Communication and Workplace
The Nature of Communication
 Communication comes from the Latin word
communicare which means to share - it is an act
of conveying
meaning to a person or group of people using mutually
understood symbols, gestures, behaviors and
semiotic rules.
Communication as the Lifeline of Business
 communication is considered as a life blood of a
business organization
 Peter Drucker (1987) - without the use of
communication; no work is conceivable in an
organization.
 poor and ineffective communication system may
result in mismanagement, bad business and sure
show down.
EFFECTIVE LISTENING IN THE WORKPLACE
The Nature of Listening
 Listening takes up as much as 50% of our
everyday communication time
 it is an ability of basic importance in all parts of
our lives
The Nature of Communication
What is communication?
 Effective communication calls for the blending
of verbal communication and nonverbal
communication. Through this mode, we are able
to provide the best information needed.
Components of the Communication Process
1. Source - the sender carefully crafts the message.
2. Message - the meaning shared between the
sender and the receiver.
3. Channel - channel is the means by which a
message is conveyed.
4. Receiver - person who receives the transmitted
message
5. Feedback - essential to confirm recipient
understanding; Feedbacks may be written,
spoken, or acted out.
6. Environment - The place, the feeling, the mood,
the mindset, and the condition of both sender
and receiver are called the environment
7. Context - involves the expectations of the
sender and the receiver and the common or
The Job Search: The Job Selection Process
The Job Selection Process
 process of looking for employment, whether it’s
because of unemployment, dissatisfaction with
the current role, or any other reason.
 pointed toward finding and employing the best
contender for employment opportunities.
 refers to the steps involved with picking
individuals who have the most fitted and
qualified capabilities to fill a current or future
employment opportunity.
 employment opportunity - ought to have an
obviously characterized work profile that
incorporates standards like least long stretches
of work insight, instructive foundation, and
being capable in specific abilities.
 Listening is a functioning interaction by which
we sort out, survey, and react to what we hear.
Effective Listening
 Quite possibly the most basic abilities in
effective communication are active listening
 building up this delicate ability will help you
construct and look after connections, take care of
issues, improve measures and hold data
Active Listening
 the ability to focus completely on a speaker,
understand their message, comprehend the
information and respond thoughtfully.
 highly valued interpersonal communication skill
ensures you’re able to engage and later recall
specific details without needing information
repeated.
TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
Verbal Communication - is the process of exchange of
information or message between two or more persons
through written or oral words.
Non-Verbal Communication - is usually understood as
the process of communication through sending and
receiving wordless messages.
shared understanding through the environmental
signals.
8. Interference - also known as barrier or block
that prevents effective communication to take
place.
Types of Communication According to Purpose and
Style
 Formal Communication
o It employs formal language delivered
orally or in written form
o Its main objectives are to inform, to
entertain, and to persuade.
 Informal Communication
o It does not employ formal language.
o involves personal and ordinary
conversations with friends, family
members, or acquaintances about
anything under the sun
o Its purposes are to socialize and to
enhance relationship.
The funnel consists of seven stages:
1. Application
2. Screening
3. Interview
4. Assessment
5. Reference and Background Check
6. Decision
7. Job Offers and Contract
Everything You Need to Know About Job Searching
1. Define your career goals. What kind of role are you
looking for?
2. Research companies you want to apply for. Find the
jobs that are a perfect match for
your skills.
3. Write a tailored cover letter. Explain to the recruiter
why you’re a good fit for the role and for the company.
4. Tailor your resume to the role. Tailor it
based on what skills and experiences each employer is
looking for.
5. Ace the interview. Memorize the common interview
questions, practice, and ace the interview.
6. Following up. If the job posting didn’t list an
application deadline, follow up one week after your
initial
application.
5 Ps of Job Hunting by Daniel Bortz
1. Positioning - Before you start applying to jobs, you
need to identify what makes you valuable to an
employer.
The Job Search: Job Advertisements
What is a Job Advertisement?
 A job advertisement is a print or electronic
notification of an intent to hire someone to
perform specific work in a position at a
company or organization.
 an announcement that informs people that a
certain job position is available.
 written in an engaging tone and it contains
information not only about the job position, but
also about your company and the benefits you
offer.
 uses sections that give you an overview of
essential information about the job.
 Most job advertisements have a specified period
for you to apply - They additionally may have
explicit application directions for you to follow.
