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14 Interviewing for a Job and Preparing
Employment Messages
IN THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL FIND:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
KEY CONCEPTS
KEY TERMS
CHAPTER OUTLINE
TEACHING SUGGESTIONS
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
REVIEW QUESTIONS & SUGGESTED ANSWERS
FEATURED ASSIGNMENTS
ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS
CASE ASSIGHMENT
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1Explain the nature of structured, unstructured, stress, group, and virtual interviews.
2Explain the steps in the interview process.
3Prepare effective answers to questions often asked in job interviews, including illegal
interview questions.
4Compose effective messages related to employment (including application, follow-up,
thank-you, job-acceptance, job-refusal, resignation, and recommendation request messages).
KEY CONCEPTS
Because it is probably the type of interview most familiar and of most concern to students, the
employment interview receives primary emphasis in Chapter 14. Additionally, employment
interviews are a logical continuation of the resume and application-message topics in Chapter 13.
Students are exposed to traditional interviews, as well as more contemporary techniques
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
1
including computer-assisted, stress, series, and virtual interviews. The chapter gives special
attention to preparation for interviews, interview behavior and feedback techniques (paraphrasing
and questioning), and dress and grooming.
KEY TERMS
TERM PAGE TERM PAGE
Stress interview 259 Unstructured interview 259
Structured interview 259 Virtual interview 260
CHAPTER OUTLINE
14-1 Understanding Types of Employment Interviews 259
14-1a Structured Interviews 259
14-1b Unstructured Interviews 259
14-1c Stress Interviews 259
14-1d Series Interviews 260
14-1e Phone Interviews 260
14-1f Virtual Interviews 260
14-2 Preparing for an Interview 261
14-2a Research the Company 261
14-2b Study Yourself 262
14-2c Plan Your Appearance 262
14-2d Plan Your Time and Materials 263
14-2e Practice 263
14-3 Conducting a Successful Interview 263
14-3a The Opening Formalities 263
14-3b The Information Exchange 264
14-3c The Closing 268
14-3d Additional Considerations for Phone Interviews 268
14-4 Preparing Other Employment Messages 269
14-4a Application Forms 269
14-4b Follow-Up Messages 269
14-4c Thank-You Messages 269
14-4d Job-Acceptance Messages 270
14-4e Job-Refusal Messages 270
14-4f Resignation Messages 270
14-4g Recommendation Requests 272
TEACHING SUGGESTIONS
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1
Explain the nature of structured, unstructured, stress, group, and virtual interviews.
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
2
Types of Employment Interviews
Invite guest speakers to discuss the job search process, effective interviewing techniques,
business protocol, and performance appraisal interviews. Consider former students, local
human resources professors or managers, business protocol professors, communication
consultants, officials in the school’s career services center, or local employment agents.
Emphasize to students that the traditional one-on-one interview scenario is not the only
possible interviewing arrangement. Discuss the various job interviewing arrangements.
Ask students to discuss their experiences with job interviews.
Structured interviews
Lead a discussion of the purposes of the behavior-based interview.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of computer-assisted interviews as an alternative to
traditional face-to-face interviewing.
Unstructured interviews
Emphasize that the goal of an unstructured interview is to determine the applicant’s ability to
speak comfortably about a wide range of topics. Lead a discussion of types of unstructured
interviews: stress, group, and virtual.
Virtual Interviews
Lead a discussion as to how a virtual interview differs from a traditional one.
How should the candidate prepare for a virtual interview? What factors would be of concern
that would not figure in a traditional interview?
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2
Explain the steps in the interview process.
Preparing for an Interview
Discuss preparation for an interview. Remind students that preparing is as important as
actually showing for the interview.
Discuss the various places for obtaining information about the company, the position, and the
career paths available.
Discuss when an interviewer forms an impression of the job candidate—in the first 15–30
seconds of the interaction. Remind students that overcoming a negative first impression is
more difficult than forming a good first impression. They want to spend their interview time
strengthening the tie between their qualifications and their job under discussion, not
overcoming a negative first impression.
