Interview Activity
We are going to approximately 10 minutes to do this in class on Tuesday, though we can
begin thinking about this beforehand. Once we have done this, we will re-group as a
class and discuss our answers.
Communication is rule-governed, though the majority of these rules are unspoken (they
are forms of “tacit culture”). Understanding and respecting these unspoken rules are vital
in the business and professional context. Students at VSPU and IUPUI are going to work
on a list of rules for a job interview in your own culture, some of which will be unspoken
rules and some are more explicit and obvious.
THE SETTING: You are having a job interview with a large multinational corporation.
You arrive at the office and are sitting in a waiting area with other applicants. Your name
is called and you enter a board room. Inside you find the Chairman (CEO), ViceChairman, Administrative Assistant (Secretary), and a staff member. All of them are
standing in the corner by a table that has coffee, tea, and water on it. The Chairman tells
you to sit down and that they will be right with you. The table is oval-shaped, with six
chairs around, one at each head and two on both sides. There is one large window on the
side of the room.
ASSIGNMENT: Answer the following questions. By doing so, you will be making a list
of rules that govern your behavior and forms of communication in this business/interview
context. Consider the forms of non-verbal communication discussed in reading and
lecture (posture, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, touch, smell, paralanguage,
space and distance, silence, time, etc) in the rules you list. The following questions will
help you begin to think about the assignment, though they are in no way complete. Your
goal is to describe how someone in Volgograd or Indianapolis would typically and
appropriately act in such a situation.
RULES AND QUESTIONS:
1) How would you behave in the waiting room? What rules govern your behavior?
2) Upon entering the board room, how would you behave? Where would you
choose to sit? Would you ask someone or would you just sit down? Once you
are sitting, how would you act? What would you have with you? How would
you introduce yourself or would you? Would you ask for or help yourself to
coffee or tea?
3) How would you look and respond to each of the four individuals in the room with
you? Would you talk and communicate differently with each one?
4) Would you ask questions yourself? What type of questions would you ask?
5) How would you dress? What would your dress communicate about yourself and
your abilities?
6) Would you look directly at your interviewer or look down at the table?
7) How would you leave the interview?