4. Third Intervention Launch and Feedback

4.1 Overview of Third Intervention

This week, I produced my third intervention about role-playing simulations (i.e., simulating a fashion job interview). My specific approach was to invite four participants from the first and second interventions, including Maggie, Hichen (author of this blog), Xiaoyao, and Adrian. I also asked Nai, who has worked in the buyer shop, to help me simulate, organise, and design job interview questions. The participants performed a one-on-one company interview to explain what careers they wanted to find in the future, and what kind of transferable skills were important for them. First, two of the participants acted as company interviewers, with the other two participants acting as job applicants. Then, all participants exchanged roles such that interviewers become job applicants, and job applicants become interviewers. Following this, the four participants discussed and reflected on this intervention through a focus-on group discussion. Overall, all participants believed that they had acquired essential interview skills for seeking jobs in the fashion industry.

4.2 Stakeholders and Participants in the First Intervention

For the third intervention, the four participants may be introduced as follows:

Maggie had participated in the previous interventions and had no previous work experience. She wished to use this job interview role-playing simulation to experience the interview process. At this time, Maggie was preparing to interview for the MA Womenswear course at the Royal College of Art. She hoped to find out the state and feelings of the interview through these interview simulations. Maggie also wanted to use this intervention to compare the differences and gaps between study applications and job-seeking interviews, as well as to understand how the transferable skills acquired in the previous two interventions might have helped her in her future job hunting.

Hichen (the author of this blog) had participated in all interventions on this subject. In addition, he had previous work experience in sales and sportswear design, and has taken part in more than ten job interviews. He wanted to learn more about interview skills through this role-playing interview simulation. He also wanted to test the transferable skills he had previously acquired through this interview role-playing simulation, and to test how the participants could use their skills in their future careers. Hichen wanted to use this role-playing simulation test to gain insight into participants’ knowledge of their transferable skills, and to see how flexibly they may express it to receive more job opportunities. Hichen wanted to create his own fashion sportswear brand in the future. He also wanted to stand in the positions of different characters through this role-playing simulation. He was thinking deeply about each character’s thoughts, by which he sought to lay the foundation for his future career.

Xiaoyao was a graduate of LCF menswear, and was currently unemployed. During her university studies, she had taken an internship interview for a fashion design position. She successfully received a three-month internship offer, and she now wanted to share her interview experience in this role-playing interview simulation and to learn more interview skills for herself. She hoped that this intervention would help her to solve some fundamental problems that she had previously faced when finding a job in the future.

Adrian graduated from LCF with a bachelor’s degree in Menswear, and was currently studying MA Menswear at LCF. He had no previous experience in job interviews. Through this role-playing simulation, Adrian wanted to understand a job interview’s process and the essential skills he might need to take one successfully. 

4.3 Platform and Medium for Supporting third Intervention

The reasons for using this offline face-to-face role-playing simulation as the platform and medium were as follows:

• Participants could feel a more real interview scene through role-playing scenarios. As a result, they could have more tentative experience for future career development and face the uncertainty of future careers. Participants could realise their own shortcomings through this role-playing simulation, which would significantly improve their future employability and allow them to understand what skills they need to improve.
• This interview scene role-playing simulation allowed participants to empathise with and think from the perspectives of both the interviewer and the company. They might then be able to use this experience for their future careers.
• Participants of the previous two interventions would be able to use their styling skills to interpret their own understanding of working dress. 
• Participants could exchange and learn interview skills to help cope with the uncertainty of their future careers. Through this role-playing simulation, they would be able to grasp the dynamics of the company and the fashion industry; learn more about what skills the company needed; and learn what positions required which talents. These skills realised by the participants would be a great help to their future careers.
• This role-play simulation could test the outcomes of both the first and second intervention.

4.4 Intention, Goal, and Questions

The third intervention aimed to conduct an immersive job interview scenario to discover how the participants used the transferable skills they had acquired through the previous two interventions to help them face the uncertainty of their future careers.

