Communicating More Effectively
219UÊAfter the interview, send a letter thanking the interviewer for his or her 
time.
UÊTake some time to think about what went well during the interview and 
what you might have preferred to do or say differently. This information will 
be helpful for planning your next set of interviews if you don’t get the job.
ASSERTIVE COMMUNICATION
This section describes three ways of communicating: passive communication, aggressive 
communication, and assertive communication. Passive and aggressive styles of commu -
nication rarely have the desired effect; assertive communication is more likely to get 
positive results. This section will help you to understand the differences among these 
three types of communication and will provide you with an introduction to methods for 
ensuring that you communicate assertively.
Passive Communication
Generally, shyness and social anxiety are associated with a tendency to communicate 
passively. Passive communication involves expressing one’s needs indirectly, often in a 
quiet voice, and perhaps with frequent pauses and hesitations. Passive communication 
places the other person’s wants, needs, and desires ahead of your own. This style of com -
municating is often associated with a strong desire to avoid any possibility of offending 
or inconveniencing the other individual. However, because your message is not commu -
nicated directly, the other person may never receive the message that you intended to 
communicate. Therefore, passive communication closes the channels of communication 
and may cause you to feel hurt and resentful. In fact, this resentment eventually may put 
you at risk for communicating in an aggressive manner later on. For example, a passive 
way of inviting someone to socialize is the vague statement, “We should get together 
sometime.”
Aggressive Communication