Cross-Cultural Communication of Complex Ideas: Answering Job Interview Questions Succinctly and Effectively
Having worked with a wide-variety of international professionals, one of the most common complaints I encounter is: “I have so many good ideas, but people lose patience with me, interrupt me and won’t listen”. If you have this problem, you likely won’t do well in phone interviews. After all, the interviewers’ time (and patience!) is limited; yet, in the current competitive market you want to convey as much information as you can about the depth of your skills and experience as you possibly can. Fortunately, there are strategies that can help you communicate in a memorable and engaging way – in this case, a little cultural background knowledge can go a long way.
First of all, let me say that the inability to communicate ideas quickly and dynamically is a common but major issue: let’s face it – if you can’t get a lot of information conveyed in a manner that is interesting for your listeners, you will not do well in phone interviews. Thankfully, often times, problem is with you and your ideas but rather the cultural style that you employ when speaking. Luckily, we classify the problem, there are definitive, simple strategies that you can use to engage the North American listener and get your ideas across in ways your listener will find interesting. And let’s face it, if you can’t interest the listener and get ideas out quickly, then you will have a very hard time passing phone interviews.
Nobody can process or remember everything they hear. Sounds trivial doesn’t it? But think about it for a moment. What was the last television program you saw? How much of the dialog can you recite? Not much! However, you probably can tell me a little a bit about the main points or the plot. But wait a minute – how come you paid attention to those details? Why are the points your can recall the ones you remember? Why those and not any of the numerous other points you saw?
Well, it turns out that cultural conditioning has a lot to do with the way we arrange and process complex information. Below we are going to take a look at three different archetypical cultures and their unique communication and processing styles and how, often times, when people of two different styles meet, there can be a lot of misunderstandings. That is, we are going to see how when information is presented in an atypical cultural format, the North American has a hard time processing and remembering main points.
But best of all, we are going to come up with some strategies for making your message more easily “digestible” by a typical North American listener. After all, it’s really important that a North American listener be able to quickly and easily understand your message or you might simply run out of time before you have time to really get your point across.
Let’s imagine we are in a job interview, and we have to answer the question about “What do you think is the superior method of dog washing?”. Let’s look at three broad categories and how they might answer the question.
1.“Loop” cultures:
North American Interviewer: So what do you think is the best way to wash a dog?
Candidate: Yes, about washing the dog. Well last week, I went to the breeder to get a dog. But I decided I didn’t want a German Sheppard after all. What do you think about poodles? My cousin has a poodle, but that’s a lot of work, keeping it groomed and what not. Well anyways, on my way home from the German Sheppard breeder, I stopped to buy some dog shampoo. And at the pet store, they had cats. I looked at those and decided on a kitten after all.
Interviewer: [Silent and confused. Doesn’t know which notes to make. Thinks that the candidate must not know much about dog washing after all. Moves on to next question.]
The candidate didn’t really say much about dog washing at all. That’s because, in “loop” cultures, answering the precise question isn’t necessarily valued. Elaborating on personal details and telling a story is fine. This person ended up telling a story about the acquisition of a kitten, not about how to wash a dog. In this person’s mind, there was a connection between the kitten and dog washing, because he discovered the kitten while buying dog shampoo. In other words, his/her story looped and turned about.
In most cultures that “loop”, it is acceptable to talk over or interrupt the speaker. By contrast, in most of North America, people don’t interrupt the speaker. What often happens with a looper and a North American meet is that the looper will elaborate stories in response to the North American’s inquiries. The looper, however, may never really tell the North American what s/he wants to know. The North American will sit and wait patiently for a long time, while growing increasingly irritated and waiting for the looper to get to the point.
“Looping” as a style of communication works just fine if both speakers are loopers. If both speakers were loopers the communication might have worked like this:
Loop Culture Interviewer: So what do you think is the best way to wash a dog?
Loop Culture Candidate: Yes, about washing the dog. Well last week, I went to the breeder to get a dog. But I decided I didn’t want a German Sheppard after all. What do you think about poodles? My cousin has a poodle, but that’s a lot of work, keeping it groomed and what not...
Loop Culture Interviewer: So how were you going to groom the poodle? Take it to the groomer or groom it yourself?
Loop Culture Candidate: Oh, do it myself. Why I stopped on the way home from the German Sheppard place to get some dog shampoo, in fact…
Loop Culture Interviewer: So you definitely think the superior way to groom a dog is to do it yourself?
Loop Culture Candidate: Why yes, and my local pet store “Pets ‘r’ Us” sells the best equipment.
Here, the candidate did the talking
while the interviewer steered the conversation. And, actually, quite a lot about doing washing was discussed. We learned that: 1) It’s best to wash your dog yourself, and 2) “Pets ‘r’ US” is where to go to get the equipment you need. Looping works in looping cultures, but when a looper meets a non-looper communication break downs tend to occur.
Bottom Line: If you are from a loop culture, make sure you actually answer the question that you were asked in a concise way. Don’t tell your whole life story and wait for the listener to probe for what s/he wants to know! Your listener isn’t going to give you much guidance as to what s/he wants to know, and if you aren’t careful, you will drown your listener in irrelevant details. Make lots of pauses to give the listener a chance to ask questions and provide feedback.
2.“Once- only” cultures
North American Interviewer: So what do you think is the best way to wash a dog?
Once-only Culture Candidate: The procedure for washing a dog is that first you check the weather and see if it’s warm enough outside. Then, you gather the hose, tub, brush, shampoo and towel. Then you fill the tub with water that’s approximately 36 degrees Celsius. After that, you place the dog in the tub. Then you wet the dog and lather him or her up using the aforementioned shampoo. Finally you rinse the dog, using the aforementioned hose. To dry the dog, you utilize the aforementioned towel. As you dry, you use the aforementioned brush to smooth the hair as you go along.
North American Interviewer: [Makes note: “Candidate feels weather conditions are important for dog washing. Also emphasizes use of a brush to insure good, smooth, result.”]
Comments: “Once Onlies” do tend to give procedural answers in a linear fashion. In “Once Only cultures” it is often considered poor style to restate the obvious. Things are said once, and only once, and the listener is assumed to be able to draw and logical conclusion.
However, when a “Once Only” meets a North American, the North American will tend to miss the Once Only’s main point, that is because, North American academic writing and speaking training emphasizes and reemphasizes the need to give a summary at the beginning of your spiel to highlight your main message. Thus, a North American will look to the beginning or end of your speech or writing to find a re-statement of the main message or conclusion. That is why the confused North American interviewer decided that the candidate has an obsession with weather and brushes. The North American didn’t see the linear arrangement that the Once-only laid out. If you’re from a “Once-only” culture, don’t assume that your interview can see the trees from the forest, so to speak. Help them by saying what you are going to say, and then saying it again, with more detail!
3.North American: “Sandwichers”
Interviewer: So what’s the best way to wash a dog?
Candidate: I think the best way to wash a dog is to do it at home, and you’ll have to consider the weather, gather supplies, and then complete the washing and drying tasks. Let me explain. First, you look outside – check and see: is the weather warm enough? Second, you gather supplies. You’ll need a tub, hose, shampoo, brush and towels. Last, you actually wash the dog. You’ll need to wet him up and shampoo him. Then you dry him off with a towel and brush him off. I have had superior results using this method of dog washing at home.
Interviewer: [Makes notes: “Candidate claims superior results using a home-based dog washing methodology of that involves discerning the weather, and using supplies to do the task.”]
Comments: Notice that the candidate made a “communication sandwich” here. The Candidate said what he was going to say, said it again with more details and then said what s/he said a third time or drew some kind of conclusion. By looking to the beginning of the candidate spiel, the interviewer was able to get what the candidate was trying to say, and the communication was successful.
North Americans generally expect this method of laying out information and if you don’t use it, they may miss your point entirely.
The moral of the story? Great content is one thing – but the arrangement of the information is equally important.
