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Mr. Song used three different strategies to fit in. For the first question, he reacted with silence which would negatively result in his failure of passing the invisible cultural criteria, even the linguistic criteria. In terms of the second question about work experiences, he didn’t directly answer it but praise the company like many job seekers from immigrant backgrounds avoiding discussing negative elements in their work history (Roberts & Campbell, 2006). In the third question about professional skills, Mr. Song adjusted his strategy again to position himself as hardworking and highlight his value to the team. However, the latter two responses didn’t exactly match the implicit requirements of the interviewer for professional skills. The personal statement conflicts with the expectations of professional competence. Also, he failed to fit in the cultural expectations of self-promotion and skill display in the Western workplace.

The dissatisfaction of the interviewer was implied by not giving any feedback on Mr. Song and quickly ended the interview (Marra, 2022).

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1. Gatekeeping is a situation where people “negotiate the conditions for belonging to a new environment”. In a workplace or social context, gatekeepers may enforce boundaries based on qualifications, cultural norms, or language proficiency. This concept is crucial to understanding power dynamics, as those in gatekeeping positions will influence who has access to and succeeds in a given environment.

2. Fitting in here considers accommodating one’s linguistic and cultural skills towards the majority’s language and culture.In the case of job interviews, While fitting in suggests a movement forward, i.e., to fit into a new, unknown context or a situation in the future.

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Transcultural misunderstandings often lead to communication barriers and unequal opportunities in international work environments. This situation requires interlocutors to renegotiate and reevaluate their communication styles, identities and power positions to adapt to new and sometimes different environments(Holmes, 2019). This poster focuses on the “text”, which is a transcultural interview video and analyzes the interaction between a job applicant and an interviewer to reveal how these misunderstandings affect the decision-making process, especially linking three important theories, “Gatekeeping theory”, “Fitting in theory” and “Rapport management theory”.

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With the development of globalization, more and more multinational companies are involved in transcultural work environments. It is crucial to understand how to avoid misunderstandings in the interview process. Therefore, by analyzing specific examples of “transcultural misunderstandings at international work”, practical guidance can be provided for international workers.

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Transcultural misunderstandings at work stem not only from language differences, but are also deeply influenced by cultural background, behavioral expectations, and power dynamics.

This poster analyzes the transcultural misunderstandings at work from the perspectives of “gatekeeper” and “interviewee” based on the three theories, which can reveal the deep causes of transcultural misunderstandings. In the future transcultural environment, a deep understanding and reasonable application of these theories can help international workers reduce misunderstandings and provide inspiration for future transcultural communication research.

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1. How can we reduce the transcultural bias of interviewers in international “gatekeepers” through training or education?

2. How can “interviewees” more effectively adjust their words and behaviors in international work to avoid transcultural misunderstandings?

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It was defined by Spencer-Oatey (2000), is a comprehensive framework for understanding and regulating interpersonal interactions. It involves three core factors and five key domains that collectively contribute to effective communication and relationship maintenance.

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Exploring Misunderstandings at Transcultural Work 

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Exploring Misunderstandings at Transcultural Work 

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Example of Cultural Misunderstandings at work

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George, N. (2018). How to answer these 7 common interview questions. Majer Recruitment. https://www.majerrecruitment.com.au/how-to-answer-interview-questions/

Holmes, P. (2015). ‘The cultural stuff around how to talk to people’: Immigrants’ intercultural communication during a pre-employment work-placement. Language and Intercultural Communication, 15(1), 109–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2014.985309

Kirilova, M., & Angouri, J. (2018). You are now one of us – negotiating ‘fitting in’ in the workplace. The Routledge Handbook of Language and Superdiversity, 345–360. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315696010-25

Lowe-MacAuley, K. (2023). 30 Common Interview Questions, Tips and Example Answers | FlexJobs. FlexJobs Job Search Tips and Blog. https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/common-job-interview-questions-tips-answering/

Marra, M. (2022). Laughing along? The European Journal of Humour Research, 10(2), 135–151. https://doi.org/10.7592/ejhr.2022.10.2.670

Roberts, C., & Campbell, S. (2006). Talk on trial: Job interviews, language and ethnicity (No. 344). Corporate Document Services.

Spencer-Oatey, H. (2000). Rapport management: A framework for analysis. Culturally speaking: Managing rapport through talk across cultures/Continuum.