Components of a Job Advertisement
1. Design
 Use appealing design and key images to reach
and target the desired audience.
2. Job Title
 The title should be aimed at generating good
search engine optimization in order to reach the
desired target group.
Exploring the Job Market: Writing a Cover Letter/Application Letter
Cover Letter
 first thing your prospective employers will see,
and it should motivate them to read your resume
 It provides a positive impression since it
contains your claims that you have the
qualifications they are looking for.
 can’t be the applicant’s only document - It is a
letter of introduction accompanied by another
document such as a resume or curriculum vitae.
Letter of Applications
 are written in a way that you are selling yourself
thru your qualifications.
 The Applicant is the Seller and the Letter of
Application is the Promoter.
 For the employer, application letter serves as
Efficiency Device - basis of employment.
 For the applicant, application letter is a means of
presenting his qualification effectively.
2. Process - Job hunting is strategic. Rather than
applying to dozens of job postings, focus on openings at
companies that you admire.
3. Persistence - This is a marathon—not a sprint. Even
top talent can spend six months to a year job hunting
before they land an offer.
4. Presentation - One of the best ways to prove your
worth to a prospective employer is by preparing an
elevator pitch to deliver at job interviews.
5. Personality - Make yourself an attractive target by
showing job interviewers who you are as a person—not
just a professional.
3. Job Description
 The description of the tasks should be short and
understandable.
4. Job Requirements
 The professional and personal requirements of
the applicant must be presented accurately and
clearly.
5. Company Description and Benefits
 Present your business in a separate part of the
ad and highlight the reasons you are an
attractive employer.
 Consider your candidate persona and what kind
of benefits they would want to have.
6. Application Procedure
 Describe the application process to the applicant
and inform them about the desired file format.
7. Contact Person
 A contact person and contact details should not
be forgotten.
8. “Apply-now” Button
 This button should be clearly visible and
connected to a call-to-action!
9. Holistic Company Appearance
 Use videos or image of employees to visually
represent the workplace.
 Provide links to your social media profiles and
application tips to complete your job
Guidelines for Writing a Cover Letter
1. Focus - Keep it forward; when you’re applying for a
position, include only information relevant to the
position.
2. Stay on topic - State the reason for the letter. Letters
should explicitly introduce their reason for being written,
usually in the first paragraph.
3. Think of your letter as an argument - When you’re
asking for a job, you’re making an argument. You’re
making a claim that you are qualified for a certain
position.
4. Choose an appropriate salutation - If you know the
person’s name and title, use it. If not, one good solution
to address him/her by first and last name. If it happens
you must write to an unknown reader, use “Dear Sir or
Madam.”
5. Proofread - Few writing situations demand greater
perfection than professional letters.
 Exploring the Job Market: Writing a Resumé
What is a resumé?
 A resumé is a persuasive summary of your
qualifications, e.g., education, skills, and
employment, when applying for a new job.
 It is traditionally called as Bio Data or
Biographical Data. Also, it is referred to as
Curriculum Vitae
 It is said to be custom-fit because you are the
one who made it and it is only made for you, not
for anybody else
 A resumé acts as an advertisement of your skills,
experiences, and education. It is what will open
opportunities for you.
Types of Resumé
1. Print Résumés - are printed on paper for prospective
employers to scrutinize. They are designed to emphasize
key information using bold or italic typeface.
2. Scannable Résumés - are designed to be read by
computers; hence, they are to be formatted using single
typeface or without italics or bold.
The Job Interview
Job Interview
 most critical component of the entire job
selection process.
 serves as the primary means to collect additional
information from an applicant.
 serves as the basis for assessing an applicant’s
job-related knowledge, skills, and abilities.
 designed to decide if an individual should be
interviewed further, hired, or eliminated from
consideration.
Types of Interviews and Common Questions
1. Unstructured (Nondirective) Interview
 There is generally no set format to follow so that
the interview can take various directions.
 lack of structure allows the interviewer to ask
follow-up questions and pursue points of interest
as they develop.
 an interview where probing, open-ended
questions are asked.
 It involves a procedure where different questions
may be asked to different applicants.
