Tag Archives: China Today

Are You Ready for the Pre-interview

Thursday, 20 March 2014 01:22

are you ready for the pre-interview (2)

EXCITED about your first interview with a big Chinese manufacturer? Trying on outfits in the mirror? Are you imagining yourself suavely conversing with high-level managers, delighting them with your sharp wit? Time to wake up!

The bad news is that overconfidence can torpedo your chances in an upcoming job interview. I’ve laughed my way through dozens of lackluster interviews and could share quite a few stories with you. But more importantly, I want to share some practical tips about pre-interview preparation.

First things first, a good first impression is half the offer. Lots of foreigners do not really take their interviews with Chinese HR people seriously. Some show up dressed in T-shirts, jeans or even flip-flops. Others appear in wrinkled shirts or dirty shoes. These poor dressing habits leave HR with one impression – unprofessional! In this regard, how hard is it to choose a nice suit, iron your shirt, and clean yourself up? It doesn’t take much effort to present yourself in a way that conveys an impeccable impression. It won’t take long, so don’t be too lazy about showing that you really want the job. Another friendly warning is on the use of perfumes and scents. Lots of foreigners like to spray on some CK or Burberry before they go out for dinner, dates, parties, coffee and so on. However, an interview is not a social call. Put yourself in the shoes of an HR professional, looking forward to meet you but instead being assailed by the overpowering aroma of your favorite fragrance. The smell of any kind of perfume or fragrance can be distracting. So I suggest that interviewees hold back on the cologne before an interview.

The next point I would like to talk about is preparing for the interview questions. HR people can ask as many questions as they like, and I understand it might be difficult to prepare for every question. But there is one simple part which every interviewee should prepare beforehand: the self – introduction. It sounds very easy, doesn’t it? A lot of people think self introduction means repeating their CV for an hour. Dream on. You only get one minute to show your best face – If you miss it, then you will probably lose your chances right away. So a good self introduction consists of professional experiences as well as individual introduction. Take 15 seconds to show your characteristics and interests. The next 45 seconds are very valuable because this is when interviewees briefly talk about past experiences and achievements. If one of your points is lucky enough to prick the ears of the HR people, the rest part of the interview will follow naturally. For this reason, do take the time prepare to impress HR with a well rehearsed self-introduction.

Last but not the least, if you think that you are going to “rock” the interview empty handed, you might end with a different four-letter word. What does a good interviewee bring to rock the show? Among the thousands of interviews I have had, those who came to me with notepads left me with a strong impression of attentiveness and diligence. They took notes when I explained about the difficulties of the position and what HR expected. Overall, these candidates went through the interview with the HR manager much better than I expected. Also, see what other materials you can bring. If your job is about graphic design or strategy consulting, why try to explain your work in the abstract when you could bring in your best project to impress them visually?

Frankly speaking, thousands of how-to-prepare-for pre- interview tips spin in my head. To remind interviewees every single detail would probably take me ages. So before I finish my chatter and natter, I would like to give you one last pointer. Remember to check out the weather and traffic before you go for an interview! It’s lovely to bike to the interview under clear blue skies, but an unexpected heavy rain could interrupt you in an instant. Or in another scenario, you check that it takes you an hour to travel from where you live to your destination. You come out with a taxi around 8 am but find yourself trapped in rush hour traffic. These might be extreme cases, but when you live in a big Chinese city you have to prepare for every single possible eventuality. If you have followed my tips above, you should be well-prepared for the pre-interview. So don’t mess it up by showing up soaking wet and two hours late!

Are you ready to perform?

Wednesday, 19 March 2014 09:00
are you ready to perform

HEARING the keyword “performance,” you might think about your favorite drama show, TV series, or key performance index. But our topic today is a different type of performance. Here, what I mean is how you perform in interviews with Chinese HR professionals. Having advised you how to prepare for the pre-interviews in the last article, this time I will go through the interview process to give you more practical tips. Hopefully, you will find them useful when you take to the interview “stage.”

