Chapter 15: Using Communication Skills
As You Enter the Workplace
Chapter Objectives and Integrator Guide
After reading and thinking about this chapter, students should be able to:
Objective
Resources
1. Discuss some of the
contemporary jobs in the
communication field.
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 325
Study Question 1 (p. 347)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 1: Using Communication Skills in your
Career
Activity 15.1: Communication Skills in Everyday Life
2. Describe your skills
effectively in a resume.
Key Terms: Style, objective
statement, chronological resume,
and functional resume.
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 325–334
Table 15.1: Contemporary Jobs in Communication
Figure 15.1: The Skills Most Commonly Sought by Employers
Figure 15.2: A Sample Chronological Resume
Table 15.2: Action Verbs for Resumes
Figure 15.3: Educational Attainment in the United States
Figure 15.4: A Sample Functional Resume
Figure 15.5: The Top 10 Attributes Employers Look for on a
Resume
Study Question 2 (p. 347)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 2: Considering your Resume
Activity 15.2: Action Verbs and Resume Job Descriptions
3. Create a compelling cover
letter for a job application
packet that highlights why a
company should hire you.
Key Terms: Cover letter.
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 334–337
Figure 15.6: The Parts of a Cover Letter
Figure 15.7: A Sample Cover Letter
Connecting Globally: Use Social Media and Face–to-Face
Communication in Job Searches (p. 337)
Study Question 3 (p. 347)
IM Resources:
Activity 15.3: Cover Letter Critique
4. Know how to present
yourself effectively and
appropriately during a job
interview.
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 337–339
Study Question 4 (p. 347)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 4: Communicating Effectively across the
Different Types of Job Interviews
Activity 15.4: A Medical Interview in Cyberspace
5. Respond to behavioral-
based job interview
questions to create a lasting
impression about you as a
candidate.
Key Terms: Job description,
behavioral-based interview
questions, and experience
inventory.
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 339–342
Skill Builder: Practice Behavioral-Based Interviewing (p. 342)
Study Question 5 (p. 347)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 5: Motivations for Behavioral-Based
Interviewing
Activity 15.5: Practices Job Interviews
6. Identify at least three ways to
network effectively
throughout college.
Key Terms: Weak ties and strong
ties.
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 342–346
Challenge Yourself: How in the world am I going to get a job
when I graduate? I have limited professional experience and
am not all that great at networking. What should I do? (p.
345)
Study Question 6 (p. 347)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 6: Network Now
Activity 15.6: Observing an Informational Interview
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Chapter Outline
I. Contemporary Jobs in Communication
A. What can you do with a communication degree?
i. The communication field covers many subdisciplines, including
public relations, advertising, business communication, journalism,
B. Hiring new employees with communication skills training is a top priority
for those in hiring positions.
II. Producing a Winning Resume
A. Style
i. Style refers to the way you use language and grammar to construct
your written materials.
ii. Set a more formal tone in your resume by avoiding slang, casual
language, or emoticons.
iii. Several stylistic conventions are unique to resumes.
2. Descriptive clauses related to current employment begin with
present-tense action verbs, and previous experiences begin
with past-tense action verbs.
B. Content
i. Key content for your resume include your contact information,
education, experience, skills, and honors and activities.
ii. Pay attention to the information you highlight on your resume and
tailor the content to speak to the most crucial aspects of the job that
you are preparing the resume for.
iii. Quantify information – as much as possible provide concrete
information to illustrate the scope of your accomplishments.
iv. Be consistent – whatever stylistic decisions you make about your
resume, adhere to them.
v. Be concise – you do not have to put all your information in a
resume. It should be viewed as an appetizer.
vi. Be neat – employers judge you and your capability in part on the
physical appearance of your resume. Proofread it.
vii. Include an objective statement which is an articular of your goal for
the resume.
viii. Highlight your education – in summarizing your education you
should include the degrees you have been awarded, your
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C. Format
i. A chronological resume organizess your credentials over time.
1. This has long been the standard, and despite all the
3. Begin with your present or most recent job and continue
back.
ii. A functional resume organizes your experience by the type of
function performed.
