Four major potential interviewing problems and suggestions to job applicants

This interview is normally done by an experienced interviewer candidate is screened into or out of the hiring process.. Table 2: Potential interviewing problems Redundant competency cove

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HCM CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

*** GRADUATION PAPER

HUFLIT member and offering me an opportunitie to conduct this graduation paper.More than that, special thanks go to-all lecturers who have taught, suppOlied, andprovided me useful knowledge as well as essential skills during past four years

Specifically, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor - Mr Hung

atmosphere for doing this graduation paper His guidance has assisted me during theprocess of conducting this paper I could not have imagined having a better advisorand mentor for my bachelor thesis comparing to what he did

supported me a lot in conveying the survey/questionnaires This thesis would not havebeen possible without their assistance and experiences share

From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank my family and friends who alwaysstand by me for their encouragement and support until I complete this tough work.June 6th, 2015

HIEN THU THI PHAN

ADVISOR'S ASSESSMENT

Student Name/Code: HIEN THU THI PHAN -lIDH490262

Topic: Four major potential interviewing problems and

suggestions to job applicants

Relating to this thesis, Ms Hien Thu Thi Phan clearly understands the big picture while

attending to the details of the specific project She works independently as a consistent starter" Outstandingly, she reliably recognizes the existence of a problem, identifies potential causes, and implements possible solutions More than that, she seeks and evaluates information using multiple criteria for topics/ issues under consideration With great sense of self- improvement and hard-working, the author ofthis graduation paper has fulfilled her mission.

~'self-As for the relationship between advisor and advisee, the research conductor assesses own knowledge, skills, and abilities accurately She perseveres toward attaining mutually agreed upon goals and displays high standards of attendance and punctuality Especially, she responds thoughtfully to feedback In short, she sets, reflects upon and adjusts priorities in order to balance professionalism and her characteristics.

General Assessment: I absolutely appreciate Ms Hien Thu Thi Phan's endeavor in terms of

collecting and analyzing data; which have greatly contributed to the thesis's values The paper meets the demand of integrating academic study into the actual cases This research project's content is organized logically and offers rather applicable recommendations In general, the paper is well designed Plus, both academic and practical merits are well illustrated To sum

up, it is my intense pleasure to collaborate with such an ambitious and diligent researcher like

Ms Hien Thu Thi Phan She deserves to get distinguished extent for her work.

HUFLIT, June 8 th, 2015

V

Nguyen Quoc Hung, MEd., MHrm.

In terms of successful organization, talents who right fit job positions are hired through

applicants Job interview, as always, more or less creates restlessness and anxiety for

supposed to handle and come over many obstacles, from the moment submittingapplications to attending the interview However, apart from those difficulties andchallenges that candidates must take a great effort to overcome themselves, there aremany problems arising from employers For example, if candidates are not equipped

interviewers that the candidates most frequently encountered in the interview Both

suggested to equip basic skills for candidates, especially the fresh graduates, regarding

a successful interview and wished job If applicants both invested enough time onpreparing for the interview and concerned about needs of employers in according with

candidates are able to re-mark personal, to reject "redoubtable opponents" and to win

an opportunity of a good job

iv

5.1.1 Some questions about applicants' personal life, marriage plans, or

v

5.2.3 Problems related to old company 49

5.4.1 Looking for the information about

5.4.2 Efficient using body language to attract

5.4.3 Provide some questions about the company and

I~

-LIST OF TABLES

vii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 11&12: The frequency and reasons

Figure 13: Interviewers' typical solutions in case of inappropriate questions 31Figure 14&15: The frequency and reasons

Figure 19: Some interviewers' typical solutions

Chapter 1: Introduction

INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background

integration, the issue of human resource management and human resource efficiencyfor high-quality is the top concern of the state and society more than ever Recruitingright people with an effective method is one of the essential skills of the manager andalso is the foundation of organizational prosperity and sustainability Similarly, as

