The first passage that I found to be particularly helpful is located on page 308 paragraph 1. This passage discusses the importance of practicing for an interview prior to the actual interview. I couldn’t agree with this more as I have been involved in numerous interviews for various different jobs and positions. Speaking from experience, the interviews that I didn’t practice for were typically the interviews that I didn’t perform too great in. Consequently, I have been in interviews that I practiced for and prepared for but still feel like I didn’t perform as well as I could have. Furthermore, it was definitely helpful having a dry run for both the lone wolf speech as well as the group handbook project. So I like that the textbook included practice as one of the main components of preparing for an interview.
The second passage that I found to be pretty interesting is located on page 315 paragraph 1 and 2. This passage talks about avoiding illegal questions for an interviewer to ask during an interview. I never really thought about how many different categories of questions there are that organizations are not allowed to ask potential employees. That being said, some of the questions listed as illegal seem completely unrelated to the workplace and it blows my mind that people have legitimately asked those questions and based their hiring decisions on the answers. The equal employment opportunity laws set in place are necessary but it’s ridiculous that they had to be created in the first place.
Journal 19:
The first section that stood out to me from these pages started on page 306. The section was labeled Interview Responsibilities. To start off, just hearing those two words put together is a new idea to me. I think many people who have not had any professional experience do not understand that even as an interviewee, you still have responsibilities on your end. I think the section does an effective job on breaking down these responsibilities. To me, there were a few of the preparations that I felt were more valuable than others. The first of these was that you should prepare questions. As I thought more about this I realized the importance of asking questions in an interview. Asking questions offers you a chance to find out what you really want to know as well as giving an opportunity to show to your future employer you have a mindset of growth and continuing learning. The second most important paragraph from this section was the one about arriving on time. Since time is a constantly moving force, the best way to show your organization and professionalism is by doing everything in your power to beat the flow of time and arriving when you are supposed to.
The next section which had me the most interested began on page 311. The section I am referring to are the pages which we read about questions and what different types there are. This is crucial to understand because the underlying nature of a question can be just as important as what the question actually is. Understanding the subconscious thoughts of what you are trying to truly gain from a question will help you form better questions. Additionally, learning to when to be direct and indirect in asking questions will allow you to seem more personable when interacting with others, as it will show a cool demeanor.
I found the passage about greetings and maintaining a tone specific to the workplace to go hand and hand together. These concepts can be applied to any interview, job opportunity, or even an interaction with a new person. Getting to know someone almost always starts with a shake of the hand and a brief “hello my name is” statement. This is how most people begin a relationship, after their brief introductions if there is a power imbalance it is often made apparent very quickly. From an outside perspective it can be noted rather easily but from within an interview it doesn’t always feel that way for both parties. The interviewer maintains the power in most situations, asking the questions they are leading the conversation and trying to bring out key information. From the perspective of students it is hard to imagine the Interviewer being of less power since we are generally the ones being asked the questions. It is true however, some interviewers have very limited choices in these situations, the power is in the hands of the interviewee. They can choose to withhold information, based on the information given the interviewer will still have to make a decision whether to hire or not.
I thought table 15.1 on page 307 is a really helpful resource. I think it lays out a lot of essential questions for an interview, especially for one that is going to be your career. Being able to answer all of the questions with a thought-out response would come across positively to an interviewer. The only addition I would make would be a question along the lines of how you’ve resolved conflict in the past in the workplace. I got this question in two out of the three interviews I’ve done so far, and it was definitely a question that threw me off. I didn’t particularly experience conflict, and if I did it must’ve been so minor that it didn’t stick out to me. I also thought it was interesting how the book raised the question of whether illegal questions should be made legal. Illegal questions are in place to avoid discrimination, and even then there are loopholes such as being able to ask about an interviewee’s age if there is a “minimum age requirement” or an enforced “retirement age” (pg 315). I wonder how effective making certain questions illegal has on discrimination in the hiring process, as everyone has subconscious biases and stereotypes they adhere to.
The first section that I found interesting and very useful would be pages 308 to 309, where they talked about the steps a person should take to have a successful interview process. They talked about how first a person should practice a lot in order to get it down and so they aren’t nervous when answering questions. They also made it clear to have a good appearance and look professional when showing up for the interview. They claim to arrive on time or early and to bring material to the interview, your resume or other documents they may want to see from you. This is very helpful because many people do not know how to go about getting ready for an interview and are normally nervous before hand. I have been a part of multiple interviews and can say from experience that it is very nerve raking and that these tips will greatly help you out in the long run.
The second section that was interesting was on page 310, and this basically talked about how to greet someone properly. By as soon as walking in, greeting the interviewer with their last name. Then shaking their hand with a firm handshake and then proceeding to look them in the eyes as you do all of this. This is a very simple tip on how to show confidence and to show your interviewer that you’re a confident and proud person.
The concept of exit interviews was not something very familiar to me, but it makes sense to have something like that. Both the company and the person leaving can benefit from such an interview, as the interviewee can get out any last frustrations and issues, and the interviewers can collect valuable feedback for the company. Persuasive interviews, problem solving interviews, helping interviews, and information gaining interviews were all also sort of new to me. I am familiar with information gaining interviews, but I had not thought of them as being a specific category on their own. Helping and problem solving interviews seem to be quite similar in that they are conducted by someone with experience/specialization in something the interviewee needs help with, but it seems the difference is that helping interviews are to give help in an area (usually one of the interviewer’s expertise), and problem solving interviews are to address a specific issue. Persuasive interviews are interesting to me, because they aren’t exactly like all the others, in that they don’t really involve an exchange of information about the people involved or what they may be experiencing, but instead have a specific purpose of influencing the interviewee’s opinions, rather than helping them or learning about them.
The first passage that I found curious was on page 309 and paragraph 3 talking about the appropriate measures about turning your phone off. The passage itself didn’t leave me curious; it was the obviousness of the passage. Most people should know when you go into anything that involves business your phone should be off. If your phone goes off during an interview then maybe you don’t need the job then because that is very unprofessional of you. Sometimes it’s even better to just leave your phone in the car so that you don’t even have to take that risk. My first interview my mom made me leave my phone with her so luckily I never had to go through that distress. The second passage that I found helpful was page 308 and paragraph 3. This passage touches on arriving on time or being late can leave a good impression or a bad impression. Growing up most people think showing up late is some sort of cool because you’re the last person to walk in the room. When you get into the real world, showing up late doesn’t fly in any sort of business. You have to carry yourself the right way and with great business etiquette. This paragraph leaves us with a good tip stating “ Planning to arrive 15 minutes early will enable you to be punctual without appearing overly enthusiastic or nervous”.
The initial passage that struck me as particularly valuable can be found on page 308, in the first paragraph. Here, the discussion revolves around the significance of preparing for an interview before the actual event. I wholeheartedly agree with this perspective, drawing from my extensive experience in participating in various job interviews. Reflecting on my past encounters, those interviews for which I neglected to practice were typically the ones where my performance fell short. On the contrary, I’ve engaged in interviews that I diligently prepared for, yet felt that my execution could have been more effective. Notably, conducting a dry run for both the solo presentation and the group handbook project proved to be immensely beneficial. Hence, I appreciate the textbook’s inclusion of practice as a pivotal element in interview preparation.
The second passage that caught my attention is on page 315, spanning the first and second paragraphs. This segment delves into the avoidance of illegal questions during interviews. Prior to this, I had not considered the myriad categories of questions that organizations are prohibited from posing to potential employees. It’s astounding to realize that some of these questions, which appear entirely unrelated to the workplace, have been genuinely asked, influencing hiring decisions. While recognizing the necessity of equal employment opportunity laws, it’s disheartening that such regulations had to be established in the first place.
