Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ENG 202
11/16/2018
English Final Project
Interview Questions
After reviewing the audio and interview context I have come across a couple patterns and
moves that made a big difference to how the interview was performed. Because this interview
was with someone, I have only met through an email conversation before the interview, I wanted
to make a great first impression to him. This was achieved by dressing nicely when going to the
interview and also starting off with a firm handshake with the interviewee.
The beginning of the interview started off pretty smoothly and I decided to start of asking
Mark about his who he was and his background in Electrical Engineering and also where he
grew up. This was a little off script as I wanted to jump straight into the meat of the interview but
thought that breaking the ice would result in laxing him and also creating a better answer. He
went on for about five or so minutes about talking about his time in forty fort and also how he
decided to get into engineering. I thought I did a good job of transitioning form talking about
himself into electrical engineering by asking his schooling. This made him very comfortable to
talk about the information about his job and more open about the questions next to come.
I believe I struggled a little bit with time management as I tended to ask a lot of small
questions about his life which resulted in spending around ten minutes of a thirty-minute
interview on questions not related to the subject at hand. I made a slight move to pull out my
question sheet with my pen pad which was a slick way to make him feel like the real work was
about to start with the interview. I felt like the first question “What communication types do you
use throughout the day?” left more to be desired from him from his response. I felt like I
transitioned it better though when I thought of the question to ask specifically about his
communication with people who speak English but is not their first language. This brought out a
true response that a lot of times that the people he is in contact with don’t always know perfect
English which changes the way he must approach speaking to these people.
When talking about emails throughout the workplace, I thought the interviewee did a
great job of giving me a diverse understanding of the types of textual genres he used in a day. I
now wish I had prodded more about them though and spent more time on these specifically. He
tended to drag on about memos as if they were a necessary bother to him in the e workplace s, he
is a man who fixes many issues within the workplace. I decided to make a memo in response to
this as one of textual genres for the project.
One of the major moves I like to do when interviewing someone is to ask a question and
see how the interviewee responds immediately to the question. You can see how excited they are
about the subject once you talk to them about it. This will lead me to keep this question short or
to drag it out to hear some useful information about the subject. The major question I ended up
spending a good amount of time was when I asked him about “How does communication now
differ from 20 years ago within a business”. The interviewee really enjoyed this question as he
started to talk about his original job with IBM in which faxing was a main source of textual
communication within and to other companies.
I decided to role with this question and branch off by transitioning to cell phones and how
they have changed the landscape of how communication is done within the workplace. This was
a good question to ask specifically to the person I was interviewing because he has been in the
same business through the different technological eras in the past three decades. I would have not
asked this question if I did not do any background research about him and knowing that he was
very tenured.
The question I felt that kind of ended up flat was when I asked a question was “9. How
far globally do you communicate with people for business? I felt if I were to redo the interview, I
could have used this as a move earlier when talking about the different ways he needed to talk to
others in different countries. This was a result of not using my whole playbook and sticking to
the script a little bit too much.
All in all, I felt like the interview was very positive. The person I interviewed was
extremely happy to help and also thought my questions were thoughtful and showed that I did
my homework about him. I feel like I accomplished my job in the interview in talking about
different types of communication in the workplace without diverting too much from the task at
hand.
Contextual Genres
1.
Exigence: The company who is expecting a shipment of Bluetooth modules for their speakers is
late and Sara is requesting information about why they’re late and when they should expect to
get them in for their products. Sara and Mark know each other from working with each other as
contacts for both companies.
Author’s Purpose / Goal: To communicate with the company who produces these chips so they
can get them for their speakers before the Christmas season.
Context Background: The companies work together to manufacture electronics and for
Technicolor, this contract is a huge portion of their business and keeping them happy is very
important to financial success for them.
Hi Mark,
We here at Bose speakers are a little concerned with the delayed shipment of our Bluetooth 2.0
modules and not making out new release window for the smart speak we are releasing next
month. The item is releasing December 15th this year and we need these chips three weeks before
for the construction of the product. If you can send me a report on what is going on and what
type of ramifications that may be need to be done if the shipment doesn’t meet the Service
License Agreement we signed with your company.
I hope to hear from you soon with an answer to our problems. The situation usually is not an
issue but due to our tight window and this not being the first time that this has happened with
your company, I need to make sure this is taken care of. This is an urgent matter so you can
contact me any time of the day through email so I can collaborate info with my coworkers.
Reflection:
I wanted to bring out a calm but pressured tone for the larger company that needs a
Technicolor’s products desperately. This company has all the power in this relationship due to
the massive orders the purchase and their market share. To bring out a sense of urgency I tried to
incorporate words like “tight window” and “urgent matter” this helps the target audience feel the
sweat from the company and the reliance on Technicolor.