Initiate a discussion related to the appropriate attire for an interview. Ask students if the
culture of the organization for which the interview will be conducted affects the dress code
for the interview? Stress that good advice is to err on the side of formality rather than
informality when dressing for an interview. Students will benefit from actually experiencing
and witnessing recommended attire. You may ask students to investigate the topic further by
locating current articles on the topic.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3
Prepare effective answers to questions often asked in job interviews, including illegal interview
questions.
Practice for the Interview
Stress that students focus on the total picture:
How you listen and talk
Your actions, mannerisms, and appearance
Your education, experience, activities
Discuss the importance of practice so that communication in the interview is smooth,
confident and professional. Discuss the following steps in exchanging information:
List five or six key points that you want to emphasize.
Discuss the balance of soft and hard skills. Remind students that they must be able to present
job-related skills and people skills during an interview. Most employers are not interested in
an applicant with zero people skills, even if he or she has more applicable job skills than
other candidates.
In small groups, have students prepare a list of behaviors that might convey a professional
attitude to an interviewer.
Be prepared to answer standard interview questions.
Discuss standard questions an interviewee might ask an interviewer.
Discuss answering an interview question about weaknesses. Remind students that everyone
has weaknesses. Their answer should show awareness of a weakness that will not have a
negative effect on their job worthiness.
In small groups have students practice answering standard interview questions.
Be prepared to answer behavioral questions.
Discuss typical behavioral questions
In small groups have students practice answering behavioral questions.
Consider asking students to provide answers to five questions (any of the questions discussed
in the text or on the slides) as an assignment for this chapter. Writing their job-specific
answers to these questions will help them prepare for the interview process. Refer students to
helpful web sites for additional interview questions, both basic and job-focused.
Be prepared to demonstrate logical thinking and creativity.
Be prepared to discuss salary and benefits.
In small groups have students role-play the interaction of an interviewer and an applicant
concerning salary.
Be knowledgeable of interview questions that might lead to discriminatory hiring practices.
Discuss possible illegal interview questions and strategies for answering them.
Requires students to respond to challenging interview questions, including some that are
possibly illegal.
Be prepared to ask the interviewer questions.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Remind students an interviewer is not the only one making a decision during the interview
process. The job applicant or interviewee also must decide whether the position and the
company are right for him or her.
Remind students that they should be prepared to “interview the company” as part of the
process. Tell students to consider: “Are the company’s values the same as yours? Does the
work environment fit with what you need? Does this position fit the goals you outlined at the
beginning of your job search process?”
Asking Questions of the Interviewer
If you wish to cover the interviewer’s role, discuss effective interviewing techniques for
interviewers.
Activities and Assignments for interview practice.
In small groups, have students prepare a list of behaviors that might convey a professional
attitude to an interviewer.
Arrange for two volunteers to demonstrate an effective (and ineffective) job interview before
the entire class to provide a model for mock interviews in teams. This demonstration is an
excellent opportunity to use the expertise of resource persons, for example, human resources
management professors or practitioners, career services personnel, or students with special
communication abilities (students who have completed a full semester course in
interviewing).
Have students participate in mock interviews. As a suggestion, have four students work as a
team. One plays a role as interviewer, another as interviewee, and two serve as observers to
provide critiques of the effectiveness of the interview. Teams should continue mock
interviews until all members have an opportunity to be both interviewer and interviewee.
Require students to distribute copies of their résumés to other team members. To increase the
effectiveness of the mock interviews, complete these activities prior to the interviews:
Have students research a company and writing ten original questions that could be
asked during a job interview.
Require students to write interview questions based on a peer’s résumé. Discuss
students’ responses in class.
Have students investigate and demonstrate appropriate and inappropriate nonverbal
messages. Discuss some of the nonverbal signals that create good/bad impressions—
especially during the first four minutes.
Following the interviews, have students discuss or describe the following:
Summary of the strengths and detailed description of the areas needing improvement
before the next interview.
Significant points discussed during the interview that can be used in a thank-you
letter.
Conducting a Successful Interview
Introduce the discussion by noting the typical interview has three parts: (a) the opening
formalities, (b) the information exchange, and (c) the close. Then, initiate a discussion of
effective strategies for each part.
Ask students if they have ever heard the expression, “You never get a second chance to make
a first impression.”
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Remind students that most interviewers make their decisions about “no” or “maybe” as a
potential in the FIRST FOUR MINUTES. Stress the importance of that first impression based
on dress, nonverbal communication, confidence, and demeanor.
