2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand They can walk the walk, but can they talk the talk? How students benefit from university careers services in their transition to the workplace Sophie Reissner and Gillian Reynolds ANZSSA AUT University - Dec

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Mission statement: The University Careers Centre aims to equip students and recent graduates of the University of Auckland to make informed career decisions and to achieve the transition to a wide range of fulfilling and satisfying employment opportunities throughout their lives. THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND CAREERS CENTRE

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Workshops: –Interviews, CVs, Job search and Skills Appointments: –Career Options and Interview Practice Drop-in: –quick queries, CV and cover letter checks Postgraduate careers consultant Faculty –workshops, lectures and drop-in services Resources: –careers library, careers website, online psychometric tests Employer Liaison: –vacancy website, employer presentations, careers fairs WHAT WE OFFER

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Interventions include: – query-on-duty, information, videos, workshops and practice interview Appointment system accommodates short-notice practice interview bookings Practice interviews are tailored to the CV and job ad and job description HELP! I HAVE AN INTERVIEW NEXT WEEK!

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand “Hi there, I just wanted to say thank you, for your help and your awesome workshops! I went to most of them and also had one- on-one consultations for my CV and a practice interview...I can proudly say that I am now in my third week with MAF…and I do think that you guys helped this awesome outcome! Thanks Heaps! Your service and webpage, workshops and resources are a massive help, I’m sure for heaps of us students! Facing the ‘real’ world after Uni is aided heaps by your advice and friendly manner!” “Often, college satisfaction is tied with satisfaction with career services personnel and programs offered by such a department” (Rayman, 1993). WHO DOES IT WORK FOR?

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Mighty River Power in 2006 was so impressed with the calibre of our graduates and their presentation and interview skills that they created several new positions to hire these students AND IF YOU THOUGHT THAT WAS GOOD …

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Student worries –“My English isn’t good enough” –“I have no skills/ work experience” –“I don’t know what to say” Employer expectations – 70% of employers indicate that they want evidence of skills Perceived language competence »Prof. Marie Wilson, Mgt and Employment Relations SO WHAT CAN GO WRONG?

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Commitment to “best practice” means that anecdotal evidence, overseas literature and training films are not enough. NZ career consultants in the tertiary sector see that authentic local research data can help clarify patterns of need relevant to our specific client base RATIONALE BEHIND THE NEED FOR RESEARCH

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Quality evaluation questionnaires have enabled us to estimate that we are currently providing face-to-face central careers services to a group of students of whom just over a third use English as a first language (L1) and nearly two thirds use English as a second language (L2). This figure does not include data from website careers.sci faculty users OUR CLIENT GROUP

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Expert-Novice distinction as opposed to L1-L2 distinction L1-L2 distinction is depoliticised Students are all novices in the community Recruiters and Careers Consultants are all experts in the community Student goals Novice members’ goals include establishing co-membership; rapport, intersubjectivity or ‘something in common’ in the job interview. This can be a shared understanding of the activity itself, not necessarily a shared cultural background. Roberts (1985)‏ THE DISCOURSE COMMUNITY

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand 1.To what extent do students demonstrate communicative strategies appropriate to the activity (the recruitment interview)? 2.What linguistic and interactional factors are advantaging or disadvantaging them? RESEARCH QUESTIONS

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand 1. Students from ALL language backgrounds may be disadvantaged in such interactions by –lack of cultural capital in the dominant discourse community –lack of understanding of the rationale behind the interview format –inability to present context- and goal-appropriate narrative evidence of past behaviour 2.Cultural differences do not preclude effective interview behaviour, in the same way that similarities in cultural or language background don’t guarantee it. SOME WORKING HYPOTHESES

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand 1.Audio-record real practice interviews researcher not present –plus five-minute questionnaire 2.Audio-record a follow-up interview with each participant separately –Stimulated Recall procedure –Ideally within two days –Repeat procedure with subsequent real interviews where permission granted by participants –Online questionnaire to a wider number of participants (2008)‏ DESIGN OF THE STUDY