First things first, I have always believed that nonverbal communication issues are important in the interview process, not because HR professionals will judge you based on your looks and deportment, of course, but things like eye contact and facial expression reveal a lot about what is on your mind. These are things that many interviewees cannot prepare beforehand. However, they are the key to good communication in the interview.

One of the ways to facilitate the communication process with HR professionals is to maintain regular eye contact. Imagine if you were to gaze dreamily outside the window or stare intensely at the interviewer as if he were your enemy – wouldn’t it give the interviewer the impression that there is something wrong with you? Fleeting eye contact indicates that the interviewee is not really interested in the conversation. But persistent staring indicates that the interviewee might be over-aggressive. While I have heard of Steve Jobs’ classic method of looking intently at prospective employees, I don’t think it’s a good idea for expat interviewees to adopt this method. A good suggestion is to look at someone “between the ears” and maintain consistent but not constant eye contact.

The second point is about building rapport, which is defined as the good relationship between two parties. To start the process of rapport building, smiling matters, characteristics matter, body language matters, and so on. Every interviewer welcomes a friendly smile, especially during a long interview. If you were to talk without any emotional responses for an hour, wouldn’t you wish the tedious conversation to be over and done with as soon Imagine if you were to gaze dreamily outside the window or stare intensely at the interviewer as if he were your enemy – wouldn’t it give the interviewer the impression that there is something wrong with you? Fleeting eye contact indicates that the interviewee is not really interested in the conversation. But persistent staring indicates that the interviewee might be over-aggressive. While I have heard of Steve Jobs’ classic method of looking intently at prospective employees, I don’t think it’s a good idea for expat interviewees to adopt this method. A good suggestion is to look at someone “between the ears” and maintain consistent but not constant eye contact. The second point is about building rapport, which is defined as the good relationship between two parties. To start the process of rapport building, smiling matters, characteristics matter, body language matters, and so on. Every interviewer welcomes a friendly smile, especially during a long interview. If you were to talk without any emotional responses for an hour, wouldn’t you wish the tedious conversation to be over and done with as soon as possible? If you are serious throughout your interview, you will not build a smooth and comfortable interview environment. Additionally, people who copy the body language of others tend to build a close connection with them. This principle is called mirror and matching and it indicates the importance of unconscious communication. As you find yourself sitting in the same position as the HR professional, your unconscious mind might send you signals that you like this interviewer. So, if you want to build a good rapport, why not try to mirror and match the interviewer’s body language.

Another point I would like to make is about verbal language. Language really matters on both sides. A classic scenario would be a native English speaker going to an interview with a Chinese HR manager whose English is not that good. If this happens to be you, I suggest you do not laugh it off. Spotting a potential weakness in a Chinese HR professional, some foreign interviewees might be tempted to use it against them and talk quite aggressively. However, will “attacking” the language problems facilitate the interview process? Here, I would like to remind every expat interviewee that you are the one who is being interviewed. If you hope to find the best opportunity in the job market, you will have to present yourself in a positive and polite way. In this regard, slowing down the speed of your speech, pausing appropriately, speaking in the right tone, and giving specific and clear answers might help both you and the interviewer avoid a potentially embarrassing situation. Additionally, I would like to suggest the interviewee help the interviewer with the conversation. When someone is nervous during the interview process, the result normally turns out to be negative. Therefore, helping the interviewer dispel any nerves will do the interviewee a favor at the same time.

Have you ever experienced a cold interviewer? You talk with him or her quite actively, but he or she seldom gives you any responses or affirmative feedback. In this case, the last tip for expat interviewees would be not to be put off by the HR person’s apparent distance. Not every HR professional is trained to be active and talkative. Actually, a stand-offish manner is often a technical skill used by some senior HR professionals. If the expat interviewee is going through the interview process quite smoothly, the interviewer has to challenge him or her to see his or her reaction. By analyzing verbal responses and changes in facial expressions, the HR personnel can get a full image of your characteristics and personality at work.

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