Verbal correlates of interviewer empathic listening and employment interview outcomes

Abstract

The audio and videotapes of actual employment screening interviews conducted at a university placement center were analyzed in order to determine the relationships among certain interviewer verbal behaviors, applicants’ perceptions of their interviewers as empathic listeners, and actual interview outcomes (receiving/not receiving a second interview offer). Analyses revealed the frequency with which interviewers made interruptive statements to be significantly and negatively associated with applicants’ perceptions of empathic listening. However, screening interviews from which second interview offers were eventually made were not differentiated either by applicants’ empathie listening perceptions or interviewers’ empathie listening behaviors from interviews from which no offers were forthcoming.

Notes

Karen B. McComb is an employment recruiter at InterFirst Bank, Austin, Texas, and Fredric M. Jablin is Associate Professor of Speech Communication, University of Texas at Austin. The authors wish to acknowledge Mr. Joe Vorsas, Director, Business Placement Service, University of Texas at Austin, for his assistance in data collection.