There were a lot of things that I found interesting during this reading, the main thing I found interesting was table 15.1 on the top of page 307. It is about formulating information about oneself, it proceeds to list a bunch of useful questions that really break the ice and help get to know someone. What I found helpful during the reading was on page 313, paragraph’s 1-3, about knowing how to differentiate between open questions and closed questions. Closed questions help limit the response of the person being interviewed and can help save time during the interview process. The thing I felt was most hard to understand was on page 315, paragraph 4, and I was struggling to understand the definition of an “interview frame”, however after completing the reading I know that frames are useful in an interview as they define scenarios and help everyone fall into their respective roles. Overall, this reading was very informative and I will definitely look back and use it while working on our current interview project.
One thing I found pretty interesting in this reading was on page 308. This talks about how showing up on time can really give off an impression, if you show up late, especially on an interview. It can make or break interviews sometimes and then really effect everything going forward. If you already have the job it is ok to maybe do it one or two times but do not be constant. How ever it is good to show up early for things, an interview being one of them. 15 minutes early is the sweet spot for more important things and good to be a few minutes early for regular things.
Another excerpt that reached out to me is the neutral and leading questions excerpt which is page 313 and 314. Some neutral questions could be why did you pick communications as your major? And What are your thoughts on labor unions? Nothing too crazy but will get you to know the person you are talking to. For closed questions that could entail like, what did you like about your previous supervisor. This could help end up in a discussion and help your case a lot.
The thing that I really liked about this section of the text was learning and understanding ways to be completely prepared for an interview. I am lucky enough to have only had one job interview in my life, which was held via Zoom so there isn’t as much pressure to it. But since I am continuing my education journey, I know that I need to know as much as possible to about interviewing to be as well versed and prepared as I could be for my medical school interviews. The only thing that was weird to me was the idea of rehearsing or preparing. When I did an interview for PHPAC, I was given the interview questions before hand and had essentially a robotic response created for each of those questions, and sped through them as fast as possible. While for my job interview I wasn’t sent any questions before hand, and I felt way less nervous just answering the questions as they came to me. I think that preparation would work well for other, in this sense, but for me I felt as if I was having a more natural conversation and was able to recall more memories and anecdotes from specific moments rather than the ones I had drilled in my head to stick to.
Q: “Responsibility for controlling an interview rests with the interviewer. Therefore, the interviewer should initiate the conclusion of the interview through a wrap-up signal, a phrase indicating the beginning of the conclusion (e.g., “As we near the end of the interview,” “As we begin to conclude our discussion”). An interviewer should always allow enough time for both parties to adequately perform their responsibilities of the conclusion, rather than trying to cram everything into the final moments of the interview.”
C: I found this passage to be interesting because I have been to a few different job interviews before but have never heard something as formal as this. It could very well be because the interviews were for minimum wage jobs like retail and fast food, but the interviews were a bit less formal. While I understand that at a professional job interview you want to be mostly formal, I think that something as overly formal as this kind of conclusion might even disrupt the flow of the interview. I always thought it would be more comfortable for both parties if the interview was more like a conversation, but I suppose in more professional job interviews it might not be.
Q: Is it really necessary to wrap up the interview with such a formal statement? How might the interviewer wrap up the interview with a more conversational tone?
Q: “Interviewees should have questions prepared and written out during their pre-interview preparations. As part of most interviews, an interviewer will ask whether an interviewee has any questions he or she would like to ask. Not asking any questions would indicate a lack of preparation and enthusiasm, so it is a good idea to have some developed. An interviewer may occasionally fail to provide an interviewer an opportunity to ask questions. If it is clear that the interview is ready to end and that the interviewer does not plan on asking for questions, it is acceptable to politely ask if you may pose a few questions. Remember, an interview is not just about whether an interviewee will be offered a position but also about whether an interviewee will accept the position, if offered.”
C: I think this passage is very important because when I first started applying for jobs in high school I never thought about asking questions during an interview. Of course it is a little different because I was looking for part time minimum wage jobs, but I had the fear that if I asked too many questions I would look dumb or it would come off like I didn’t really want the job. I thought if I were to ask what the pay was, they wouldn’t hire me because it seemed like I was just asking for money. I know now that this was a really silly way of looking at a job interview, and that I am allowed to ask questions and this won’t hurt my chances of getting the job but actually help. Knowing enough about the job or the company to ask questions shows that you really are interested in the job and can give a better impression to the interviewer.
