Interpersonal communication competence in context: Assessing performance in the selection interview

This study examined the relationship between interpersonal communication competence dispositions and situated outcomes in the job selection interview. Students in an upper‐division interviewing course participated in simulated selection interviews. Scores on measures of interpersonal communication competence, communication flexibility, and rhetorical sensitivity were compared with evaluations of interviewee communication performance. Results indicate that interpersonal competence was not related to evaluations of applicant performance. The findings suggest that we rethink the role of cross‐situational approaches to communication competence in light of context‐specific approaches.