Chapter 15 m Conducting Interviews 421 Case 15-2 3. What advantages and disadvantages of Conducting Interviews and Technology conducting interviews by teleconference does this case demonstrate? Stacy Rollins was pensive as she waited for her interview with an investment banking firm. She Case 15-3 felt well prepared because she had summarized all her critical information into her resume, which Kern and the Quiet Nurse had been reviewed by her business communica- tion professor prior to sending it to the recruiter. Kay Kern is the director of the Corporate Safety Department for a large, multiplant manufacture She felt well qualified for the position and wanted ing company in the Midwest. The company has six to make a good impression. She had been through major manufacturing plants, and each has its own three other interviews for different positions and industrial nurses. had developed the ability to respond to questions Twice a year, Kern has individual formal inter- that all the recruiters seemed to have in common. views with the nurses to find out if they have any Unlike the first three, however, this interview was major concerns or if Kern can help in any way. going to be conducted as a teleconference. The Because these nurses report to the personnel recruiter placed the phone call, introduced herself, manager of each plant and not to Kern, this is not and added that she was placing Stacy on speaker- a performance review. Kern gets a lot of valuable phone, although she did not describe who else was information from the nurses through the inter- in the room listening in. views and seems to have developed a positive The recruiter began the interview by say- relationship with them. There is only one nurse, ing, "Stacy, we have the resume you e-mailed Joe James, who does not really open up to Kern yesterday. It looks good. You are familiar with the and say much. On several occasions, Kern has job requirements, I suppose. We are seeking a tried to get information from James, but generally candidate with superb analytical skills, demon- when Kern asks a question, all she gets is a one- strated ability to work in team settings, and the word or superficial response. For instance, sev- eral months ago, all the plants instituted a new ability to communicate and to manage communi- program for monitoring the number and types of cation effectively."cucula visits to the nurses' offices. Kern asked James if "Oh, yes!" Stacy replied. "I think I am a good everything was all right with the new program. match for your criteria." James merely shrugged and said, "Yes." The recruiter was silent for a moment. "So ..." This worries Kern because James is a young she said finally. A prolonged pause ensued. The nurse with only 2 years of experience, and he recruiter said nothing further, though the phone probably has questions and could use some help. line was apparently still open. Stacy was per- Kern has even asked some of the other employ- plexed. She had not experienced this in other ees in the plant if James was naturally quiet, but interviews. She did not know what to do. everyone said he was rather outgoing and easy to get to know. Kern is getting frustrated, because in her 25 years of experience, she has never had this Questions much trouble getting someone to open up. 1. Place yourself in Stacy's shoes; knowing what you do about interviews, what would Questions you do at this point? 1. What are some possible incorrect interview 2. What could the recruiter's objective be for strategies that Kern may be using? posing the non-question and then saying 2. What would you recommend to Kern? nothing further? (Continued)