Q: What kinds of questions are the best to ask an interviewer during a job interview?
Something that I thought was helpful from the second half of the chapter was the personal appearance section. This was in the second passage regarding how to dress for an interview on page 308. This confirms the importance of proper dress edicuate and even mentions something along the lines of dressing “one step above” your competition to help you stand out form your competition. Also this says that you should hide tattoos and facial piercings which may be someting that some companies may tuen away forom. I find that interesting, because I have tattoos and a nose ring and no one has ever even asked me to take them out. I suppose that certian things can be covered up though.
The second thing that I found helpful in this chapter of the book was the section titled “Greeting and Establishing Appropriate Proxemics” This section is great to anyone who struggles with social interaction or someone who is looking to improve their interview skills or overall professional conversation skills. The biggest portion of this however is the paying attention of the nonverbal cues hat people piut pout when in these situations. You can tell if someone is impressed or just passing through depending on their body language. You can also see how your doing based on how the interview asks the qustion with their tone of voice.
Something I found helpful was located on page 308 in the first paragraph. The passage discusses the importance of practicing for interviews. I agree a lot with this because every interview I have had to do I have always practiced before so there wouldn’t be an awkward silence and make the interviewer not want to consider me for the position I was being interviewed for. There have been times where I felt very prepared for interviews but ended up walking out of the interview like I did not do a good enough job to be considered for the position.
The second passage that caught my attention was on page 315 this was the first and second paragraphs. Prior to reading this I was not aware that companies were not allowed to ask certain questions. This made me realize that there are questions that are not allowed to be asked. It is unfortunate that some questions have to even be asked to be considered for a job and this plays a big role in the equal employment opportunity laws.
14 thoughts on “JORUNAL # 19”
The first passage that I found to be particularly helpful is located on page 308 paragraph 1. This passage discusses the importance of practicing for an interview prior to the actual interview. I couldn’t agree with this more as I have been involved in numerous interviews for various different jobs and positions. Speaking from experience, the interviews that I didn’t practice for were typically the interviews that I didn’t perform too great in. Consequently, I have been in interviews that I practiced for and prepared for but still feel like I didn’t perform as well as I could have. Furthermore, it was definitely helpful having a dry run for both the lone wolf speech as well as the group handbook project. So I like that the textbook included practice as one of the main components of preparing for an interview.
The second passage that I found to be pretty interesting is located on page 315 paragraph 1 and 2. This passage talks about avoiding illegal questions for an interviewer to ask during an interview. I never really thought about how many different categories of questions there are that organizations are not allowed to ask potential employees. That being said, some of the questions listed as illegal seem completely unrelated to the workplace and it blows my mind that people have legitimately asked those questions and based their hiring decisions on the answers. The equal employment opportunity laws set in place are necessary but it’s ridiculous that they had to be created in the first place.
Journal 19:
The first section that stood out to me from these pages started on page 306. The section was labeled Interview Responsibilities. To start off, just hearing those two words put together is a new idea to me. I think many people who have not had any professional experience do not understand that even as an interviewee, you still have responsibilities on your end. I think the section does an effective job on breaking down these responsibilities. To me, there were a few of the preparations that I felt were more valuable than others. The first of these was that you should prepare questions. As I thought more about this I realized the importance of asking questions in an interview. Asking questions offers you a chance to find out what you really want to know as well as giving an opportunity to show to your future employer you have a mindset of growth and continuing learning. The second most important paragraph from this section was the one about arriving on time. Since time is a constantly moving force, the best way to show your organization and professionalism is by doing everything in your power to beat the flow of time and arriving when you are supposed to.
The next section which had me the most interested began on page 311. The section I am referring to are the pages which we read about questions and what different types there are. This is crucial to understand because the underlying nature of a question can be just as important as what the question actually is. Understanding the subconscious thoughts of what you are trying to truly gain from a question will help you form better questions. Additionally, learning to when to be direct and indirect in asking questions will allow you to seem more personable when interacting with others, as it will show a cool demeanor.
