RebeccaMiner rhetoric and technical communication, cultural studies emphasis
Revisions Syllabus/Calendar Supplementary Material   Projects Interviewing Timeline Map Research Paper Podcast Portfolio   Assignments Interviewing Overview 1 Identifying Companies 2 Rhetorical Analysis 3 Identifying Questions 4 Interview and Reflection All Assignments	Interviewing Project - - - - - - - - - - - - Sense of purpose Chances are, at some point, you will be looking for a job. This could either be for a co-op, internship, or a full-time position. This project is designed to help you prepare and learn how to communicate for the interviewing process. You will begin to consider what type of company best suits your interests, how to communicate with others in your field, learn what your body language (or non-verbal communication) tells others, prepare yourself for an actual interview, and reflect upon your experiences. More specifically, throughout this project you will be learning these key concepts: You will begin this project by researching possible companies that match your expertise and interests. At this stage, it is important to consider why you want to work for that company, what attracts you to them, learn about their products, and analyze the job description. In essence, you need to identify your audience for your interview. Next, when going into an interview it is important to have a good working knowledge of that company’s products. More often than not, you will get passed up if you do not at least know something about the products of the company. Therefore, in this next step you will rhetorically analyze a document from one of the companies you found in the first assignment. By performing a rhetorical analysis on a company document you will learn more about the product (and therefore the company) through analyzing the audience, purpose, context, and strategies used in this document. This document could be a product user’s manual, marketing brochure, or press release (no websites please!) If you are going to have an interview it is important for you to be prepared. This means you need to research questions you may get asked in an interviewing situation and reflect upon how you respond to such questions. During this assignment you will be asked to reflect upon previous examples/experiences and consider how you would convey that information to your interviewer (your audience) who may not know the context of your experience. How would you begin? What are the key objectives you want to convey? Do you have one experience that can be used for multiple questions? It is important to consider what questions you might get asked and how you would answer them if those questions should arise. At this point, you will also be preparing questions to ask your interviewer. By now you will know a few things about the company… what questions are still lingering for you? What questions are appropriate to ask to whom? What kinds of responses are you expecting to receive? This exercise will also help you become a better listener in interviewing situations. You will also be learning visual communication skills that can be applied to building your resume, ways to approach your cover letters, non-verbal cues that may trigger good and/or bad responses, as well as using envisioning as a way to prepare yourself for your interview. Next, you will be putting all of your knowledge to use by participating in an actual interview. My suggestion to you is to sign up NOW for a Mock Interview through the Career Center (Mock Interview week is week 5.) Space is limited and they will book up fast so don’t wait until the last minute. The Career Center is a wonderful resource and will provide you invaluable feedback, no matter what your major is, on your interviewing skills. My hopes are that (for those where it is applicable) you will also attend the Career Fair on 2/20, just to gain the experience of attending a job fair and communicating with recruiters. Although you may or may not get asked to interview from the recruiters at the Fair, you must prepare for the situation if it should arise. By scheduling a Mock Interview now, you will only better prepare yourself and enhance your communication skills. Another possibility is for you to become the interviewer and interview your favorite professor or department head. This is an opportunity to learn more about their interests and perhaps more about what you can be doing now to enhance your employability for the future. Because these people are very busy, please be courteous to them and schedule your appointment with them NOW. Finally, you will be writing a reflection on your interviewing experience. - - - - - - - - - - - - Home - Courses - Vita - Teaching - Professional - Contact