Putting it into Praxis

Praxis, the combination of theory and practice, is a guide for thoughtful action. As you prepare to enter the workforce, use the steps below to inform your analysis of potential employers' recruitment rhetoric!

Recognizing Rhetoric

Rhetoric is happening all around us! Whenever humans use symbols, like language, we're composing rhetorical texts. Before interacting with a potential corporate employer, it's important to be able to notice the rhetoric happening on their recruitment website.

Reputation

Familiarize yourself with the corporation's history. Do you have previous experience with them as a consumer? What's their reputation in the marketplace? This background can provide valuable context for the rhetoric you see on their recruiting website.

Branding

When looking at the recruitment website, notice all the branding elements and how they track across the page. What's consistent? What's inconsistent? How does the branding appeal to ethos, pathos, and logos?

Audience

When composing their website materials, a potential employer imagines a particular target audience or audiences. Based on the content and design of the website, what can you guess about their target audience? What assumptions does the company make when targeting this audience? In what ways do you comfortably sit within the target audience? In what ways don't you?

Mythos

Make note of the social and cultural flags present on the website that collectively form a narrative. How does this narrative reinforce or detract from the company's reputation, branding, and audience? Dissonance points to a rhetorical mythos that exists separate from the company's lived internal culture.