2.
Exigence: This is a response letter to Sara from Bose about how the shipment issues will be
fixed. This is the second shipment issue that has happened so mark from technicolor needs to be
extra outgoing to resolve these issues within the work.
Writer: Mark
Primary Intended Audience: Sara
Secondary Intended Audience: Bose Employees
Author’s Purpose / Goal: Clear up any issues Sara may have about their order and to give
information about when they can expect these items to be shipped to the company.
Context Background: This is the second times there has been a manufacturing issue for the
company Technicolor. It is also important to know that Sara and Mark are familiar acquaintances
between the two companies when they need to work with each other.
Hi Sara,
I am sorry about the issues you are having once again with Technicolor and our shipments of
products. First things first, I want to assure you that we will be able to meet your deadlines for
what you are asking. Our main issue was that are 10 nanometer processor factories in Taiwan
recently had an awful hurricane and caused large scale damage to the machines that make the
wireless connectivity chips we create for your product. We have had staff working diligently to
get the full factory operational again to produce the delicate environment necessary for the
production of these electrical components.
We are expected to be running up again within two days which would be Tuesday November 7th.
If you refer to the Service License Agreement we created together, there is a one-week buffer
period added to the normal deadlines for any arising issues. Because of this buffer your product
will be shipped on time for the holiday season and you will hopefully have the hottest items
coming this holiday season.
I will be sure to email you with day to day updates or as necessary about our current operation
status and am so sorry that this is your second time dealing with a delayed shipment. I hope you
will return to us after our contractual obligation to do more business between our companies.
I as the write wants to come out early and assure the representative of the company that this issue
is being resolved as quickly as possible. I used words like “first things first” to set the mood
straight into business as this is a major business email. I wanted to make sure the reader felt
disarmed from any possibility this is a major issue right away. Next is to explain the issue at
hand and to make sure you can give specifics on timeframe for the company that is spending
millions of dollars for your products. I also wanted to bring out the idea that these products are
extremely hard to produce by talking about the conditions necessary to make the products by
using words like “delicate environment”. Throughout the whole time I thought it was important
to be sincere and show that the company was doing everything in their power to fix the situation
and to regain the company and the readers trust in them.
Memo
3.
Exigence: There is an urgent issue with the metallurgy plant who sends the gold plating over for
the electronics manufacturing to be done. They need to find a metal with enough conductivity to
be able to replace gold at a similar pricing. The vice president needs to send out a memo to let
everyone know of the issue so that a fix can start to be worked on.
Author’s Purpose / Goal: To resolve an issue of not having enough gold to manufacture the chips
necessary to meet deadlines
Context Background: Most wiring and electronics have gold plating on them to create higher
possible transmission speeds through a cable the conductivity allows it to be really good for
electronics.
Issue: The Taiwan team has informed us that the hurricane that recently hit the area has called
gold shipments to the metallurgy plant to halt. There is a need to find a suitable gold alloy
replacement with a similar conductivity that will allow us to continue creating cables for 4k
passthrough. All work will be currently halted and we need all hands-on deck to find the best
solutions as quickly as possible. If you have any suggestions of what can be used please let one
of your supervisors know so we can fix this issue before we start missing deadlines.
Rick Sanchez,
VP Of Technicolor | Technicolor Corp.
789-654-1231 | www.technicolor.com | ricksanchez@gmail.com
8432 Street rd. Abington Pa, 19010
Not knowing how to make a memo left this hard to create. I felt like a memo should be relatively
short in all and would leave a more face to face approach to get most of the work done for this
project. There will also be follow up emails with information to and fro about how to go about
replacing the plating on the cabling.
4.
Exigence: A small customer who has received his processors is not happy with the replacement
of gold to silver plating on his high-end HDMI cords he purchased from Technicolor. He is
looking to either return the items or get the products described that he paid for.
Author’s Purpose / Goal: To resolve an issue of receiving a product that is not as described and
also inferior to the one paid for. He is looking for a refund or the correct product to be sent to
him.
Context Background: Most wiring and electronics have gold plating on them to create higher
possible transmission speeds through a cable the conductivity allows it to be really good for
electronics. Cheaper metals tend to leave a grainy picture on the screen when using high end
televisions.
My name is Johnny Applebottom and I recently purchase three of your high-performance HDMI
cords for my 4k television. I was extremely excited for them to arrive only to be disappointed to
see the plating on the cables has been changed to a cheaper silver plating. For the price I paid for
the cables I expect these to be as described.
