The co-construction of a gatekeeping encounter: An inventory of verbal actions

Abstract

The success or failure of a gatekeeping encounter – in this case, employment interviews – is not simply the result of the interviewee's performance, but is also a result of the interviewer's responses to that performance, and of the interaction between the two; the outcome, whether successful or not, is co-constructed by the interlocutors. Using a data set of transcribed interviews from a national employment agency, the concepts of successful and failed interviews are described. Participants’ perceptions of the required qualifications for achieving successful job interviews are investigated. Results include a complete inventory of verbal actions in these gatekeeping encounters. Their distribution in successful and failed interviews is examined, in order to understand whether they can predict the relative success of particular encounters. Patterns associating social factors such as gender and job type with the occurrence of certain verbal actions and success rates in this dataset are discussed. Male candidates and candidates for light industrial jobs are at a disadvantage in comparison to their female counterparts and to those applying for clerical jobs. Not coincidentally, they are also less likely to establish co-membership with their interviewers. Interestingly, second language learners do not seem to be disadvantaged in the same way. Implications for job candidates, employment training programs, employment agencies, and English language teachers and learners are discussed.