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Appendix A
Competent Interviewing
CHAPTER OUTCOMES
• Define the nature of interviews
• Outline the different types of interviews
• Devise an interview strategy from the interviewer’s point of view
• Secure job interviews and manage them with confidence
LECTURE NOTES
• The Nature of Interviews defines what an interview is and explores its main characteristics.
• An interview is a deliberate and purposeful transaction between two parties. Interviews are:
○ Planned, having a purpose that goes beyond the establishment and development of a
relationship
○ Goal-driven, meaning that a goal exists ahead of the interaction and requires a strategy for its
implementation and achievement
○ Structured, with the goal being defined at the beginning, and one party exerting more control
during the interaction than the other party
○ Dyadic, involving two parties or groups that may consist of multiple individuals
○ Transactional, involving two-way communication in which each party takes turns speaking
opinions of the interviewee.
− An interrogation persuasively pressures the interviewee for information. They
include:
• Problem-solving interviews, dealing with problems, tensions, or conflicts
• Motivational interviews, using goal-oriented questions designed to strengthen
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
• Exit Interviews involve employees who are leaving a place of employment and identify
organizational problems or strengths.
• Selection Interviews are used to fill a position in an organization, with job interviews being a
prime example.
• Interview Format reviews the basic format most interviews follow, regardless of the situation.
○ There are three parts of an interview: The Opening, The Questions, and The Conclusion.
○ The interview should open with the topic and length (the task), something about the
interviewer and how information will be used (the relationship), and who will benefit (the
motivation).
○ The questions and answers accomplish the goals of the interview.
− Open questions give the interviewee freedom to respond and are useful when the
− The funnel sequence starts with broad questions and moves to narrower ones.
− The inverted funnel sequence starts with narrow questions and moves to broad ones.
− The tunnel sequence puts all the questions on the same level (broad or narrow).
• Roles and Responsibilities in Interviews identifies key behaviors necessary for the
interviewer and interviewee.
○ Shared Responsibilities include adapting to the person or situation by:
− Using appropriate verbal and nonverbal behavior
− Being mindful of the other person’s culture
• The Job Interview helps students to secure job interviews and manage them with confidence.
○ Get the Interview is the first step in the process and involves the following three phases:
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© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
○ Conduct the Interview by using verbal and nonverbal impression management.
− Come prepared to answer standard questions about your abilities, desire, personality,
character, and health.
− Answer difficult questions honestly but be brief; decline to answer or defuse questions
that are unlawful.
− Ask thoughtful questions about the position and the organization.
− Follow up with a note of thanks.
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What are some different types of interviews that you have had? What did you find successful
about them? Unsuccessful?
2. What are common interviewing questions that are general in nature? What are some good
ways to answer those questions?
3. What makes for a good interview question? What about a less-effective or bad question?
4. What are some ways to network with others while you are in school?
5. When are some important times to use closed questions? Open questions?
• Reinforce to students that open questions are used to gather general information, while
closed questions are used to gather more specific information.
PERSONAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
1. Reflecting on an Interview
received from the two groups different? If so, how? How were the responses similar? When
your interviews are complete, reflect on the most important thing you have learned from
doing this assignment and write your impressions in a two- to three-page paper.
3. Communicating Myself
Find a job that you may want to apply for now (with your current experience, such as a
experience). Design a cover letter and résumé for this position. Take the résumé to the
campus career services office for their review. What did you learn about creating these
documents after going through this process? Refer to the And You? on p. 000 of the text,
which talks about having a solid résumé pulled together at all times. If you’ve done this
before, how has the experience changed this time, if at all? Write a one- to two-page paper
that reflects on the process. Make sure you include copies of your draft résumé and cover
letter as well as your final résumé and cover letter as part of your completed assignment.
4. Interviewing the Stars
interview and write down five questions you would ask. What would your goal be for the
1. Interview Me!
2. Specific job descriptions for each group of students
Directions:
2. Each student in the group should select a job that interests them from the list you supply.
3. Have the students in each group take turns interviewing each other for the specific job
that they have chosen. One person will act as interviewer, one as interviewee, and one as
4. Each “interview” should last ten to fifteen minutes. Students should switch roles after
each interview.
2. I Want That Job!
Goal: To have students practice the informational interview and to gather information about a
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
Time Required: Twenty minutes for discussion, plus at least one to two weeks for students to
hold interviews
Materials: None Directions:
1. Have students identify a position in an organization that they would like to hold someday.
2. Have them identify a person who holds that position (or one similar) and arrange an
informational interview with that person. The goal of this interview should be to gather
3. Students should prepare notes or a brief, one- to two-page paper describing their
experiences from beginning to end and be prepared to discuss this with the class.
Debriefing: Have students discuss what they learned in their interviews. What was the most
4. The second person will then speak for three minutes, and the groups will repeat the
summarizing process. For the triad group, have one person sit out as observer each round,
4. I Can’t Believe They Did That
Goal: To have students distinguish proper interviewing behavior from poor interviewing
1. Have students pair up (or volunteer) and act out, in front of the rest of the class, the
2. Ask the rest of the class to detail what mistake(s) are being made in this job interview.
Debriefing: Many of these instances seem unbelievable, but remind students that these
1. List the types of interviews discussed in the text and describe which ones you have
participated in.
2. What is an open question? A closed question? A bipolar question? Give examples of each.
4. Explain the funnel sequence, the inverted funnel sequence, and the tunnel sequence. When is
it appropriate to use each type of sequence?
how, through both the work of Lee Mun Wah and through interviewing each other, these
men are able to work through difficult issues. Discuss with students which techniques the
director used throughout the film to conduct the interviews. Were some techniques more
or less effective than others?
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who faced each other in a series of 1977 interviews. When broadcast, the interviews
revealed Nixon’s hubristic interpretation of executive privilege. It’s fascinating to watch
Frost pursue his agenda, which is gaining public credibility, while Nixon pursues his own
murder of a Kansas family. Part of his research involved extensive interviews with one of
the killers, Perry Smith, who is on death row. In Cold Blood was the result of this
research. Have students examine Capote’s behavior and character to determine what
makes for a successful interviewer.
