Seven successful and seven unsuccessful employment interviews were videotaped and analyzed to discover how communicative behaviors grounded in rhetorical theory contributed to applicant success. The employers completed pre and postinterview questionnaires that helped to assess the effects of the interviews and to control the effects of the applicants' varying backgrounds. The extent to which the applicants exploited their potentials coincided substantially with their actual success in the interviews. In almost every case, the applicants' rhetorical choices during the interviews were the critical factors contributing to success or failure. The behaviors that consistently associated with rhetorical success centered around six basic principles: to convey positive images, to identify with the listeners, to offer well-supported arguments, to organize thoughts coherently, to phrase ideas in clear and appropriate language, and to deliver messages effectively. Examples of specific communication behaviors during the 14 interviews showed how the successful applicants exhibited the six rhetorical principles much more in their interviews than did the unsuccessful applicants. (RL)