Course: CMM 128 Interviewing Practices

Lecture Notes

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Communication Model (Continued)
7.  The channel.

Any means used to get the message from one place to another is the channel.  In interviewing, these channels are usually divided into verbal and nonverbal categories in describing the delivery of the R.  This includes the use of your voice, gestures, posture, eye contact, attire, and facial expressions to convey the message.  Interviewing channels can also involve the telephone, e-mail sent via the Internet, or paper surveys sent through the mail.

8.  Interviewee (The E)

The person who receives and decode the message.  This part of the communication model may also be called the listener, the decoder, the receiver, or in public speaking situations, the audience.  In certain interview settings, the name for this person is even more specific:

Situation | Name
Counseling | Counselee
Employment | Applicant
Persuasion | Persuadee

9. Decoding

The process by which an interviewee takes a message and turns it into an idea.  During this process, internal noise and semantic noise can occur.

10.  Feedback

Any response to a message sent back to an interviewer is called feedback.  Feedback may be nonverbal such as nodding your head in understanding or it could be verbal such as yelling out a answer.  Some scholars even argue that not responding is a type of response since it may tell something like you didn't hear the message or that you were bored by it.
11.  Feedforward

Any indication that a message is about to be sent.  For example, when an interviewer clears his or her throat before starting an interview, he or she is warning the interviewee that the interview is about to begin.  Feedforward also occurs when you set up an interview and perhaps let the interview know what you will ask.  Feedforward is not shown in this model.
12.  Situation

The constraints upon the communication process.  These include such things as the time limits on the interview, the room in which the interview will take place, the required purpose of the interview, and legal restrictions on the speech.  Examples of situational variables are given in the table below.

Type of Interview | Constraints
Employment | Employment discrimination laws limit what you can ask Social customs dictate rules of behavior like dressing formally and shaking hands Differences in power results in interviews at the company or a neutral place rather than in the interviewee's home
Journalistic | Libel and slander laws limit what can be said during an interview or printed based on the interview The status and power of the parties involved will influence who decides how long the interview will last and what questions will be asked and answer
Health Care | Privacy laws limit what can be disclosed The availability of medical equipment influences where the interview takes place
Persuasive | Consumer protection legislation restricts claims persuaders can make

13.    Noise

Anything that blocks or distorts meaning in the communication process.  There are several types of noise or interference in the process: Semantic, internal or external.

Semantic noise
The difficulty an interviewer has in putting ideas into words or the difficulty a listener has in converting words into ideas.  This may occur when the R has to speak in another language, doesn't have a large vocabulary because they are very young, or lacks the technical vocabulary of the field he or she is interviewing about.  It may also occur when an interviewee doesn't understand an interveiwer because the R uses words that the E doesn't understand.

Internal noise
This noise occurs when the E is not paying attention to the speaker.  Daydreaming by the E or thinking about an upcoming meal are examples.

External noise
Sometimes called physical noise, it is any noise that occurs in the channel.  The sound of an air conditioner that drowns out a interviewer's voice is an example.  In the model, a lightning bolt is used to illustrate external noise.