After trying to find someone within the company who actually has an answer about my issue
you, I found your name online and you are head of production so I wanted to figure out why
these are now made cheaper than before. I would like to request the product I paid for or return
these items if replacing them with the correct ones is not possible. I turned to your company after
hearing great reviews of your products but am sincerely disappointed about my experience so far
with the company and what I was sent.
The order number was order number:987654321654 and was ordered on 11/10/2018. If there is
any other information you would like me to send over please let me know.
Johnny Applebottom,
Technician | AV Tech Solutions
465-321-6532 | www.avtechsolutions.com | johnnyapplebottom@gmail.com
999 Brooklyn Ave. New York, NY 86543
5.
Exigence: A formal response to the complaint of the change in quality of the HDMI cables
purchased by the customer. It is necessary to calm the customer down, try to resolve his issues,
and also try to pull him in as a reoccurring customer.
Author’s Purpose / Goal: To resolve an issue of receiving a product that is not as described and
also appease the customer any way he can. It is important to resolve the issue and also try to
make him a customer that trusts your brand.
Context Background: Due to manufacturing issues the plating on HDMI cords has been
temporarily replaced to silver until the gold plating is able to come in once the factory is able to
ship it to them.
I am sorry that you are not happy with your purchase due to the recent temporary change to
silver plating on the cables until our gold distributor is able to ship out the new plating to us. This
is not a normal occurrence and had to make some changes to keep our deadlines in order. We
plan to change back to our normal cabling as soon as we are able to obtain the products
necessary to fix the issues at hand.
The change in picture quality is minimal when changed to silver but an aficionado as yourself
demands and deserves the best from our company. We have some leftover stock from before the
change occurred to silver plating on the wires and would be happy to ship you out replacement
cables as soon as possible. You are also allowed to keep the originals to create as little work
possible to you to rectify the situation at hand.
Technicolor also would like to give you a promo code for twenty percent off any future order to
hope you will use our product. If you have any other concerns please let me or any other staff
member on our customer service team know and we will be sure to help out as much as possible
for our loyal customers.
Mark Lollipop
Electrical Engineer Manager | Technicolor Corp.
987-654-1234 | www.technicolor.com | marklollipop@gmail.com
8432 Street rd. Abington Pa, 19010
6.
Exigence: Request to upper bosses for an additional employee to add to his staff. They are
currently over their head in projects without additional support.
Author’s Purpose / Goal: To request an additional associate for the development team
Context Background: six months before the company lost an employee and has yet to fill a
position within the company. The company bosses do not realize the position not being filled is
causing delays in productivity due to the staffing being shorthanded. The manager of the
production, Mark, is asking for an additional employee to help spread the workload out for
everyone.
I Am Mark Lollipop from your electrical engineering production team here at Technicolor. I am
writing you to request the permission to seek a proper replacement for Tom Deflator, an engineer
on my team who left six months ago to move the New England area.
After the unfortunate departure of Tom, we were lucky to have a smaller plate of projects to
work on six months ago, but recently we have been working on some very large-scale projects
and are becoming over encumbered with the duties presented to us at the moment. With the help
of the HR department, I would like us to possible find a suitable replacement for Tom so that
Technicolor can work at full efficiency.
With the type of work Tom was working on, it would be important to have someone with at least
five years of experience and an intern would not work for the type of high-level projects we are
taking on now with our larger clients like Bose and Samsung. To keep these larger companies
happy, our deadlines need to be met to keep Technicolor as financially successful as possible.
After considering all of our options, I believe this to be the best course of action and hope you
and your upper associates will too. Please let me know if there is any other information you may
need and I hope to hear from you soon about your decision on the matter.
Mark Lollipop
Electrical Engineer Manager | Technicolor Corp.
987-654-1234 | www.technicolor.com | marklollipop@gmail.com
8432 Street rd. Abington Pa, 19010
Z. De Piero
202D Business Writing, F’18
Joseph Stanchek
Company Profile
Exigence
Writer
Purpose
What’s the writer’s goal? Is it realistic? Have they
identified a concrete, actionable outcome that they’re
hoping to achieve?
Genre Identification
Genre-Specific Conventions
Rhetorical Strategies
Has the writer used various rhetorical strategies to
persuade their reader/audience in the most effective
way possible? From jargon (technical terminology), to
particular details (e.g. the specific amount of $ due for
a claim; timelines for a call to action), to
communication with internal vs. external audiences,
have you (the student) brought each genre “to life” in
realistic ways with your language-based decisions?
Organization/Structure
Mechanics + Punctuation
Focus on “Moves”
Examples of “Moves”
Is your analysis of your moves connected to your
language? Have you quoted yourself to provide concrete
examples?
Interview