A job interview is one of the communication milestones that are faced by every person. This interview largely identifies the decision of an employer to hire a person and the candidate’s willingness to work for the company (Ted Institute, 2013). It is important to choose proper words to answer the questions of the HR manager. For example, often, they ask about previous jobs and the reasons for leaving them. To show that a candidate is not a lazy or irresponsible worker, it is critical to explain the reasons clearly. Such words as a lack of promotion opportunities or a tense working environment can be used to demonstrate that the candidate values workplace culture and relationships between the employer and employees. To emphasize the personal commitment to the work, it seems to be useful to mention compassion, the desire to grow professionally, and teamwork skills. It is better to avoid saying that relationships with colleagues in the previous work were negative since HR managers may understand it as a sign of the inability to build relationships. Instead, the details about misunderstanding should be explained using the interaction of the words, openness to change, and mutual support.
As for the words that the candidate does not want to hear, it can be hard workday-off day offs, the need to learn everything independently, and personal responsibility only. When the employer speaks about responsibility in such a way, potential employees interpret it as a lot of work without any support. To mitigate the listening bias, it is better to ask clarifying questions and try to understand the meaning of the words in a certain context (Parks, 2015). In terms of the workplace, it is important to pay attention to the employer’s words and relate them to personal perceptions to find a mutual understanding.
References
Parks, E. S. (2015). Listening with empathy in organizational communication. Organization Development Journal, 33(3), 9-22.
Ted Institute. (2013). Tony Salvador: The listening bias [Video]. Web.