2. Structured (Directive) Interview
 The interviewer lists the questions and
acceptable responses in advance and may even
rate and score possible answers for
appropriateness.
 consists of a series of job-related questions that
are asked consistently of each applicant for a
particular job.
 typically contains four types of questions.
o Situational questions pose hypothetical
job situations to determine what the
applicant would do in that situation.
o Job-knowledge questions probe the
applicant’s job-related knowledge.
o Job-sample simulation questions
involve situations in which an applicant
may be actually required to perform a
sample task from the job.
o Worker-requirements questions seek to
determine the applicant’s willingness to
conform to the requirements of the job.
Features of a Resumé
1. Organization - There are different ways on how you
can organize your resumé depending on your goals,
experiences and qualifications.
a. Chronological resumé is the general listing
of all your academic experience from the most
recent to the oldest.
b. Functional resumé is organized around
various kinds of experience.
c. Targeted resumé generally announced the
specific goal up to top, just beneath your name,
and offers information selectively
2. Succinctness - A resumé must be concise.
3. Comprehensiveness - A resumé must present all
important details that can gain the nod of the prospective
employer.
4. Design - The resumé should be reader-friendly and be
professionally packaged.
3. Situational Interview
 ask the candidate what his or her behavior
would be in a given situation.
 Candidates are interviewed about what actions
they would take in various job-related
situations.
 ask interviewees to describe how they would
react to a hypothetical situation today or
tomorrow.
4. Behavioral Interview
 ask the applicants to describe how they reacted
to actual situations in the past.
 Candidates are asked what actions they have
taken in prior job situations that are similar to
situations they may encounter in the present job.
 The interviewees are then scored using a
scoring guide constructed by job experts.
5. Job-related Interview
 The interviewer asks applicants questions about
relevant past experiences.
 a series of job-related questions that focus on
relevant past job-related behaviors.
 the interviewer asks job-related questions such
as, “Which courses did you like best in
business school?”
6. Stress Interview
 interviewer seeks to make the applicant
uncomfortable with occasionally rude questions.
 aim is supposedly to spot sensitive applicants
and those with low or high- stress tolerance.
 may help unearth hypersensitive applicants who
might overreact to mild criticism with anger and
abuse.
 It intentionally creates anxiety to determine how
an applicant will react to stress on the job.
7. Panel Interview (Board Interview)
 It is an interview conducted by a team of
interviewers, who together interview each
candidate and then combine their ratings into a
final score.
 Here, one candidate is interviewed by several
representatives of the firm.
  This technique entails the job candidate giving
oral responses to job-related questions asked by
a panel of interviewers.
 Each member of the panel then rates each
interviewee on such dimensions
Guide to the Most Common Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Walk me through your resume.
3. How did you hear about this position?
4. Why do you want to work at this company?
5. Why do you want this job?
6. Why should we hire you?
7. What can you bring to the company?
8. What are your greatest strengths?
9. What do you consider to be your weaknesses?
10. What is your greatest professional achievement?
11. Tell me about a challenge or conflict you’ve faced at
work, and how you dealt with it.
12. Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership
skills.
13. What’s a time you disagreed with a decision that was
made at work?
14. Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
15. Tell me about a time you failed.
16. What are you looking for in a new position?
17. What type of work environment do you prefer?
18. What’s your work style?
19. How do you deal with pressure or stressful
situations?
20. What do you like to do outside of work?
21. How do you stay organized
22. How do you prioritize your work?
23. What are you passionate about? The answer can
align directly with the type of work you’d be doing
in that role.
24. What motivates you?
25. What are your pet peeves
26. How do you like to be managed?
27. Do you consider yourself successful?
28. Where do you see yourself in five years?
29. How do you plan to achieve your career goals?
30. What are your career aspirations?
31. What’s your dream job?
32. What other companies are you interviewing with
33. What makes you unique?
34. What should I know that’s not on your resume?
35. What would your first few months look like in this
role?
36. What are your salary expectations?
 Give a salary range: But keep the bottom of
your stated range toward the mid-to-high point
of what you’re actually hoping for, Fink says.
 Flip the question: Try something like
“That's a great question—it would be
helpful if you could share what the range is for
this role,” Fink says.
 Delay answering: Tell your interviewer that
you’d like to learn more about the role or the
rest of the compensation package before
discussing pay.
37. When can you start?
38. Are you willing to relocate?
39. If you were an animal, which one would you want to
be?
40. Sell me this pen.
41. Is there anything else you’d like us to know?
42. Do you have any question for us?