Sawyer Ohman
CMM110-A
11/13/23
Journal #19
I found the passage about greetings and maintaining a tone specific to the workplace to go hand and hand together. These concepts can be applied to any interview, job opportunity, or even an interaction with a new person. Getting to know someone almost always starts with a shake of the hand and a brief “hello my name is” statement. This is how most people begin a relationship, after their brief introductions if there is a power imbalance it is often made apparent very quickly. From an outside perspective it can be noted rather easily but from within an interview it doesn’t always feel that way for both parties. The interviewer maintains the power in most situations, asking the questions they are leading the conversation and trying to bring out key information. From the perspective of students it is hard to imagine the Interviewer being of less power since we are generally the ones being asked the questions. It is true however, some interviewers have very limited choices in these situations, the power is in the hands of the interviewee. They can choose to withhold information, based on the information given the interviewer will still have to make a decision whether to hire or not.
I thought table 15.1 on page 307 is a really helpful resource. I think it lays out a lot of essential questions for an interview, especially for one that is going to be your career. Being able to answer all of the questions with a thought-out response would come across positively to an interviewer. The only addition I would make would be a question along the lines of how you’ve resolved conflict in the past in the workplace. I got this question in two out of the three interviews I’ve done so far, and it was definitely a question that threw me off. I didn’t particularly experience conflict, and if I did it must’ve been so minor that it didn’t stick out to me. I also thought it was interesting how the book raised the question of whether illegal questions should be made legal. Illegal questions are in place to avoid discrimination, and even then there are loopholes such as being able to ask about an interviewee’s age if there is a “minimum age requirement” or an enforced “retirement age” (pg 315). I wonder how effective making certain questions illegal has on discrimination in the hiring process, as everyone has subconscious biases and stereotypes they adhere to.
The first section that I found interesting and very useful would be pages 308 to 309, where they talked about the steps a person should take to have a successful interview process. They talked about how first a person should practice a lot in order to get it down and so they aren’t nervous when answering questions. They also made it clear to have a good appearance and look professional when showing up for the interview. They claim to arrive on time or early and to bring material to the interview, your resume or other documents they may want to see from you. This is very helpful because many people do not know how to go about getting ready for an interview and are normally nervous before hand. I have been a part of multiple interviews and can say from experience that it is very nerve raking and that these tips will greatly help you out in the long run.
The second section that was interesting was on page 310, and this basically talked about how to greet someone properly. By as soon as walking in, greeting the interviewer with their last name. Then shaking their hand with a firm handshake and then proceeding to look them in the eyes as you do all of this. This is a very simple tip on how to show confidence and to show your interviewer that you’re a confident and proud person.
The concept of exit interviews was not something very familiar to me, but it makes sense to have something like that. Both the company and the person leaving can benefit from such an interview, as the interviewee can get out any last frustrations and issues, and the interviewers can collect valuable feedback for the company. Persuasive interviews, problem solving interviews, helping interviews, and information gaining interviews were all also sort of new to me. I am familiar with information gaining interviews, but I had not thought of them as being a specific category on their own. Helping and problem solving interviews seem to be quite similar in that they are conducted by someone with experience/specialization in something the interviewee needs help with, but it seems the difference is that helping interviews are to give help in an area (usually one of the interviewer’s expertise), and problem solving interviews are to address a specific issue. Persuasive interviews are interesting to me, because they aren’t exactly like all the others, in that they don’t really involve an exchange of information about the people involved or what they may be experiencing, but instead have a specific purpose of influencing the interviewee’s opinions, rather than helping them or learning about them.
The first passage that I found curious was on page 309 and paragraph 3 talking about the appropriate measures about turning your phone off. The passage itself didn’t leave me curious; it was the obviousness of the passage. Most people should know when you go into anything that involves business your phone should be off. If your phone goes off during an interview then maybe you don’t need the job then because that is very unprofessional of you. Sometimes it’s even better to just leave your phone in the car so that you don’t even have to take that risk. My first interview my mom made me leave my phone with her so luckily I never had to go through that distress. The second passage that I found helpful was page 308 and paragraph 3. This passage touches on arriving on time or being late can leave a good impression or a bad impression. Growing up most people think showing up late is some sort of cool because you’re the last person to walk in the room. When you get into the real world, showing up late doesn’t fly in any sort of business. You have to carry yourself the right way and with great business etiquette. This paragraph leaves us with a good tip stating “ Planning to arrive 15 minutes early will enable you to be punctual without appearing overly enthusiastic or nervous”.
Daraun White
Journal #19
The initial passage that struck me as particularly valuable can be found on page 308, in the first paragraph. Here, the discussion revolves around the significance of preparing for an interview before the actual event. I wholeheartedly agree with this perspective, drawing from my extensive experience in participating in various job interviews. Reflecting on my past encounters, those interviews for which I neglected to practice were typically the ones where my performance fell short. On the contrary, I’ve engaged in interviews that I diligently prepared for, yet felt that my execution could have been more effective. Notably, conducting a dry run for both the solo presentation and the group handbook project proved to be immensely beneficial. Hence, I appreciate the textbook’s inclusion of practice as a pivotal element in interview preparation.
The second passage that caught my attention is on page 315, spanning the first and second paragraphs. This segment delves into the avoidance of illegal questions during interviews. Prior to this, I had not considered the myriad categories of questions that organizations are prohibited from posing to potential employees. It’s astounding to realize that some of these questions, which appear entirely unrelated to the workplace, have been genuinely asked, influencing hiring decisions. While recognizing the necessity of equal employment opportunity laws, it’s disheartening that such regulations had to be established in the first place.
Ryan Kelly
Prof. Jessie Miller
Communications 110
13 November 2023
Journal 19
There were a lot of things that I found interesting during this reading, the main thing I found interesting was table 15.1 on the top of page 307. It is about formulating information about oneself, it proceeds to list a bunch of useful questions that really break the ice and help get to know someone. What I found helpful during the reading was on page 313, paragraph’s 1-3, about knowing how to differentiate between open questions and closed questions. Closed questions help limit the response of the person being interviewed and can help save time during the interview process. The thing I felt was most hard to understand was on page 315, paragraph 4, and I was struggling to understand the definition of an “interview frame”, however after completing the reading I know that frames are useful in an interview as they define scenarios and help everyone fall into their respective roles. Overall, this reading was very informative and I will definitely look back and use it while working on our current interview project.
One thing I found pretty interesting in this reading was on page 308. This talks about how showing up on time can really give off an impression, if you show up late, especially on an interview. It can make or break interviews sometimes and then really effect everything going forward. If you already have the job it is ok to maybe do it one or two times but do not be constant. How ever it is good to show up early for things, an interview being one of them. 15 minutes early is the sweet spot for more important things and good to be a few minutes early for regular things.
Another excerpt that reached out to me is the neutral and leading questions excerpt which is page 313 and 314. Some neutral questions could be why did you pick communications as your major? And What are your thoughts on labor unions? Nothing too crazy but will get you to know the person you are talking to. For closed questions that could entail like, what did you like about your previous supervisor. This could help end up in a discussion and help your case a lot.
The thing that I really liked about this section of the text was learning and understanding ways to be completely prepared for an interview. I am lucky enough to have only had one job interview in my life, which was held via Zoom so there isn’t as much pressure to it. But since I am continuing my education journey, I know that I need to know as much as possible to about interviewing to be as well versed and prepared as I could be for my medical school interviews. The only thing that was weird to me was the idea of rehearsing or preparing. When I did an interview for PHPAC, I was given the interview questions before hand and had essentially a robotic response created for each of those questions, and sped through them as fast as possible. While for my job interview I wasn’t sent any questions before hand, and I felt way less nervous just answering the questions as they came to me. I think that preparation would work well for other, in this sense, but for me I felt as if I was having a more natural conversation and was able to recall more memories and anecdotes from specific moments rather than the ones I had drilled in my head to stick to.
