About the interview skills research study:

The project draws on the experience of careers and recruitment personnel as well as on the experience of students, who are the focus of the study.

Its aim is to collect and catalogue a body of data to confirm and describe exactly what linguistic and interactional patterns or problems are typically found in these type of interviews and then use this information to refine the service offered to students.

The research will also contribute to the wider study of institutional / professional interaction as well as having implications for the teaching and learning of tertiary communication skills and the training of careers advisors in New Zealand.



The Researcher

Funded by a university scholarship to conduct PhD research based at the Careers Centre, Sophie also works part-time as a resource developer at the UoA Centre for Academic Development. From 2003-2005, while doing an M.A in Language Teaching and Learning, she worked for the university as a language advisor specialising in speaking skills and it was then that student referrals from careers consultants sparked her interest in the complexities of interview language.


Synthesising three modes of talk: