Overcoming Cultural Barriers of a Job Interview

by Judy Chau
Asian American Civic Association
Boston, MA

Never overlook the obvious. This is what I continue reminding
myself. After three years of coaching students in a prevocational education program to prepare for job interviews, particularly “white-collar” job interviews, I find myself backtracking and focusing much more with students on the basic presentation aspects of interviewing.

While our program is open to the non-native speaking population of Greater Boston, the typical profile of an Asian Ameri- can Civic Association (AACA) Prevoca-tional Skills student is a Chinese or Vietnamese female, in her late 20s to early 30s, who has worked as a stitcher, cashier or waitress in a Chinatown business since arriving in the United States. The students are high-beginners or low-intermediate level. The average current length of residency in the U.S. is two or three years.

Most students have a very solid work history in their country, having worked for a single employer for up to ten years. Many have had excellent skills, as teachers, bookkeepers, secretaries, bank tellers, business owners, doctors, tour guides, or hotel clerks. They are mature, with a stable work history and many transferable skills. The main barriers are limited English, difficult acculturation, and a lack of computer skills, confidence, and – for some – adequate daycare. Most are very employable individuals who typically do not see themselves as employable beyond Chinatown. This is one great barrier – especially since many usually summarize their goal as “I want a good job, an office job”.

Enrollment typically consists of twenty students who are divided into two equal groups. Classes run 16 hours per week. Although not an office skills training program, the students are taught the basics of keyboarding and basic word processing functions of Microsoft Word. They practice math and learn the English necessary for the mathematical skills which they possess. They study grammar for two hours per week, but ESL is intertwined in all course matter. In addition to aiding students with these basic skills, the task of the three prevocational teachers is to assist them to accept themselves as employable outside of Chinatown. They participate in self-assessment activities to recognize their strengths. The Case Manager works with the students on an ongoing basis for five months, both in workshops and individually, to develop goals and follow their action plan.

My responsibility is divided into ten weeks of conversation, culture topics, writing skills, and pronunciation, along with ten weeks of introducing U.S. culture as it relates to the world of work. The greatest challenge: to prepare students for a “white-collar” job interview. The goal of the enrollees is to either find a full-time job after the five-month class period, or to enroll in a full-time training program. Typically, up to 80% opt for the training program; this may be the Office Systems Training Program at AACA, or others throughout the city of Boston.

Herein lies the challenge. Within those months, the students must feel confident and ready for either a job or training. Whether preparing for a training program interview, or preparing for a job interview – white-collar or not – the challenges remain the same: the candidate must appear confident, describe and “sell” their skills and experience, and explain their motivation and goals.

The problem lies in the fact that most do not feel confident, cannot adequately describe their skills, have no knowledge of the Boston job market and have not developed long-term career plans which they could express to a Human Resources professional. So, on the larger scale, proficiency in English, a realistic view of the current office job market in Boston, the necessary keyboard and computer skills to obtain an office job, and a plan are paramount to achieving their goals.

Less evident, yet equally as important to the process, are the presentation skills which native speakers of English are coached on at University Career Centers, Massachusetts One-stop Career Centers, or by employment specialists. They are the handshake, volume, eye contact, and the all important ability to “sell yourself” at every opportunity. These are the deeper, cultural aspects of Western-style interviewing which my students repeatedly inform me go against cultural propriety. In addition, in the case of students from mainland China, jobs were assigned by the government, and they have never experienced what we know as a job interview. The lack of experience with interviewing, and the cultural differences are very evident as they come to interview for a slot in the Prevocational Program.

As a Prevocational Instructor, I am a member of the seven-person Employment and Training team at AACA. The entire team participates in the intake process. Applicants may be directed in one of four ways in AACA. They may be accepted to either Prevocational Skills or to Office Systems. Candidates who need much more remedial English are referred to ESL class. Those who test with high conversational skills and extensive office experience in their homeland are referred to the AACA Job Developer.

During the intake process of potential Prevocational or Office System students, we are assessing many factors, from eligibility requirements including low-income status, residency, and having a work permit, to their English level, and to their commitment to the objectives of the program. With respect to selecting who studies in which program, it often comes down to our determination of their apparent understanding of cultural expectations in the intake interview and their confidence in themselves. Candidates who come across professionally, who smile, give a strong handshake, have good eye contact, and are willing to try to define their work history will typically be accepted to office skills. Realistically, by learning the appropriate office skills, they will be job-ready in five months. In general, these candidates have lived for some time in the United States, and have somehow become acculturated to many of these interviewing factors. They still have to strengthen these skills, but they are well on their way.

The typical Prevocational candidate will rarely extend their hand to the teacher/interviewer. We extend our hand first. The handshake which we receive is the classic “dead-fish” handshake, described in how-to interview books. It is limp, with little or no grasp. Often it is a two-fingered shake, or “a slider,” which slips through our fingers before we have a chance to grasp it. During the first week of class, we begin to practice the handshake.

It is approached from the cultural aspect first. Students learn that it is appropriate protocol within the business world to do so. Women are assured that they are crossing no boundaries to shake hands,
especially with a man. They learn the cultural interpretation of a weak handshake that human resource professionals emphasize: a weak handshake is a sign of either a weak character, or a weak body — or both. Either way, these are less than desirable traits in a employer’s confident, competent, healthy workforce.

Three years ago, I felt that a bit of practice and a cultural explanation would be enough to make students aware of the need for a great grasp. I felt as though I would belittle my students to continue to review this point. I have since discovered how culturally difficult this seemingly simple act can be. The students have listened to many human resource specialists who have come as guest speakers and have emphasized this point. They have practiced with the H.R. specialists, they practice at least once a week in class, and during the 19th week of the program, as students actually experience their first complete mock interview with a true interviewer rather than a teacher, most will have the handshake down. There will still be a few limp hands. My mistake three years ago was believing that I would insult my students by emphasizing this point. I discovered that I was not doing them a favor by failing to demand consistently strong handshakes.

Clearly, a firm handshake is only a piece of the outside package. Equally important is for the eyes to meet. Maintaining eye contact throughout a thirty-minute interview takes practice for any person who may be less than comfortable in an interview. Coupling that with the fact that in Chinese and Vietnamese culture direct eye contact in a formal situation such as a class or a job interview is seen as disrespectful, this is our second obstacle to overcome. In the initial intake interview for the Prevoca-tional Program, eye contact is no more than the fifty percent range.

And once again, it is first approached through a cultural perspective. Students list the implications of giving direct eye contact in a formal situation. They inform me that to do so is to be an affront. Words that they include are “rudeness” “arrogance” or “a challenge”. They are then
introduced to the American take on lack of eye contact — basic shyness and insecurity, possible boredom or lack of interest, perhaps avoidance of the truth to a particular question. The students are very surprised by these last two negative interpre- tations, but no miracles of eye contact come strictly with knowledge.

Throughout the twenty weeks, the students practice pair activities in which they observe each other’s eye contact. Not being a formal instance such as speaking to a teacher or an interviewer, this is much easier. Although each student spends a total of eight hours per week with me, for twenty weeks, they usually still consider contact with me as “formal”. On an ongoing basis I may sit down with a particular student in class one-on-one, and have a chat. During the chat, I will follow their eyes — up to the ceiling, down to the floor, toward that invisible spider on the wall. This is done in a good-humored way, and the students have some idea of how much their eyes travel in a one-minute conversation.

At the culmination of the job search skills segment of the Prevocational Program, the students participate in a 15 to 20 minute videotaped mock interview, generally with one of several Human Resources professionals who cooperate with AACA. Until the eighteenth week, when the students have an opportunity to view themselves on the video, eye contact remains a challenge. I find that it improves after the students take their taped interview home to review. Seeing is believing.