Steve Wynn said, "Human Resource is not a thing we do It is the thing that runs our

business" (2000) However, in enterprises, avoiding mistakes during the recruitment

process as well as selecting potential employees are still a major concern Beside

considered as one of the important factors affecting the interview process Objectivity

affecting recruitment success As such, a number of candidates joining interview often

techniques, this research paper points out some basic errors that employers frequentlyencountered in order to assist businesses with an overview of those situation More

expected to support candidates in overcoming some tough interview situations

1.2 Objective

By collecting and analyzing the information from a lot of materials, this research is

specifically in Potential Interviewing Problems of Recruitment Process Based on thatparticular source, this paper aims to assist businesses towards recruitment process with

evaluating and analyzing some practical cases from interview, this research strongly

interviewing process Therefore, all suggestions proposed by the writer are compliedwith a hope that they are useful for company recruitment activities

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.3 Scope

Selecting process This paper, conducted from February to June, 2015, was can'ied outmainly in Ho Chi Minh City The sample size of 150 experienced interviewees and 10interview specialists has been selected as research subjects in order that this graduationpaper attemped to work out four major potential interviewing problems that candidatescould encountered

1.4 The structure of the research

In total, this research paper has five chapters The thesis begins with the rational,

objectives, scope and outline of this research Chapter 2 provides a more in-depth

fundamental knowledge comes from the teaching material named Human Resource

introduced Then, data and result of the reality of influence of potential interviewingproblems to both recruiters and job applicants were found and analyzed in Chapter 4.Finally, applicable recommendations to job applicants were proposed in Chapter 5

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Figure 1 Selection process

The Selection ProcessExternal Environment Inlernal ~vlronment

Ul

•

~

0 0.

of choosing right people for job vacancies Therefore, selection process is extremelyimportant for choosing valuable candidates Furthermore, effective selection will give

operational requirements enterprises A good selection process helps enterprises make

Chapter 2: Literature Review

business goals effectively in order to improve organization performance as well as

effectively use of corporate budgets

2.1.2 Interview

2.1.2.1 Definition

interviewees to choose suitable candidates for the job whether these candidates willassume a position or job that low to high Of all the methods used in selection,interviewing is the oldest one and widely used along with applicant form and letter ofreference (Bratton & Gold, 2005) Several studies have shown that that success onthe job has not been totally predicted through employee interview (Gibb & Taylor,2003; Arthor, 2006; Erker & Buczynski, 2008) Nevertheless, job interview continues

to be considered as the primary recruitment tool that almost companies use to evaluateapplicant (Kemble, 1993) There are two kind of interview as follow

a) Preliminary interview (Screening interview): A preliminary interview is an initial

specific certification such as certified public accountant (CPA) The candidate who

discussion regarding this particular position wastes time and cost for both the companyand the job applicants This interview is normally done by an experienced interviewer

candidate is screened into or out of the hiring process

used today While businesses are trying to reduce costs, it is considered to be the mostcommon way that businesses choose Through this form of interview, employers can

Chapter 2: Literature Review

candidate Besides the benefits of saving time and cost, the lack of interaction between

disadvantages of this form of interview For example, it is impossible for the interview

to recognize or observe nonverbal cues from the candidate that may give hints to

candidates which born in some regional accent may have a great effect with the

exchange the information with the candidates in distant location

through Skype In the era of powerful breakthrough technology, geographical distancecannot become barriers to make the interviewer difficult in the finding talent process

nowadays The advantage of this type of interview is private property will be securedagainst the telephone interview and saving significant costs when candidates away

decisions correctly

_ Face-to-face interview: Face-to-face interview is a data collection method when the

prepared questionnaire This method enables to acquire factual information, consumer

quality of the obtained data_and _increases the response rate In contrast to othermethods, this method requires a higher cost This method is also very inconvenient forapplicants who work in distance

b) In - depth interview (Hiring interview)

candidate, whether the candidate will assume a position or a job from the lowest level

Chapter 2: Literature Review

A requirement for the in-depth interview is to be experienced, highly educated and

candidates have spent the majority of the selection procedure, the company would like

to check all data and information that the applicant has provided in many different

additional candidates some missing documents to the applicant to prove his honesty Infact, the hiring interview is the process that will result in an offer of employment beingmade to a candidate Hence, the interview format used in this process will determinewhether or not the interviewer has sufficient infonnation to make the right offer to thebest candidate

Truly, interviews are a widely used tool to access people's experiences and their innerperceptions, attitudes, and feelings of reality Based on the degree of structuring,interviews can be divided into three categories: unstructured (nondirective) interview,structured (directive or patterned) interview and behavior interview In details, specifictypes of interviews are showed in Appendix 5

2.1.2.2 The interview process

information about each applicant is shown in a good planning while at the same timeavoiding potential legal pitfalls of the process The following procedure is basic steps

to develop a good interview

DfRHINGTHEJOBAND 1H£ ID£AL APUCANT PROFIlE DEVELOPING THE lHTfRVlEW OUTUNE

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Step 1: Defining the job and the ideal applicant profile

The purpose of this step is identifying some important aspects required for performingspecific job (knowledge, skill, duties ) In particular, the job analysis is used as theprimary basic to make it clearly The job description includes a section on the skill andqualifications required of the post holder It is the responsibility of the candidate to

required, previous experience, compatibility with the job, and the kinds of personalitytraits desired (e.g., self - motivated, a desire to work with people, creativity, ability towork under pressure ) Then, using these documents, develop a profile of the type ofemployees who would best fit the job

Step 2: Developing the interview outline

experts can form the special review team in company When necessary, the effort from

suit.able for the amount of time allotted for the interview Those questions are related.to the job and the ideal applicant profile which set up before Moreover, it must bebased on the objective criteria and job-related

Step 3: Selecting applicants for interview

Some applicants who do not meet the stated qualification requirements in any stepbefore are eliminated immediately However, their resumes should be retained because

unusually high number of applicants respond to an announcement, it is not necessary

to interview them all However, in order to make an initial "cut," objective criteriawhich relates to the stated qualification requirements must be used

Step 4: The interview itself

• Explain the organization; give the general description about the job for the applicant..

(Or provide the copy of job description)

Chapter 2: Literature Review

• Discuss job analysis, in this stage; the applicant should have enough information to

• The interviewers begin questioning When the interviewers finish questioning, makesure that they have necessary reference and explain to the applicant about they may betaking some notes to record the most valuable information

• Allow the applicant to ask questions

him/her

• Finish the interview with positive note The interviewers need to make sure that all

outcome of the interview

Step 5: After the interview

people need to make sure that they relate to the applicants Develop questions for thereference check in the same manner used to develop questions for the interview

In some company, they would like to hold a second interview for the applicants whoappear to have the most potential after the first interview Structure it in a mannersimilar to the first interview, but ask questions which fill in gaps in your information.After that, they make decision by compare applicants to the ideal applicant profile

applicant who best fits the job Do not discuss shortcomings of applicants who werenot selected, the interviewers are not required to give specific reasons to an applicantwho was not selected and build good image to the heart of applicants

Step 6: Legal restrictions

In Vietnam, they are usually interested in Labor Laws, Law on Gender Equality Allinterviewers are expected to be thoroughly familiar with this material

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1.2.3 The interview method

Table 1 Interview Methods Method

A meeting in which several candidates are present and will be asked questions in turn by two or more interviewers A group, discussion around a specific topic may be encouraged and the applicants may be invited to put questions to the others and/or to the panel.

In board interview, several of the firm's representatives interview one applicant In this method, the applicant has known a lot in formation about the company, the strong team culture, its people, and the job by the time interviewing is completed.

The stress interview is usually a deliberate attempt to see how the applicants handle him/her under pressure The interviewer may make the room physically uncomfortable by turning up the heat, make the candidate sit in an uncomfortable chair or sometimes even stand The purpose is to determine the applicant's tolerance for stress This method may be suitable with the job requires the ability to deal with a high level

of stress.

Sometimes the employer will have a "selection committee" or for some other reason there will be multiple people involved in conducting interviews They may want to conduct a "panel interview" in which the applicants will be interviewed by several people at the same time Panel interviews are very efficient from the employer's perspective because it allows them, in effect, to do many interviews all at once Typically, three to ten members of a panel may conduct this part of the selection process This is a chance for applicants to put their group management and group presentation skills on display.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1.2.4 Potential Interviewing Problems

In a textbook named "Human Resource Management" (Wayne M., Robert M.Noe,Shane R P., 2000), there are potential interviewing problems as follow

A Ask inappropriate questions

Most questions and "solve-this-problem" scenarios are developed independently andare not tied to a specific skill, knowledge, and motivation needed for success in thejob Although no questions are illegal, many are clearly inappropriate The most basicrule in interview is this: "Ask only job-related questions"

B Inconsistent questions

There is no interview question script prepared for most interviews, so that the same

interview, the applicant should be permitted to talk about 75% percent of the time.This probably does not happen in the vast majority of interviews Since the objective

informed selection decision, when the interviewer dominates the conversation_thisobjective cannot be meet Therefore, interviewers must learn to be good listeners aswell as suppliers of information

E Central tendency

When interviewers rate virtually all candidates as average, they fail to differentiatebetween strong and weak candidates

he or she values highly to overshadow all other information When this works in theapplicant's favor, it is called the halo effect.

G Contrast Effects

An error in judgment may occur when, for example, an interviewer meets with severalpoorly qualified applicants and then confronts a mediocre applicant By comparison,the last applicant may appear to be better qualified than he or she actually is

H Interview bias

stereotypes, lifestyles, personalities, appearances, or other irrelevant perceptions toaffect the rating of candidate responses

I Lack of training

When the cost of making poor selection decision is considered, the expense of trainingemployees in interviewing skills can be easily justified Almost everyone assumes thatinterviews are easy and don't require training Managers only receive cursory trainingand don't know the pitfalls that can lead to bad interviewing and hiring results

J. Behavior sample

The sample of behavior might be too small to judge the candidate's qualifications

properly even if an interview spent a week with an applicant In addition, the

applicant's behavior during an interview is seldom typical or natural

K Nonverbal communication

Interviewer should make a conscious effort to view themselves as applicants do toavoid sending inappropriate or unintended nonverbal signals

According to the research of Doyle (2008)? with more than 200 people for T-Mobile,

no less than a third of job applicants come away from an interview with a bad

Chapter 2: Literature Review

impression of the company He found that the reasons stated for a bad interview experience ranged from the professional to the personal For example, the applicants' unconfident from interviewer domination or interviewer bias; they were asked by umelated-job questions

Another research that related to these problems, Byham (n.d.) asceliained 17 common potential interview problems that interviewer often acquired during the selection process It means that besides how to attract and find suitable candidates for the job, the interviewer problems are also considered as one of the most important factors affecting to the recruitment' efficiency; these problems, if cannot be address, will lead

to missing the opportunity in finding the best candidate to support the organization.

Table 2: Potential interviewing problems

Redundant competency coverage happens when interviewer asking similar questions of an applicant It does not mean that data is being obtained for all competencies Excessive overlap leads to a negative result in a selection process that is neither fair

nor effective.

Asking theoretical questions or projecting personal motives, feelings, attitudes, aspiration, and personal perspectives onto a candidates can cause an interviewer to misinterpret applicant

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Candidates are often hired for their skills, but leave company because of not find themselves motivated in the job Many interviewers try to determine interviewees' knowledge, experiences by asking whether they can do the job but not asking about why they want to do the job As a result, this failure is closely related to poor job performance and turnover.

Similar to job fit motivation above, one of the most popular reasons candidate leaves organization is due to the culture or management style Failure to gauge applicants' organization fit, in terms of its values and mode of operation, may cause unproductiveness afterward.

An interviewers' bias cause them to hire who they like best instead of selecting the person who is best for the job Meanwhile, stereotyping refers to classifYing an applicant's gender, religion, race, appearance without any evidence for each case Interviewers are often unaware of their prejudices and how they impact on personnel decision, yet bias or stereotypes have no relationship to the job responsibilities.

Permit halo effect The "halo" effect occurs when an interviewer allows one

and like-me error competency about the candidate to overshadow on everything else

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Asking information unrelated to the job will not get much behavioral that is relevant to the job's target competencies Therefore, interviewer cannot keep the interview focused and cannot manage the amount of detail an applicant provide either.

Interviewers will not have a wise hiring decision if they jump to conclusions before gathering essential information about applicants Making snap judgment based on initial impressions, test scores, resume submitted does not lead to fairly and accurately evaluation

This involves rejection of a candidate based on negative examples

of behavior because many interviewers just focus on obtaining unfavorable references about candidates This approach does not give interviewers the balanced picture to differentiate between an average candidate and a potential outstanding one.

candidate with the meets several poorly qualified candidates and then confronts a

selected for being better qualified than he or she actually is.

Interviews are excellent tools in a selection system; however, the combination of other sources like testing, temporary assignment,

on interview

simulations, reference check will increase the reliable hiring rate.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

five easily-correctable errors that caused candidates to be disqualified In today's

disqualified instantly In this article, he has given five basic errors that candidatesoften suffer from:

A weak opening statementNot Answering.the Question Asked/Giving Rambling ResponsesNot providing specific examples or anecdotes

Poor eye contact/body languageShowing up late or too early for the interview

To get a successful interview, making a good impression with the interviewer andminimize the potential interview problems when interviewed, Dr Sylvia M Jenkins of

strategies for both applicants and interviewers This research (Appendix 7) suggested

some preparation for candidates before an interview and some of the skills necessary

to participate in interviews In addition, she suggested some necessary information thatapplicants need to know before having interview Employers are impressed when job

some information about your interviewer and supervisory / management style can lead

to avoiding some potential interview problems As Dr Sylvia M Jenkins (2002, p.5)

said, "The more information you can learn about the employer, the more interested

and knowledgeable you'll appear to the interviewer "

subjects were divided into 2 groups (Group A and Group B) Group A was conductedwith quantitative research method (Questionnaire) and Group B was studied throughqualitative research one (In- Depth Interview).

3.1.1 Group A (Questionnaire)

Because the subject of this thesis is employees who work in the company, participants

of questionnaires are applicants who have at least experienced once in interviewingand have been working in Ho Chi Minh City for years Questionnaires were collectedfrom workers who are above 20 years old from different companies as well as differentindustries in Ho Chi Minh City

In group B, there were some meetings with ten interview specialists who work in tendifferent companies that locate in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai Province, and Long

An Province Ten companies were chosen to make these interviews are

- Career Planning Limited Liability Company

- Human Resource Business Partner Limited Liability Company

- Minh Tri Mechanical and Construction Limited Liability Company

- Thai Hien Leveling Commercial Services One Member Limited Liability Company

- Pie Rich Garment Limited Liability Company

- Hoang Thinh Real Estate Broker Commercial Services Limited Liability Company

- Thanh Cong Security Company

- Phu An Limited Liability Company

- Hoai Sang Private Company

- American Academy English Center

Chapter 3: Methodology

3.2 PROCEDURE

to 27th April) , 10 questionnaires for interviewer were made, some of them collected

stamped their company's red stamp already Finally, in the last 3 days of April, all thecollected data was entered into a computer and analyzed

3.3 MATERIALS

The survey used in this research addressed two purposes The first purpose is getting

frequently encountered The second purpose is finding some reasons and suggestionsfor these problems put forward by interviewer specialist

3.3.1 Group A (Questionnaire)

As mentioned above, the participants in this thesis were employees who work in thecompany The instrument used in this research was a questionnaire There were 150workers in total participating in the survey

The questionnaire for group A included 10 questions Those questionnaire help the

chosen subjects in different company Each.copy of the questionnaire consisted of two

information included gender and the company they are working The real situationincluded 8 questions, and it was divided into five groups:

Group 1: question 1,2 showed applicants' general thoughts of the latest interview.Group 2: question 3 was designed to help the author get the some solutions that the

.

.

applicants use in case asked by inappropriate question

Chapter 3: Methodology

interviewer domination

Group 4: question 5 to 7 investigated interviewers' nonverbal communication

Group 5: question 8 helped the author have some common interview bias thatapplicants get in interviewing

Most of questions are multiple choice questions Thus, applicants find it easy and fast

to figure out the most suitable choice Particularly, question 8 was measured by thetime frame, ranging from I-Never, 2- Rarely, 3-Sometimes, 4-0ften and 5- Very often

3.3.2 Group B (In-depth Interview)

In this group, the author designed one questionnaire with 10 questions for interviewer.Most of these questions are the same with applicants' questionnaire, but the purpose of

divided into 3 parts Two Cjuestions in the first part were the interviewer's information.From question 1 to question 6 (in part II), the interviewers were asked to determine thefrequency of potential interviewing problems that they often got Seven remaining

suggested by interviewers when they encountered the same situations Question 12was measured by the time frame as the questionnaire for applicants The last question(number 13) was a short answer In order to ensure the practicality and accuracy of theinformation provided by the interviewer, the author kept the questionnaire, ask eachquestion in tum and sometimes write the answer of question number 13 After each in-

synthesized, evaluated, and analyzed with Microsoft Excel@ software

either job position or

organization that leads

to unsatisfied answers

during interview.

Interviewers did not create a good conditional and comfortable environment for applicants during the interview.

Applicant competences are not really considered

by interviewers.

Others

Figure 3 shows perspectives of applicants when they are asked about the reason whythey felt disappointed about their latest interview According to data of figure 3, therewere 63 people thought the interviewer did not really create good conditions andcomfortable environment during the interview It affected their confidence in showingknowledge and skills In addition, 47 people recognized that one of popular reasons

interviewers 57 people assumed that they were rejected due to their lack of eithercompany or job requirement information Only I person believed that their knowledgeand skills do not satisfy the job requirements As a result, beside subjective reasonsderived from the candidate, the interviewer is also considered as a directly importantfactor that impact on the success of the interview as well as the confidence and ability

to express of candidates

Chapter 4: Analysis

In question 3, the applicants were asked about how they responded when being askedinappropriate questions

• continuously answer

• moving to another question

keep answering in according with reminding to the interviewer

In the figure 4 above, there were 51 people (34%) choose the approach continueanswer these inappropriate questions with reminding with the interviewer about job-relation to avoid the same one in next questions In contrast, only 15 people (10%)requested for moving to another question Although no questions are illegal, many are

asked another question While 48 people (32%) said that they was supposed to answerall questions that employers offered even questions unrelated to job specialization, 36other people choose ask the interviewer: "Excuse me, does question related job ornot?" If the interviewer says "yes", they continuously answered this question,otherwise, they asked for permission to switch to other questions So this solution isconsidered as an excellent way for applicants in this case

1%

• opposing to the interviewer

• keeping answering every question in order

moving to answer new question

• others

Chapter 4: Analysis

opposed to the interviewer for getting more time in case the interviewer dominatedthem by rapid - fire questions and only 18 people (12%) moved to next questions eventhough they also had many ideas to show with the employers Their votes can beexplained that in any question which interviewers provided, every applicant would like

knowledge, skills and competencies with the interviewers Additionally, 2 people intotal 150 applicants selected the other solutions The first one tried to response byquickly short answer, gave the information back to the employers as short as possible;for example, when the interviewer asked "how many companies have you work for?",they answered, "2" In contrast, other persons often keep silence in this case

Question 5, 6, 7

directly affect applicants' confidence Therefore, in the question number 5, 6, and 7,applicants were asked about their thoughts and actions in some situations related tointerviewers' behaviors

feel distrust &"1 reserved in \ interview 7%

feel comfortable and confident to interview.

92%

According to the figure 6, a large number of applicants (138 people), accounting for92% of total, said that they were very comfortable and confident when they received a

remaining 7% (10 people) were distrust and reserved in every question which theinterviewers provided and only 1% (2 people) gave the other answers that they should

Chapter 4: Analysis

considered carefully when answering questions or should took notice the interviewers'attitude development to have the best behavior for interview

expressed their su;ctly and uncomfortable feeling right at the beginning of interview,

interviewers 'questions more carefully and answered these cautiously while 21 people(14%) preferred listening than saying This can be explained by the first impressionwas often the most important factor affected to the applicants Most of them came to

company reputation to be evaluated by those interviewers' nonverbal communication

In other words, the more negative applicants' thoughts about interviewers, the worseimpressions about the brand applicants had All data of question 5 was shown in thefigure 7 below

• being unnerved in answering the questions

• listening and answering the question carefully and cautiously

• having good information about company as well as

interviewers

• saying less and listening more

and skills

39

Putting forth some questions about the company

Figure 8 Applicants' solution for interviewers' neglectful feeling

Applicants were asked what they did when you got employers' indifference althoughthey always tried to express their own capacities The column chart in figure 8 shows

choice was maintaining the impression to the interviewers by showing up all theirknowledge, skills and competencies as much as possible account for 81 votes in total

company's policies, corporate culture or the employees' expectation for getting theirsympathies had 39 votes Using more body languages had only 30 votes and stayed inthe third place The last solution was either increasing or decreasing the volume of thevoice got 27 votes in total This result may be understood that all solution in this caseacceptable Any candidates are offered in a company because of their knowledge,

came from employers make them receive the indifference of the interview, making

,

strong impression by their abundant knowledge and experience always considered as

an excellent solution and the most effective way This is a reason why this way getsthe majority votes from applicants

Chapter 4: Analysis

Question 8

problems related to old company.

tattoo native village / regional voice

appearance (clothes, skin colour,

religion university/ college which

gender

lappearanc university/ e (clothes,

village / related to gender which religion colour,

regional tattoo old applicants face,

Figure 9 summarizes applicants' assessment of interviewers' bias Base on the result inchart above, in proportion of "very often", tattoos hold the highest percentage with39%; the next was problems related to old company with 28% This could be easilyexplained that most tattoos on the body belong to the individual preferences, although

traditions of Vietnam is affected them a lot for accepting this problem Thus, exposingthe tattoo on the body causing losing sympathetic of employers was common problemsthat applicants often suffered the most On the other hand, gender and religion weresome problems that had the lowest percentage in this result Although the province tocarry out the survey was Ho Chi Minh City where many immigrants gathered from

Chapter 4: Analysis

regions hardly affected them as well as interviewers

With the same question for applicants, in question number I, the interviewers wereasked about their thinking of the reason why applicants are disappointed about theirinterview According to the figure 10, there were 9 interviewers think the applicants'disappointment come from lacking of the information carefully about the company, the

complication about their answers during interviewing Besides that, two reasons came

during the interview for the candidates nor paying attention to the capacity of thecandidates were considered with 2 votes for each answer Another reason provided byinterviewer was lacking of applicants' preparation about themselves to share with theemployers From their points of view, the interviewer was just one of the external

preparation before the interview, the possibilities and potential of inner values of thecandidates will actually be interested employers

Test other kind of Test ability to

situation

Test the other potential competences outside expertise

Others

Page 27

Figure 11&12 The frequency and reasons

Figure 11 shows us the frequency of using inappropriate questions in interviewing ofinterviewers In total, there were 70% of interviewers often give the questions notrelated to work When they were asked about the reason, 6 interviewers say that they

wanted to test the ability to solve the problems in any situation of applicants (Figure

interviewers needed to apply the appropriate tools, including effective interviewing

competence and experience they had, as well as described what they had done Inaddition, profile of candidates can used many fine words painted for their ability as

"capable of teamwork", "good organizational ability," "assume more diverse job" or

"likely natural leadership " However, the reality is not quite so, anyone can write thisstuff on their CV The questions that are not related to work like this can helpinterviewers get a more realistic view of the capabilities of candidates

To have better understand about this issue, Figure 13 below would give intervieweessome typical solutions which, the inte~iewer provided

• continuouly answer

• answering with reminding to the interviewer

• others

Chapter 4: Analysis

• moving to another question

• asking the interviewer about job-related or not

0%

Figure 13 Interviewers' typical solutions in case of inappropriate questions

answered these questions; 80% of them gave advice to continue answer; 10% told the

questions related to personal issues, the candidates should not answered, conversely,these questions related to the life skills, the candidate should replied with employers in

a specific and clear answers According to research results, it was no wonder thatalmost interviewers advised the applicants to continue answering these inappropriatequestions As mentioned above, suddenly putting the odd questions is the best way tohelp employers probe how candidates react to pressure, how to deduce the problemand whether the candidate is suitable for the company's criteria or not

test the veracity in answers

others

Figure 14 & 15 The frequency and reasons

Figure 14 presents that 90% interviewers sometimes give consecutive questions forapplicants When they were asked about the reason, there were 8 votes for testing thereflex ability of candidates; 6 votes for testing the veracity in applicants' answers and

3 votes for testing the concentration level of candidates Employers often used thismethod to evaluate the ability to solve problems, how to deal with stressful situationsand the ability to work under pressure of candidates A lot of thorny questions wereprovided maximize to test their sensitivity In a few cases, employers often posedmany kinds of constant questions on one issue, if the candidates were honestly, theanswer would be arranged logically together, on the contrary, and candidates causedbad impression on employers even though they had the excellent skills and knowledge

employers Therefore, after getting to know the meaning behind the domination ininterviewing, figure 16 below showed some suggestion provided by 10 interviewers tohelp applicants overcome this situation Most of them agreed with the solution thatthey should kept answering the old question, then asked a new question again andanswered Witll 4 votes for this choice, they could back to answer all the questions that

Chapter 4: Analysis

moving to answer new question even though the applicants also had many ideas want

to show in last questions There were two solutions which correspond to two different

purposes (Figure 15); typically, if employers wanted to examine candidates towards

some job positions requiring high reflex ability and intelligence such as marketingstaff, salesman/ saleswoman or stock brokers , applicants are expected to change to

computer programmers, network administrator or technician interviewers suggestedapplicants should keep answering current questions, then moving forward Hence,before applying at any job position, candidates are supposed to possess an excellentunderstanding of work nature for knowing how to overcome interviewer's domination

every question in moving to answer

others

have cordial

welcome

have serious / severe attitude

have normal attitude

Chapter 4: Analysis

depend on each applicant

Figure 17 indicates some special attitudes of interviewers during the interviewing.According to the research, most of them answered it depend on each applicants with 6/votes They knew that any candidate attended to an interview with anxiety However,

entering the interview room, candidates should express a happy and friendly attitudes

to interviewers, what they got back from them would be the same attitude Besidesthat, having normal attitude also had 3 votes of 3 interviewers They shared that theydid not want to reveal their attitude in front of candidates although they really likedthem Based on their experience, when the employers expressed their interesting ordislike to the applicants, their psychology was affected so much Several candidatesknew that employers really like them, they became arrogant and had no good deeds