Q: “Responsibility for controlling an interview rests with the interviewer. Therefore, the interviewer should initiate the conclusion of the interview through a wrap-up signal, a phrase indicating the beginning of the conclusion (e.g., “As we near the end of the interview,” “As we begin to conclude our discussion”). An interviewer should always allow enough time for both parties to adequately perform their responsibilities of the conclusion, rather than trying to cram everything into the final moments of the interview.”
C: I found this passage to be interesting because I have been to a few different job interviews before but have never heard something as formal as this. It could very well be because the interviews were for minimum wage jobs like retail and fast food, but the interviews were a bit less formal. While I understand that at a professional job interview you want to be mostly formal, I think that something as overly formal as this kind of conclusion might even disrupt the flow of the interview. I always thought it would be more comfortable for both parties if the interview was more like a conversation, but I suppose in more professional job interviews it might not be.
Q: Is it really necessary to wrap up the interview with such a formal statement? How might the interviewer wrap up the interview with a more conversational tone?
Q: “Interviewees should have questions prepared and written out during their pre-interview preparations. As part of most interviews, an interviewer will ask whether an interviewee has any questions he or she would like to ask. Not asking any questions would indicate a lack of preparation and enthusiasm, so it is a good idea to have some developed. An interviewer may occasionally fail to provide an interviewer an opportunity to ask questions. If it is clear that the interview is ready to end and that the interviewer does not plan on asking for questions, it is acceptable to politely ask if you may pose a few questions. Remember, an interview is not just about whether an interviewee will be offered a position but also about whether an interviewee will accept the position, if offered.”
C: I think this passage is very important because when I first started applying for jobs in high school I never thought about asking questions during an interview. Of course it is a little different because I was looking for part time minimum wage jobs, but I had the fear that if I asked too many questions I would look dumb or it would come off like I didn’t really want the job. I thought if I were to ask what the pay was, they wouldn’t hire me because it seemed like I was just asking for money. I know now that this was a really silly way of looking at a job interview, and that I am allowed to ask questions and this won’t hurt my chances of getting the job but actually help. Knowing enough about the job or the company to ask questions shows that you really are interested in the job and can give a better impression to the interviewer.
Q: What kinds of questions are the best to ask an interviewer during a job interview?
Something that I thought was helpful from the second half of the chapter was the personal appearance section. This was in the second passage regarding how to dress for an interview on page 308. This confirms the importance of proper dress edicuate and even mentions something along the lines of dressing “one step above” your competition to help you stand out form your competition. Also this says that you should hide tattoos and facial piercings which may be someting that some companies may tuen away forom. I find that interesting, because I have tattoos and a nose ring and no one has ever even asked me to take them out. I suppose that certian things can be covered up though.
The second thing that I found helpful in this chapter of the book was the section titled “Greeting and Establishing Appropriate Proxemics” This section is great to anyone who struggles with social interaction or someone who is looking to improve their interview skills or overall professional conversation skills. The biggest portion of this however is the paying attention of the nonverbal cues hat people piut pout when in these situations. You can tell if someone is impressed or just passing through depending on their body language. You can also see how your doing based on how the interview asks the qustion with their tone of voice.
Something I found helpful was located on page 308 in the first paragraph. The passage discusses the importance of practicing for interviews. I agree a lot with this because every interview I have had to do I have always practiced before so there wouldn’t be an awkward silence and make the interviewer not want to consider me for the position I was being interviewed for. There have been times where I felt very prepared for interviews but ended up walking out of the interview like I did not do a good enough job to be considered for the position.
The second passage that caught my attention was on page 315 this was the first and second paragraphs. Prior to reading this I was not aware that companies were not allowed to ask certain questions. This made me realize that there are questions that are not allowed to be asked. It is unfortunate that some questions have to even be asked to be considered for a job and this plays a big role in the equal employment opportunity laws.