your job search.
A) twice a day
B) once in six months
C) weekly
D) once in three months
E) once a year
Answer:
Julia is majoring in art history, but isn’t sure whether she should pursue a career in the
art field. Which of the following could help her determine this through practical
experience?
A) getting an internship at a local business firm
B) working at an art gallery over the summer
C) volunteering at political rallies
D) working online for a technical writing firm
E) reading about careers in the art world in the Occupational Outlook Handbook
Answer:
Ginny is preparing to enter the workforce, and before she starts looking for a job, she is
analyzing her career goals. She starts with outlining her work experiences, identifying
areas of expertise, and listing other sellable qualities that employers value. This list
________.
A) once completed will not need to be updated for several years
B) will not be useful for tailoring her résumé for different jobs
C) should be updated frequently to reflect her current ‘skill inventory”
D) should only include skills acquired at an actual job
E) should not be used in the creation of résumés
Answer:
________ audience is the direct recipient of the message.
A) Primary
B) Incidental
C) Ancillary
D) Secondary
E) Peripheral
Answer:
________ are written reports of meetings.
A) Executive summaries
B) Minutes
C) Feasibility reports
D) Trip reports
E) Appendices
Answer:
Evaluating a bad-news message ________.
A) is a good idea, but not vital
B) involves only the typical evaluating questions that should be used to evaluate any
type of message
C) is less important than it is for other types of messages, as there is nothing you can do
to alter the fact that your audience won’t be receptive to bad news
D) should include determining if the message communicates a sense of goodwill to the
audience and whether it will achieve a good business result
E) should only be done if there is time to spare, since bad-news messages are often very
time sensitive
Answer:
Writer’s block ________.
A) occurs when you stop frequently during the drafting process to evaluate what you
have written before finishing your thoughts
B) is never a problem if you use the ACE process
C) is often the result of procrastination or impatience
D) is best dealt with by ignoring the editor in your brain while you write
E) can be overcome by writing the hardest parts of your message first
Answer:
Which of the following is worded most strongly and would be best to use in a message
that will be sent to people from different countries, cultures, and social groups?
A) I want to make sure that we are all on the same page.
B) Let’s make sure we’re all singing the same tune.
C) It’s mission critical that we’re all seeing this through one set of eyes.
D) Let’s be careful that we’re not on different wavelengths.
E) I want to be sure that we are in agreement on this issue.
Answer:
You are collaborating on a report with a coworker, and want to send him the latest
version of your document urgently. Which of the following statements is true regarding
collaborating in this case?
A) Typing out the report and mailing it to your colleague by post would be the fastest
way of delivering the report.
B) Uploading the document to the company intranet will deliver it to your coworker’s
mailbox.
C) You should use a public blog to discuss the changes you have made to the document.
D) Using a team wiki will allow both of you to constantly update the document within a
shared space.
E) The most efficient method would be to call your coworker on the telephone and
describe the changes you have made.
Answer:
________ means that a message uses no more words than are necessary to accomplish
its purpose.
A) Clarity
B) Appropriateness
C) Substitutability
D) Conciseness
E) Representativeness
Answer:
Why is the question of whether your audience is in the same room with you considered
part of setting analysis, and not part of audience analysis?
Answer:
What advantages does observational research offer over self-reported data from surveys
and interviews?
Answer:
Explain the significance of revising a message.
Answer:
Discuss what kinds of informational messages are NOT considered routine and why.
Answer:
How could you have avoided this breakdown in communication?
Answer:
When analyzing your strengths and skills, why do you think you should list even those
work experiences that don’t directly relate to the focus of your current job search?
Answer:
At the outset of your project, when you define research activities for your research
questions, you will know whether or not you will need to conduct primary research. Is
this true?
Answer:
According to Shawn, the reason proposals of more than three or four pages need to be
structured formally is one of perception: the longer the proposal the more important it is
and the formal structure tends to increase the length of the proposal. Do you agree?
Answer:
When interviewing, you want to come across as interested but not too eager. Discuss
how to balance these goals.
Answer:
How should you respond to the question, “What is your greatest weakness?”
Answer:
You are organizing a charity event to raise funds for the renovation of the community
tennis court. This event is going to include a two-day sports tournament among the high
school students in your locality. This will involve communicating with students, their
parents, school administrators, coaches, local businesses, and the general public.
Discuss some of the communication tasks and challenges you will face in organizing
this event.
Answer:
You need to inform one of your employees that you cannot give him a raise as he
requested, though you are pleased with his job performance. Your first draft to
communicate this information is below. If your desired outcome is to retain this
employee at your company despite not getting a raise, how might you revise this draft?
I acknowledge the contributions that you have made to the company, but I cannot give
you a raise at this time.
Answer:
What are the various ways in which you can shrink the size of a presentation file?
Answer:
Anita wants to recommend that her company cafeteria should find a new food service
provider that serves healthier food with an emphasis on products from local farms and
food purveyors. She plans to initiate this discussion with an email. Create an outline
that Anita could use to write this email.
Answer:
Max is going to make a presentation to his boss regarding a flex-time schedule. Max
knows that his boss does not accept arguments based solely on employee happiness or
satisfaction. Discuss how knowing this could impact Max’s presentation.
Answer:
You are working on a report that will recommend a service provider to whom your
company can outsource some routine office tasks. Your report will be divided into the
following sections: background information, methods, analysis of data,
recommendations. Create a heading for each of these sections.
Answer:
While composing the content of your message, is it a good idea to switch between
drafting and revising?
Answer:
Describe the nonverbal communication in this situation. How does it impact the
meaning of Carol’s words.
Answer:
What is the point of sending “for-your-information” messages, if they are not related to
business information?
Answer: