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The Canadian job interview has become like a dance - a series of choreographed moves that participants know and expect others involved with the process to know as well. Interviews are a sort of conga line of fairly predictable questions, a range of acceptable answers and an outcome based on how well the dance was performed.
But what happens if an interview candidate comes from a culture that only does the rumba and has never seen a conga line? Does that mean they are any less capable of performing on the job?
While this is a simplistic way of introducing the challenges of interviewing across cultures, it is accurate in showing the struggles that people from different cultures often have with an activity so common to Canadians.
As in most intercultural interaction, the most difficult hurdle in interviewing across cultures is overcoming the assumptions held by the interviewer and candidate. These assumptions can be surrounding physical appearance, the job requirements, the level of formality and many other issues.
A typical example: One job candidate, Peter, is an outgoing engineer from Germany, but in his interview he uses a formal tone and exhibits a very academic demeanor, because that is common in his native country. Mike, the manager who is conducting the interview, immediately assumes that the candidate is too formal and inflexible to be right for the job and decides to hire the previous interview candidate, who opened the interview with a joke about the local hockey team.
Assumptions are only one of the cultural challenges that impact on interviewing. Different communication techniques also have an effect on an intercultural interview. Communicating across-cultures is always challenging, but in an environment where every move and every word is analyzed, when those actions and words mean different things to different people, miscommunication often follows.
Every word and every gesture emits a meaning, whether it is intended or not. Non-verbal communication plays a more significant role in a job interview than in every day interaction because the interviewer is diligent in observing eye contact, gestures, posture, tone of voice and emotion. This often creates a problem for candidates from other cultures. In Canadian culture, the interviewer generally considers eye
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contact and good posture as a sign of confidence, while the candidate from China may see those exact same characteristics as a sign of disrespect.
Verbal communication may also lead to similar confusion. When a candidate is using a second language, oftentimes their ability is not at a high level and they may spend time searching for words and sentences, leading to long pauses or primitive use of the language, neither of which will likely impress the interviewer.
Language difficulties can be compounded in the interview setting if the interviewer uses metaphors or jargon. While jargon in the technical sense is often unavoidable in a job interview, metaphors inevitably cause miscommunication. Most metaphors are not only complicated for the second language speaker, but also involve culture specific examples (especially since many relate to sports), that would confuse even those with strong English skills from different cultures.
While assumptions are natural, and cross-cultural communication is difficult, interviewers that are aware of the potential challenges involved with interviewing across cultures will be able to overcome them.
The first step is for the interviewer to be aware of their assumptions. In the book Intercultural Interviewing, Christine Turkewych and Helena Guerriro-Klinowski call these assumptions the "Book of Shoulds", based on the fact that the assumptions are what the interviewer thinks the candidate SHOULD do or not do. Being aware of what is in their "Book of Shoulds" will allow the interviewer to better catch themselves if they are basing decisions on how things should be, and not as they are.
Overcoming the issues surrounding verbal communication may be the most straight forward of the challenges. Interviewers should consider using simpler language, be willing to repeat themselves, avoid most metaphors and not judge the candidate on their accent or use of 'slang' or jargon. While in some cases facility with the language is important for the job, that is not always the case. If language is not essential for the job, then the candidate should not be disregarded because of difficulties with the accent or language.
Many of the problems that relate to non-verbal communication across cultures can be resolved through understanding that cultural differences exist. It is impossible to learn the non-verbal cues of every culture, but being aware that differences exist is essential. For example, understanding
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