I N T E R V I E W I N G Principles and Practices Thirteenth Edition Charles J. Stewart Purdue University William B. Cash Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Chapter 1 An Introduction to Interviewing

1-3 Chapter Summary An Introduction to Interviewing The Essential Elements of Interviews Traditional Forms of Interviewing Nontraditional Forms of Interviewing Summary

1-4 Introduction Interviews share characteristics with intimate interactions, social conversations, small groups, and presentations, but are significantly different. Interviews are distinguishable from other forms of interpersonal communication, and can be viewed as a relational form of communication.

1-5 The Essential Elements of Interviews The Five Elements of Interviews ▫Interactional  An interview is interactional because there is an exchanging, or sharing, of roles, responsibilities, feelings, beliefs, motives, and information.  Roles may switch from moment to moment.  It takes two to make an interview a success.  Roles may switch from moment to moment.  It takes two to make an interview a success.  Disclosure is essential in interviews.  All interviews involve risk.

1-6 The Essential Elements of Interviews Process ▫An interview is a complex, ever-changing process. ▫No interview occurs in a vacuum. ▫Once initiated, the interview is an ongoing process.

1-7 The Essential Elements of Interviews Parties ▫A dyadic process involves two parties. ▫If more than two parties are involved, a small group interaction may be occurring, but not an interview.

1-8 The Essential Elements of Interviews Purpose ▫All interviews have a degree of structure. ▫An interview is a conversation and much more.

1-9 The Essential Elements of Interviews Questions ▫All interviews involve questions and answers. ▫Questions play multiple roles in interviews.

1-10 Traditional Forms of Interviewing Information-Giving Interviews ▫Occur whenever two parties take part in orienting, training, coaching, instructing, and briefing sessions ▫Primary purpose is to exchange information

1-11 Traditional Forms of Interviewing Information-Gathering Interviews ▫Occur whenever two parties take part in surveys, exit interviews, research sessions, investigations, diagnostic sessions, journalistic interviews, and brief requests for information ▫The interviewer’s primary purpose is to gather accurate, insightful, and useful information through the skillful use of questions, many created and phrased carefully prior to the interview and others created on the spot to probe carefully into interviewee responses, attitudes, and feelings

1-12 Traditional Forms of Interviewing Selection Interviews ▫The most common form takes place between a recruiter attempting to select the best qualified applicant for a position in an organization and an applicant attempting to attain this position ▫The placement interview occurs when an interviewer is trying to determine the ideal placement of a staff member already a part of the organization

1-13 Traditional Forms of Interviewing Reviewing the Interviewee’s Behavior ▫When two parties focus on the interviewee’s skills, performance, abilities, or behavior ▫The emphasis is on coaching a student, employee, or team member to continue that which is good and to set goals for future performance ▫If the personal or organizational problem is severe, the interview may move from an emphasis on counseling to a reprimand, disciplinary action, or dismissal

1-14 Traditional Forms of Interviewing Reviewing the Interviewer’s Behavior ▫The emphasis is on the interviewer’s behavior, performance, or attitudes ▫Common settings involve receipt of complaints about grades, services, products, or reactions ▫These settings are often interviewee-initiated

1-15 Traditional Forms of Interviewing Persuasion ▫Occurs whenever one party attempts to alter or reinforce the thinking, feeling, or acting of another party ▫May be formal or informal

1-16 Nontraditional Forms of Interviewing The Focus Group Interview ▫Consists of a small group of people (usually 6 or 12) as an interviewee party and a highly skilled interviewer (moderator or facilitator) who asks a carefully selected, small set of questions that focus on a specific topic ▫The emphasis is on opinions, insights, and responses gleaned from careful listening and recording that may generate research hypotheses, stimulate new ideas and creativity, analyze potential problems, and generate impressions of new products, services, advertisements, and campaign strategies

1-17 Nontraditional Forms of Interviewing The Telephone Interview ▫Used to conduct initial employment screening interviews, fund-raising campaigns, and opinion polls to save time, reduce monetary expenses, and eliminate the time necessary to send staff to numerous locations ▫A major problem is the lack of “presence” of parties

1-18 Nontraditional Forms of Interviewing The Videoconference Interview ▫Interviewees should be aware of the length of their answers to enhance turn-taking and avoid the appearance of trying to dominate the interview ▫Interviewees should be aware of the importance of upper-body movement, gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions that will attract favorable and unfavorable attention ▫Speak up so you can be heard easily, dress conservatively in solid colors, look at the camera full- face, limit movements, try to forget about the camera, expect some lag time between questions and responses

1-19 Nontraditional Forms of Interviewing The Interview ▫Has enabled large numbers of people to make inquiries, send and receive information, and discuss problems at any time of the day or night and nearly anywhere in the world ▫One obstacle is the reluctance of parties to type lengthy answers to questions that they can provide easily in person or over the telephone.

1-20 Nontraditional Forms of Interviewing The Virtual Interview ▫Some organizations are conducting virtual job fairs because they are cheaper and recruiters need not spend time traveling to locations around the country ▫Some organizations are using virtual job interviews in place of face-to-face interactions, at least in the screening process that may involve hundreds of interviews

1-21 Summary Interviewing is an interactional communication between two parties, at least one of whom has a predetermined and serious purpose, that involves the asking and answering of questions. There is a vast difference between skilled and unskilled interviewers and interviewees, and the skilled ones know that practice makes perfect only if you know what you are practicing. The first essential step in developing and improving interviewing skills is to understand the deceptively complex interviewing process and its many interacting variables.