1. If you have had a variety of career paths, a functional
2. Functional resumes give you an opportunity to focus on the
3. If you put together a functional resume, begin by studying
4. Below are the top ten attributes employers look for when
evaluating resumes. You might use some of these as
categories on a functional resume.
a. Leadership skills
b. Problem-solving skills
c. Written communication skills
d. Teamworking skills
III. Writing a Convincing Cover Letter
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A. A cover letter persuasively illustrates the ways in which you and your
credentials match the job description.
B. Cover letters have four main sections:
i. Attention – gain the reader’s attention by stating some basic facts
about the position, how you heard about it, and your general
qualifications.
IV. Mastering the Job Interview
A. Types of job interviews
i. Mediated interviews – before you have the opportunity to meet a
potential employer face-to-face, chances are you will be expected
to participate in either a phone or video format interview.
ii. For a phone interview, keep a notepad handy, write down names
and vocal identifiers of each person’s voice. Then, use people’s
B. Create a good first impression
i. First impressions are critical in a job interview.
ii. You have about 30 seconds to create a positive first impression.
iii. Dress appropriately by matching the style of dress of the
interviewer. If in doubt, dress more formally, conservatively, and
modestly.
C. Speak with clarity
i. The way you use grammar can deeply influence the impressions
others form about you in professional settings.
D. Demonstrate interest
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ii. One way to demonstrate interest is through strong eye contact.
iii. Use body language to show interest, such as smiling, nodding, and
giving nonverbal feedback to the interviewer about your interest in
the position.
V. More Tips for the Interview
A. Understand the job
i. A job description defines the content and scope of a position.
B. Understand the company
i. Taking time to carefully research the company will showcase your
initiative, help you be conversant, and prepare you ask better
questions.
ii. Check your library for specialized resources about companies.
C. Prepare for behavioral-based interview questions.
i. Behavioral-based interview questions ask the interviewee to
describe a situation or an experience that demonstrates skills that
are relevant to the position at the company.
ii. Creating an experience inventory is one way to prepare for
behavioral-based interview questions. An experience inventory is a
areas:
1. Job skills and overall work experience
3. Maturity and judgment
5. Relationships
7. Work attitude
9. Leadership
iii. Guidelines for answering behavioral-based interview questions
you.
4. Connect this lesson to the organization, if possible.
VI. Building Connections
A. Use social media to expand your professional network
i. Make effective use of job-related social media sites like LinkedIn
that can help you build a strong professional network.
B. Use internships as a networking opportunity
i. An internship is an investment in yourself and your future.
iii. Internships provide a short-term, low-risk way to explore career
options.
iv. Internships are a great way to expand your professional network.
When you begin your career search, weak ties will play an
important role.
1. Weak ties are people whom you do know very well and who
do not have a strong relationship with you
2. Strong ties are people with whom you have a well-developed
relationship and to whom you turn for advice frequently.
C. Use the informational interview to learn
i. Before the interview
1. Do your homework – be knowledgeable about the company,
2. Prepare appropriate questions – the types of questions you
3. Make connections to information discovered from your
research.
4. Before the interview begins, ask if you can use an audio
recorder to focus your attention on the person and their
responses.
ii. During the interview
2. Be flexible – your interviewee may answer two or three of
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3. Practice active listening techniques – show that you care
4. Allow the interviewee to ask you questions.
iii. After the interview
2. Send a thank-you note to the person you interviewed.
3. Finally, if appropriate, ask the person if you can add them to
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Discussion Starters
1. Using Communication Skills in your Career: Consider a few of the jobs that you
2. Considering your Resume: Consider your life experiences and skills to date. What
do you think is most central to communicate on your resume? How might you
highlight your development of these areas of your life experiences in different ways
3. Cover Letters: Why is a cover letter a persuasive document? How might you talk
about your qualifications differently in this letter than in your resume? What can you
4. Communicating Effectively across the Different Types of Job Interviews:
Consider the different types of job interviews that you have had experience with to
date. What are some things that you have learned about communicating your skills
and accomplishments in different types of interview formats? What do you think are
5. Motivations for Behavioral-Based Interviewing: Why do you think more
employers have transitioned to using behavioral-based interview questions? How
6. Network Now: How might you network in different ways as you progress throughout
college? Does one of the methods for networking seem more comfortable to you,
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Activities
ACTIVITY 15.1 COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN EVERYDAY LIFE
Purpose: The objective of this activity is to actively engage students in observing
communication skills that they see every day. The purpose would be for them to see
practices to imitate and behavior to avoid.
