An exploratory relational control analysis of the employment screening interview

An exploratory descriptive study was conducted of 35 naturally occurring employment screening interviews at a Western university. The study focused on correlations between the messages enacted during the interview and the participants’ subsequent perceptions about the interview's “success.” Analyses indicated a cybernetic “tension” in the interviewer‐interviewee relationship. The interviewer was actively gathering information from the interviewee about the interviewee, while the applicant, when not “pushed” into giving information, politely supported and “pulled” the interviewer into an information giving performance. There was a relationship between the ways this “tension” was balanced during the interview and its perceived “success.”