Volume is another “sales point” which we work on. Again, sitting face to face, in a formal situation, speaking with volume and emphasizing points emphatically, might indicate a certain boisterousness, arrogance or disrespect. Again, this point is worked on throughout the twenty weeks.

The students bring a blank cassette to class from week 15 onward. We spend the good part of three weeks practicing approximately 35 common interview questions. I act as interviewer, the classmates observe and make notes on a critique form. When initially playing back the tape, students note they hear me very clearly, but have trouble hearing themselves. We are sitting equidistant from the recorder. This method seems to help significantly, and students self-improve day by day; most are able to match the volume and energy of the interviewer. Others improve after they hear the same problem with volume reflected in the videotape. We do our best to improve awareness, and to increase confidence, but someone who is inherently shy may continue to be.

Although the handshake, eye contact, and volume are somewhat determined by culture, the main cultural barrier is the central requirement of Western-style interviewing: “selling yourself.” In cultures where humility is a virtue, the concept of recounting past accomplishments and emphasizing strengths is a huge obstacle. The concept is a challenge. The English
vocabulary is a challenge. Believing what you say is a challenge.
Students must be convinced that their work history in their home country is important. We find during the initial intake interview that candidates tell us only about their work experience in the United States, as if what went before is not valid. This is especially true for former professionals who realize that they may not practice their previous profession again, at least not on the same level.

To first introduce them to which skills are valued and sought in the world of
office work, the students spend a week learning the want ad abbreviations, and reviewing the Boston Globe office job ads. The purpose of the exercise is twofold: first, to view the current job market realistically; second, to see which “hard and soft” skills are being sought.

They can clearly see in newsprint which hard skills or computer skills are being sought. This helps them set some concrete training goals. In addition, once they learn that basic soft skills such as teamwork, initiative, hard work, cooperation, honesty, enthusiasm are listed time after time in
expensive advertising space, they begin to believe that they have something to sell.

We work for one week to develop the vocabulary of such “soft skills”. Students practice giving vivid examples both in writing and orally. For example, one former student wrote, “I like to take initiative. I know that in the past, taking initiative helped me to advance in my job. One day, when I was working at an electronics company, the assembly line stopped working. My coworkers sat on the floor playing cards, waiting for the line to start. I thought this was a good opportunity to learn something. I asked my supervisor if I could see the other department working. I watched the other worker for more than an hour, and I thought I could do that. The next day, I told my supervisor that I was sure I could do that. The next week, I got a promotion to that department. I don’t think that you can advance without doing extra things.”

The next week is spent on “functional or transferable skills,” or the “I am good at…” skills. Functional skills are things one can do well. We do the same review of the want ads, and look for key words such as “organize, analyze, instruct, sell, convince, motivate, prioritize, calculate, handle multiple tasks, plan, mediate problems.” Again, we spend a week for students to develop the vocabulary appropriate to their experience, develop personal examples, and practice pronunciation.

The next three weeks consist of more vocabulary development and affirmation of their previous skills as something valid. This is done with the help of the Job Developer and the Case Manager. The three of us spend significant individual time to develop vocabulary for the third component, the “job-specific” skills. We trace their work history with a chronological form and choose the most appropriate terminology to accurately describe their experience. Having no experience as a seamstress, an accountant, or an acupuncturist, I cannot pull terminology from the top of my head. Developing occupational or professional vocabulary is a team effort, using occupational resource books.

To further reinforce and practice this vocabulary, the students will fill out up to ten Boston-area job applications in class. They will then develop a resume, and will format it in computer class. They will write basic cover letters in response to mock advertisements. Through all of these media, the students become comfortable with the vocabulary, and hopefully they also begin to see that they do have valid, valued skills.

Weeks ten to fifteen have carried us through the job market exploration, skills self-assessment, job applications, resumes, and cover letters. By this time they should have a great handshake, make consistent eye contact, project their voices well, believe that they have skills to offer, know how to describe their skills, and are realistic about which “hard” skills they must learn in a future training program.

Weeks sixteen to eighteen consist of daily practice of 30 to 40 common interview questions, including the areas of small talk, education background, work experience, work style/personal traits,
career plans, and hiring details, such as schedules. They have a nightly homework assignment to prepare complete answers to three or four interview questions. The following day, as one student is interviewed on their personal cassette tape, the others observe and critique each other.

By this time, they have become very aware of the completeness of answers, the effectiveness of personal examples, volume, eye contact, posture, and general “sales ability.” Having been together for almost 20 weeks, they are comfortable with each other and generally very supportive, yet they are often more critical of each others performance than I might be. This just indicates their awareness, and I love when I see that.

They are ready for a full trial run. Members of the AACA Employment and Training Advisory Board are called in. These are most often Human Resource specialists from major area employers such as Fleet Services, BankBoston, New England Medical Center, MetLife. They interview those whose English skills are in the higher range, and who have a great deal of comfort by now with the interview process. Those who are still struggling with English and/or confidence are interviewed by Board members with Adult Education and ESL affiliations. We do not tell this to the students, so not to single them out. Clearly, these interviewers have strategies to ease them through the first interview.

By now, the students have been observing each other for at least three weeks. The mock interview takes place in a classroom observed by the teacher and up to 10 classmates, and it is videotaped. It is a highly artificial situation, but we hope the students will benefit from multiple forms of feedback. The students seem to consider it a rite of passage, and say that it is beneficial. Because there is no real job at stake, they just consider it a good opportunity to practice.

During the interview, classmates fill out peer-critique forms which are in the form of a checklist. In fact, they have been doing this informally during the past three weeks. They pass these to the interviewee after the class. At the culmination of the interview, the interviewee gives a self-critique, describing the basic level of comfort, explaining which questions were difficult, and suggesting how they might improve those answers in the future. By the students’ own critique, it is clear how aware they are of themselves. When they can laugh and suggest improvements for themselves, I know that they are on the way to successful interviews in the future. This is a great sign of success.

The interviewer then gives a critique, explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the interview, and makes suggestions. The final critique is done by the teacher who focuses more on pronunciation difficulties with pivotal words, or grammar which may have impeded understanding. I write those specific words down, and they may ask me to practice with them, and to put it on their audio cassette later.

At twenty minutes per interview, plus time to critique, interviews may take three or four days to complete. The students applaud each other and release a collective sigh of relief. I then copy the videotape onto VHS, and students circulate that copy, often making their own tape.

Cycle after cycle, students tell me how they review their audiocassettes and video cassette, especially as they begin to graduate from other training programs and prepare for interviews. They have also used the videotapes to help instruct friends and family members about interviewing.

By spending almost 10 weeks on the actual process of skills self-assessment, job search skills, and interviewing we hope to prepare students for two options. The first is to seek employment directly from the Prevocational Program. Of course, unless they have work experience in a related field, and a certain competency with English, they will be seeking more basic entry-level service jobs. Secondly, for those who plan to continue on with training programs, we hope to give a comprehensive ESL-oriented view of the employment search process which will be used in conjunction with the more rapid-pace presentation of such skills in other city-wide programs where they may be studying with
native-English speakers.

Clearly, a non-native speaker faces the same interview challenges as a native speaker. They face competition, nervousness, insecurity, and the need to prepare. Coupled with linguistic and cultural barriers, the prospect can be overwhelming. In preparing students for the process, we as ESL teachers should not be uncomfortable to emphasize the basics. If we do not, then who will?

Originally published in Adventures in Assessment, Volume 10 (December 1997),
SABES/World Education, Boston, MA, Copyright 1997.

Funding support for the publication of this document on the Web provided in part by the Ohio State Literacy Resource Center as part of the LINCS Assessment Special Collection.