The Job Interview

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TO AVOID having the same frustrating experience as Marshall, make sure to follow the advice here to arrive prepared for your interviews. MONTY BRINTON/CBS/Landov

In one episode of the TV show How I Met Your Mother, Marshall goes on a multitude of job interviews. We see him talking to his bathroom mirror before each one, at first saying, “You are confident, energetic,” later, “You are flexible on salary; you will not cry,” and finally, “You are sad and beaten down.” Although you might be able to identify with Marshall’s roller-coaster of emotions, you can also recognize that preparing adequately for interviews will make your experiences more successful. In fact, most job interviews involve many of the competent behaviors you have already learned in this text, from audience adaptation to language choice to nonverbal communication (Bloch, 2011). Being aware of these behaviors before you go into the interview will greatly increase your confidence. In the remaining pages of this chapter, we describe how job interviews usually occur and offer solid advice on how to prepare for, engage in, and follow up on the process (Muir, 2008).