4.5 Activity and Event allowing Users to Engage

The photo above shows Hichen, Meggie, Xiaoyao, and Adrian participating in this role-playing simulation (See Figure 4.5.1).

Figure 4.5.1

First, Hichen (the author) interviewed Meggie, Xiaoyao, and Adrian individually, and came to understand which jobs they wanted to interview for in this role-playing simulation. Second, Hichen invited Nai, who had participated in the previous two interventions, to develop an interview question list. These 15 interview questions were as follows:

1. What made you decide to pursue a career in fashion?
2. What do you consider the most important facets of the fashion industry?
3. What do you think are the current and future trends in fashion?
4. How do you think your education has prepared you to work in fashion?
5. Define “fashion.”
6. What were your daily tasks at [Fashion Company]?
7. How do you handle stress?
8. How comfortable are you working hands-on with models and designers?
9. What qualifies you for a career in fashion over other candidates?
10. Do you consider yourself a people person?
11. How do you handle conflict?
12. How would you describe your personal style?
13. Where would you like your career in fashion to lead you?
14. How would you deal with an arrogant client?
15. What hobbies do you have that relate to the fashion industry?

In addition to the above interview questions, participants would also be expected to answer specific questions about the tasks they might need to perform, in addition to more basic interview questions as well. The fashion industry is reasonably broad, and job seekers’ abilities and personalities often speak for themselves.

Figure 4.5.2

Then, Hichen printed out two copies of these interview questions (See Figure 4.5.2) and invited Maggie, Xiaoyao, and Adrian to Maggie’s home to participate in this role-playing simulation. The four participants prepared their CVs and outfits for this job interview role-playing simulation. Each of these four participants later joined in a focus-on group discussion regarding this interview, in which fashion dressing, transferable skills, and future job-seeking were all discussed. 

The interview process went as follows. First, the hard copies of the interview questions were provided to those participants who played the role of company managers (i.e., interviewers). Then, both interviewers and job seeker introduced themselves to one another. Next, the job seeker demonstrated their fashion portfolio and CV, following which the interviewer selected and asked questions based on the provided list for the job seeker to answer. Meanwhile, the interviewers used their experience to develop further interview questions based on the job applicants’ answers. The role-playing simulations consisted of two rounds, since the four participants would exchange their  roles midway through. 

Round 1 of Interview Simulation

Hichen and Maggie began as the interviewers, with Xiaoyao and Adrian as the job seekers. The interview position was that of a menswear designer (see Figure 4.5.3).

Round 2 of Interview Simulation

After switching roles, Xiaoyao and Adrian became the interviewers, whilst Hichen and Maggie became the job seekers. The interview position was now that of a stylist (see Figure 4.5.4).

The total role-playing simulation session lasted for 30 minutes. Following this, a 6-minute focus discussion was conducted to reflect upon this intervention. All processes were recorded into video, as is shown in Video 4.5.1 and Video 4.5.2.

Figure 4.5.3 Interview Simulation (Round 1)

Video 4.5.1.

Figure 4.5.4 Interview Simulation (Round 2)

Video 4.5.2.

To conclude, every participant took part in a focus-on group discussion (see Figure 4.5.5), reflecting on the experience and their skills and strengths, as well as what kinds of thing to look out for when applying for a job interview. The focus-on group discussion sought to address the following questions:

1. What do you evaluate this role-playing simulation?

2. What transferable skills do you think the way of role-playing simulation has given to you? How can these transferable skills you get help you face the uncertainty of future work?

3. Through the interview scene role-playing simulation, what skills let you realise your lack and strengths?

4. How do you use your skills to face job interviews? What other skills do you need to be more confident in your job interview?

5. How does this role-playing simulation help you in your future career? Why is that can help you?

6. If it helped you, how did it help you face the uncertainty of your future career?

Figure 4.5.5

Video 4.5.3