The Opening Formalities
Discuss effective interviewee behaviors.
Emphasize the importance of nonverbal behaviors and messages in the interview process.
The Information Exchange
Open discussion with pointers on how to display a professional attitude throughout the
interview.
Communicate sincere interest in the company.
Focus on satisfaction gained from your contributions to the company rather than the benefits
received.
Show humanness
The Closing
Advise students: Watch interviewer for closing cues and respond tactfully.
If you really want the job, ask for it.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4
Compose effective messages related to employment (including application, follow-up, thank-you,
job-acceptance, job-refusal, resignation, and recommendation request messages).
Preparing Other Employment Messages
Discuss the various employment messages other than the résumé and application that students
will be required to write.
Refer students to the good examples illustrated in the text as you lead a discussion of each of
these messages. Assign one or more of the related activities.
Discuss choosing an appropriate medium (letter or email) for sending the types of messages
indicated in the table below. Tell students to consider the company and the preferences of the
interviewers when determining the channel for thank-you, job, acceptance, job-refusal, or
resignation messages.
Show examples of appropriate follow-up messages listed below.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1Subscribing to a Career Newsletter: Subscribe to the career newsletter at
http://www.quintcareers.com under “Career Tools” or to a newsletter from a career website
of your choosing. Create a career file that contains the following information about your
selected career field:
a. Outlook for job openings.
b. Typical starting salaries by region.
c. Minimum requirements.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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d. Desired skills and experience.
e. Networking opportunities.
f. Recommended interview strategies.
g. Potential for advancement.
Submit your file to your instructor for review or use it as directed.
Evaluate based on the guidelines for effective self-marketing discussed in this and previous
chapters.
1. Preparing to Answer Interview Questions Effectively: Considering your career field,
compose a list of potential questions you might be asked in a job interview. As directed by
your instructor, complete one or more of the following:
a. Divide into groups of three and discuss appropriate answers to the interview questions.
b. Revise your answers, incorporating relevant feedback and being sure that the answers
are truthful and reflect your individual personality.
c. Conduct mock interviews, with one person portraying the interviewer, the second person
portraying the interviewee, and the third person performing a critique of the interview.
Discuss the results of the critique.
To shorten this assignment without sacrificing content, divide the questions equally among class
members. Discuss each question, giving students ample time to write notes about questions they
were not required to answer.
2. Developing Appropriate Interview Questions: Bring a copy of your résumé to class and
exchange it with another student. Assume you are an employer who has received the résumé
for one of the following positions:
a. A part-time job visiting high schools to sell seniors on the idea of attending your school.
b. A full-time summer job as a management intern in a local bank.
c. A campus job as an assistant in your school president’s office.
Write several appropriate interview questions based on the résumé. With the other student,
take turns playing the part of the interviewer and the interviewee. Critique each other’s
ability to answer the questions effectively.
Student responses will vary. Sample questions shown below:
How will the skills you obtained in your past employment aid you in this position?
What is your most important strength?
In what communication area are you the weakest and what are you doing to try to strengthen
your skills?
Give me one example of how you used your problem-solving skills to aid your employer.
Why do you want this job?
3. Responding to Challenging Interview Questions: Your instructor will divide the class into
pairs. One member will send an email message; the other will respond. The sender will
compose an email message to the other member asking for a thoughtful response to five
tough interview questions. At least one of the questions should be sensitive in nature (possibly
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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illegal or quite close). The team member receiving the message will email answers to the five
questions. Send your instructor a copy of the original message and the answers to the
questions. The instructor may ask that you reverse roles so that each of you has experience
composing and answering difficult interview questions.
Prepare visuals and show some of the more interesting questions posed, along with their answers.
Lead a discussion of other possible appropriate answers to the questions. Lead students in a
discussion of some unusual questions they have been asked in interview situations and how they
responded.
4. Critiquing a Job Application: Obtain a copy of a job application and bring it to class. In
small groups, critique each application, commenting on the appropriateness of items
included. Discuss how you would respond to each item. Share with the class any items you
felt were inappropriate or illegal and how you would respond.
Student responses will vary but should focus on illegal information asked for, space allowed for
providing information, and the general ease of using the application
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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