4.6 Feedback and Key Findings 

Xiaoyao believed the role-playing simulation had been an outstanding experience to prepare for future job interviews. Through this role-playing simulation, she felt she had tested the problems and answers she had encountered in her previous interview. She was able to reflect on the interview questions and the errors of her last application for an internship. This role-playing simulation let her experience answering interview questions more specifically and comprehensively to reflect her advantages. However, she felt that the interview questions were slightly heavy. For instance, she mentioned that ‘some questions still need to be more straightforward. When interviewed for menswear positions, the interviewers need to ask about applications of the particular drawing software. Or some experience in the fashion show’.

Adrian believed that this role-playing simulation had been an excellent way to experience the scene and status of job interviews. He thought that, if he practiced more, he would eventually improve his interview skills. The role-playing simulation positively soothed the uncertainty of his future career. However, in this role-playing simulation, he felt that some interview questions should be narrower. Certain questions needed to be made more apparent in advance and be made specific for each position, whilst greater details should also have been involved in the work.

Maggie thought this role-playing had been a good opportunity for her to express her on-the-spot response skills. However, she still felt she needed to learn more interview skills and to prepare more for future job interviews. Maggie reported that in an actual interview scene, the mentality was often different. But she also found that the role-playing simulation scene needed to be further optimised. This role-playing simulation had been an excellent opportunity for her to acknowledge her state of mind during the interview. She had also imagined the job interview scene before. Still, she thought there was a big difference between wanting and doing, regardless of the perspective of the interviewer or the perspective of the job seekers. She felt she could adopt different roles to think deeply about the skills and requirements for the positions, and that this perspective would prove invaluable for future careers.

Hichen found that this role-playing simulation had made him realise and look back upon his own skill deficiencies. When the general direction of the future is determined, he understood that he would have learned from his strengths and made up for his weaknesses. This had also allowed him the opportunity to guess at what skills the company might need. While refining the skills he already had, this simulation had allowed him to transfer the skills that companies need but he didn’t have, such that he might remedy the situation by developing, for instance, better interview skills. 

Overall Ratings from Participants 

All participants agreed that this role-playing interview simulation could have improved their interview skills and had allowed them to be in an actual situation whereby they had become aware of their lack of skills. This simulation made participants better able to face future employment. However, they also agreed that some of the interview questions covered a wide range, and that it was necessary to think more clearly about the interview questions in advance. Participants believed that actual job interviews would be more specific for each position, with more specific questions asked as such. 

4.7 Reflections and Teachings from the Third Intervention 

For interview skills, I have learned the following aspects:

Through this role-playing mock interview, the foundational transferable skills I learned included listening skills, such as how one might give effective feedback to the information conveyed by others. I learned how to execute a task effectively by better understanding its content. I was already confident in my feedback ability, reflected in observing and evaluating my own performance alongside others. I learned writing and communication skills, reflected in how I might express ideas more clearly in my writing and my communication with others. I learned public speaking skills, reflected in how I might express opinions publicly, and I learnt time management by completing the work efficiently within the stipulated time requirement.

For interpersonal skills, I learned collaborative communication to a level required during such interview scenarios. In my future career, it will be necessary to work collaboratively with my colleagues. It may also be the staff responsible for managing the company itself, or I may need to deal with people outside the company. Such instances would demand interpersonal skills, including self-communication skills reflected in providing and accepting constructive criticism, making suggestions, and encouraging and collaborating with others.

Research and planning skills are highly sought-after by employers, who want their employees to act as they are when they face work actively. Research and planning skills are critical when showing enthusiasm for self-creation. Such skills may include target management, reflected in how one sets goals based on the task and implements them individually. I myself learned risk analysis and resolution skills, reflected in how one might predict potential risks and use critical thinking to propose solutions. I learned task processing skills, reflected in how one might optimise the task according to the department’s needs, as well as how to coordinate and promote projects. I also learned innovation and initiative skills, as well as an independency reflected by how one might use the Internet and library resources to study and analyse materials.

For computer and other technological skills. Software operation skills were reflected by how one might install and use work-related software and solve related problems through this software. 

All of these skills might be of great benefit to me in my future career.

Uncertain about my future jobs, I have learned how my own transferable skills could improve through trial and error. First, I may develop certain skills which I want to improve through part-time employment. Second, I can pass through social practice activities to participate in public welfare projects and activities. Not only can I cultivate a competent sense of social responsibility, but I can also exercise many core skills in the process, including but not limited to: teamwork; willpower; organisational ability; and communication ability. I might also pass an internship in order to contact future intentions. For the new workplace, I will inevitably need to ask my predecessors about all kinds of issues in the training process. During this process, I learned that communication abilities could be well exercised. In addition, different projects and further cooperation might help me to fully exercise my ability to deal with various affairs and my ability to cooperate with colleagues. The employees needed by the company will not be employees who depend on their superiors everywhere. They will also hope to see the intern’s ability to deal with problems independently during the course of their internship. In addition, I learned that young companies also prefer innovative opinions and suggestions.

I also hope to obtain the following transferable skills through continued academic research: first, the ability to quickly retrieve and browse information; second, the ability to collect and process data; and third, the ability to produce excellent academic writing. Having an excellent theoretical point of view is the premise, but more importantly, how to report and logically present my point of view, as well as to make breakthrough contributions to existing research, is fundamental. In addition, if it is a multi-person collaborative academic research that I am conducting, I hope to fully exercise my ability to cooperate with others.

These methods should teach me various skills in the invisible. The skills I have learned can be migrated and applied to all kinds of work areas in the future.

Through the results of the previous two interventions, the communication skills I have learned will be of great benefit to me in the future. The disadvantage is that I have obtained the transferable skills I acquired during the last two interventions. I cannot use them all in such a role-playing interview simulation, yet I will nevertheless reflect on these skills after entering a career in the future.

4.8 Challenges and Opportunities 

• The interview questions I set in the early stage covered a wide range of topics, and therefore needed more specific. As such, more preparation is required, and more questions related to specific fashion skills are needed.
• For the initial interview questions, I should provide some reference answers to each of the interview questions.
• The positions in this job simulation could do with being more extensive.
• This role-playing simulation still needs to be more professional, and I can ask some fashion HR staff for advice. 
• The scene setting of this role-playing interview simulation still needs to be improved to make the scene itself more realistic.