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand General questions –“Tell me a bit about yourself” Behavioural questions –“Tell me about a time when..” Case questions Any questions? Underlying questions Formula for answering behavioural questions: Situation/Task (20%) Action (60%)‏ Results (20%)‏ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Hypothesis: –Behavioural questions most problematic Evidence has to be packaged into structured narratives Result: –General questions equally hard Evidence has to be packaged into structured narratives –to support contentions e.g. strengths, weaknesses –practice interview - negative/ positive feedback RESULT (i) ~ QUESTION TYPES

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Schema mismatch –Skills, achievements, qualifications and personal qualities –Which are which? Implications –Ability to differentiate can be acquired perhaps most effectively in two stages Schema activation –skills workshop - conceptual understanding “Direct” script acquisition - learning by doing RESULTS (ii) ~ EMPLOYMENT COMPETENCIES

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Despite: Differences in the linguistic expression of modesty Differences in expectations re activity-type norms Affective variables which can impact on performance Students in the study demonstrated effective communicative strategies in this respect Careers consultants scaffolded them to do so “The interview is an opportunity for candidates to ‘sell’ themselves but not oversell themselves. Answers should be modestly expressed and backed up with examples.” Roberts (1985:13)‏ “[It’s a] very human tendency to play yourself down - [but] playing yourself down in an interview isn’t honesty, it’s stupidity.” Gottesman & Mauro (1999:24)‏ RESULTS (ii) ~ MODESTY AND ‘SELLING’ YOURSELF

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand However The teamwork question revealed deeper issues –Talking about oneself in relation to others –Roles within the team –The role of leader Nearly all students used less effective strategies to talk about their experiences of teamwork Grammatical analysis –Marked use of [im]personal pronouns Repeated follow-up questions from interviewers RESULTS (iii) ~ A DIFFICULT QUESTION

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand “The process of vocational development is essentially that of developing and implementing a self-concept” (Super, 1957). THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CAREERS

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Perceived language competence »Prof. Marie Wilson, Mgt and Employment Relations –The transition between university and the workplace can be more difficult for L2 users. –Achieving co-membership with the interviewer is a main goal PLC can be transcended, and co-membership achieved by demonstrating a shared understanding of the event “Candidates will be judged as ‘fitting in well with us’ if what they say seems relevant and clear, if they say the right amount, and if they can pick up on the hidden message behind the question” Roberts 1985 FINALLY

2007 Student Administration The University of Auckland, New Zealand Adelsward, V. (1988). Styles of success: On impression management as collaborative action in job interviews. Linkoping Studies in Arts and Science 23. Linkoping: University of Linkoping. Campbell, S., & Roberts, C. (2007). Migration, ethnicity and competing discourses in the job interview: Synthesizing the institutional and personal. Discourse & Society, 18(5). Erickson, F. and Shultz, J. (1982). The counselor as gatekeeper: Social interaction in interviews. New York: Academic Press. Gioia, D.A & Poole, P.P. (1984). Scripts in organisational behaviour. Academy of Management Review, 9(3). Gottesman, D. and Mauro, B. (1999). The interview rehearsal book. New York: Berkely Books. Oakley, B., Felder, R. M., Brent, R., & Elhajj, I. (2004). Turning student groups into effective teams. Journal of Student Centered Learning, 2(1). Rayman, J.R. (1993). Contemporary career services: Theory defines practice. In J.R. Rayman (Ed.), The changing role of career services (pp. 3-22). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Roberts, C. (1985). The interview game - and how it's played. London: BBC Books Roberts, C., & Campbell, S. (2005). Fitting stories into boxes: rhetorical and textual constraints on candidates' performances in British job interviews. Journal of Applied Linguistics [Online], 2(1). Super, D.E. (1957). The psychology of careers. New York: Harper Collins. Tarone, E. (2005). English for Special Purposes and interlanguage pragmatics. In K. Bardovi-Harlig and B. S. Hartford, (Eds.), Interlanguage pragmatics: Exploring institutional talk (pp ). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. REFERENCES