Procedure: Ask students to start observing professors, politicians, clergy, government
officials, and even entertainers to see what they do to get their message across to the
audience.
Debriefing: Occasionally, ask in class if anyone has observed any interesting methods
that speakers use to communicate with an audience. Especially look for methods that
students could use in their presentations and for behavior that they should avoid. You
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ACTIVITY 15.2 ACTION VERBS AND RESUME JOB DESCRIPTIONS
Purpose: Students will gain experience thinking about their resume content with this
activity. Specifically, this activity explores action verbs, work history, and experiences
for resumes.
Procedure: Divide students into pairs, and ask each of them to identify a previous job
or experience with tasks that they are having difficulty effectively describing, or a job
that they simply have not given much thought to describing in an appealing way on their
resume.
Next, the students should work in pairs to come up with 3-4 short descriptions of tasks
completed that start with strong action verbs and that are not complete sentences. After
they come up with 3-4 descriptions, ask them to label them in terms of which functions
Debriefing: After completing this activity, students should have more feedback about
an experience or job that was difficult to describe effectively for employers. As a follow-
up, you might have students ask interview questions about the resume descriptions
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ACTIVITY 15.3 COVER LETTER CRITQUE
Purpose: Students are not always sure about how to highlight their experiences in
different ways on their cover letter versus their resume. This activity helps students
explore unique ways to use the cover letter as a persuasive document.
Procedure: Ask each student to find someone they know who has gotten a job in the
last six months. Ask them to solicit the person’s cover letter and resume and bring them
to class to learn from their success. Divide the students into dyads. Ask the students to
As a variation to this activity you might ask students to find a job they would be
interested in applying for on an online job website like Monster.com. Ask them to print
off the job description and bring it to class. Then, ask students to think about the
information they have on their resume in conjunction with the job description. Have
Debriefing: Spending more time analyzing and creating potential cover letters will help
students to better take advantage of opportunities for jobs that they are interested in
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ACTIVITY 15.4 A MEDICAL INTERVIEW IN CYBERSPACE
Purpose: Students should be able to analyze the impact of technological advances on
training healthcare providers and patients to participate in medical interviews.
Procedure: Before class, require students to complete the Marshall University
Interactive Patient computer simulation. (Find this website by searching for “Marshall
University Interactive Patient” in any search engine.) As an alternative, complete the
Ask students what types of verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors are
enhanced with the use of the computer simulation. What types of communication
behaviors are hindered with the use of the computer simulation? From a communication
Debriefing: While this activity certainly allows students to explore the medical
interviewing context, class discussion often allows students to connect interviewing
techniques to broader social structures, illustrating how technology has implications for
the medical profession and beyond. This activity will allow students to see how
technology can impact the interviewing context.
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ACTIVITY 15.5 PRACTICE JOB INTERVIEWS
Purpose: Students will gain experience as both employer and job applicant during
employment interviews.
Procedure: Pair students up. Before class require that the student applicant provide his
or her partner with a job description and résumé. The student employer will use those
As a class or individually, provide feedback to student applicants and employers about
their interviewing performances. Allow students the opportunity to talk about
communication anxiety or other issues related to the role-playing experience.
Debriefing: This role-playing experience provides students with the opportunity to
develop their communication skills for the interview context.
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ACTIVITY 15.6 OBSERVING AN INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW
Purpose: Students should be able to critique a mediated example of an informational
interview.
Procedure: Bring in a videotape of an informational or probing interview from popular
culture. Good examples include interviews from morning news shows or talk shows.
After watching the interview, have students talk about the interviewing style of the
During class discussions, have students reflect on the overall success of the interview.
What was the interviewer’s goal? Who is the target audience of the interview? Does the
audience change the nature of the relationship between the interviewee and
interviewer? Were the styles of both parties appropriate for the context at hand?
Debriefing: Although this chapter focuses on a very pragmatic form of interviewing—
the employment interview—other types of interviews are commonplace. The journalistic
interview is common in the mass media. By observing such interviews, students can