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Part 1: Definitions

Active listening

Active listening is a communication technique that requires knowing how to listen to someone else.

Its effort is to understand not only the words the other person is saying but also the complete message behind it.

Active listening includes:

 Ensuring that you do not get bored / distracted and do not lose focus on what the other person is saying: Pay attention to the other person very carefully

 Summarising the person's words in your own mind and capturing what has been said for future reference

 Taking notes

* Using encouraging gestures (e.g. smiling, nodding, making eye contact, nod of head or simple "uh huh", occasional questions or comment) and observing the other person's behaviours

 Positioning yourself so that you are facing the speaking person

Giving feedback: to form counter arguments that you'll make when the other person stops speaking, reflect what the other person said by re-stating or paraphrasing in own words (-> to let the other person know that you are listening to what he or she is saying)

These points above help to confirm the understanding of both parties, avoid a lack of listening and understanding and encourage the speaker to talk.To sum it all up it can be said that active listening is successful when the speaker feels like you are interested and understand the message.

Job interviews

A job interview is a Face-to-face interaction between the interviewer and the job applicant so as to obtain desired information (it can also take place via skype or telephone). It can therefore be defined as the questioning of a person and a conversation in which information is elicited  discussion with a purpose. Typical questions in a job interview are e.g. about past history, knowledge of the company, achievements, abilities and interests of the applicant. Job interviews normally take place at second or third stage of a recruitment process.

Candidate's purpose: to convince the company of hiring him by seeking to persuade the interviewer

With additional factual information

Company's purpose: to find and to convince the right employee to join them by screening the interviewee on the basis of information provided in the CV and application form (assesses interpersonal skills, makes conscious or unconscious subjective assessments, engages in persuasion)

The definite purpose of job interview is thereby to get to know the applicant, to determine whether an applicant is suitable for a position of employment  recruitment appraisal

After a lot of job interviews, the company will create a shortlist by reducing the number of eligible candidates to a more manageable size, followed by choosing the most suitable candidate for the job.

Principled negotiation

Principled negotiation is one of the most influential approaches in current negotiation theory.

It is defined as a negotiation strategy that emphasises interests instead of problems and that focuses primarily on conflict management and conflict resolution. It aim is to find acceptable solutions and a mutually shares outcome by determining which needs are fixed and which are flexible for negotiators.

Its 4 fundamental principles are:

1. to separate the people from the problem: do not jeopardise good relationships

2. to focus on interests, not positions: behind apparently contradictory positions often lie interests that can be brought into accordance

3. to invent options for mutual gain: there are often more possibilities than: either...or

4. to insist on objective criteria: has to be independent from both sides, be accepted by both sides

Principled negotiation is especially crucial when there is an imbalance of power between the parties and aims at establishing common bonds and a shared effort to find solutions.

Part 2: Questions

Why should the idea of active listening be under discussion more nowadays than it used to be in the past?

A smooth and trouble-free collaboration in organisations requires active listening. This includes to be understood by colleagues, subordinates and superiors. The main advantages that can be achieved through active listening in conversations (e.g. through staff appraisal) are:

 establishing personal contact / good relationship

 improving / releasing the atmosphere under which the conversation is held

 achieving an emotional accordance in the case of hardened fronts

When employees feel understood by their bosses and get the feeling that the superiors or colleagues are interested in what they say, they feel better, which will lead to a better working atmosphere. Furthermore will the likelihood of misunderstandings or obscurities be reduced if employees listen actively to what their boss says and superiors get a better understanding of the employee's problems, interests and opinions .

Explain to what extent job interviews are two-way communication and how active listening fits into this communication act

An interview is a two way communication between the employer (interviewer) and the job candidate (interviewee): The interviewer puts across different questions to the interviewee and the interviewee subsequently has to answer the questions coming from the interviewer.

Two way communication:

Good job interviews always consist of two-way communication: It does not make a good impression if almost exclusively the interviewee is talking. To avoid this situation questions can be ended with a question back to the interviewer. The interviewee should focus on making the interview rather a conversation than a question and answer format. Asking good questions (e.g. about more details on the job and the department or the challenges being faced) can moreover help to control the flow of the interview and will release valuable information for the interviewer as well as the