Spencer-Oatey, H. (Ed.). (2008). Culturally speaking second edition: Culture, communication and politeness theory. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Spencer-Oatey, H., & Spencer-Oatey, H. (2021). Bulding Rapport — Key Elements - GlobalPeople Consulting. GlobalPeople Consulting.

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The interviewer acts as the “gatekeeper” and filters the information through questions, deciding how the interviewee meets her evaluation criteria. Her first question reflects her focus more on Mr. Song’s cultural background, than his professional skills. This kind of question indicates the interviewer’s emphasis on cultural identity and may reflect certain stereotypes or cultural biases. Moreover, from the three questions, the interviewer set a threshold for Mr. Song, needing him to satisfy linguistic, cultural and professional requirements.

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Rapport Management Analysis - Core Factors

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Rapport Management Analysis - Core Factors

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This interview shows some potential communication problems, especially how to better establish and maintain rapport during the interview process.

The interviewer started the conversation by asking about Mr. Song's hometown, which expressed her interest in the interviewee’s cultural background to establish a good relationship and reduce social distance. It's part of a positive face management strategy, where she wants to make the interviewee feel welcome by respecting his personal identity.

Mr. Song kept silent after the interviewer asked, probably because he is not from China, the interviewer made a wrong judgment only based on his surname, and he chose to remain silent in order not to negatively manage the face of the interviewer.

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Rapport Management Analysis - Core Factors

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Rapport Management Analysis - Core Factors

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This silent behavior also reflects sociality rights and obligations. As an interviewee, Mr. Song was in a lower role position and was unwilling to contradict a person in a higher position.

When the interviewer asked Mr. Song about his work experience, he focused on praising the company and the product (positive face management). However, he overlooked his obligation to provide the necessary information to the interviewer.

Some interactional goals were also included in the interview. Song aimed to demonstrate his efforts and recognition of the company, which differed from the interviewer's objective. The interviewer did not achieve her goal of assessing Mr. Song's professional skills and work style. There has been a misunderstanding between them.

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Rapport  Management Analysis - Five Domain

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Rapport  Management Analysis - Five Domain

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Regarding Rapport management's five domains, the interviewer was direct, polite, and made clear inquiries, which were appropriate for the interview’s situation. However, Song's answer lacked specific career achievements or technical details, failing to meet the detailed content expected by the interviewer (Illocutionary domain).

Due to cultural differences, Mr. Song aimed to express his passion for the job and the company during the interview, while the interviewer wanted to see his working ability and style. They engaged in a turn-taking participation style.

Regarding non-verbal communication, Mr. Song's eyes kept looking down, and he exhibited silent behavior, suggesting his submissive and passive mentality.

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In summary, rapport management theory integrates these factors and domains to provide a framework for understanding and managing the complexities of interpersonal communication, ensuring that interactions respect personal face, adhere to social norms, and achieve interactional goals effectively.

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More information about building rapport and the interview can be found at the following link.

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More information about building rapport and the interview can be found at the following link.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYqzlHb6ypU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNRqZNXsB8k

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Q1: In my opinion, first of all, cross-cultural sensitivity training should be conducted to help interviewers understand behaviors and communication styles in different cultural contexts. Second, provide unbiased guidance on interview techniques, encourage interviewers to use standardized questions, and avoid cultural stereotypes clouding judgment. In addition, they promote their cultural empathy and inclusion through case studies and role play, thereby reducing bias and improving fairness in the hiring process.

Q1:Cultural Awareness Training: Organizations can offer comprehensive training programs to educate interviewers on different cultural norms, communication styles, and value systems. This helps reduce bias based on cultural misunderstandings.

Unconscious Bias Training: Interviewers should be made aware of their unconscious biases, particularly those that might influence their judgment in multicultural contexts.

Q2: Research the Cultural Context: Interviewees should take the time to understand the cultural expectations and communication norms of the country or organization they are engaging with.

Adapt Communication Styles: Adjust language to match the formality or directness of the local culture. In some contexts, being too direct can be seen as rude, while in others, it may be expected.

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To reduce interviewer bias, training can include courses on cultural sensitivity and unconscious bias to help interviewers understand different cultures and assess candidates fairly. For example, simulating interview scenarios from different cultures helps interviewers understand cultural differences.

Interviewees can avoid misunderstandings by researching the culture of the company and adapting to its communication style in advance. For example, in an interview with a culture accustomed to direct communication, the interviewee can make a point concisely, and ask questions to confirm that the other person understands the intention.

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Excellent presentation! It's extraordinary to contain so many content in your presentation and clarify so many complicated concepts in such a limited time.

I think the root cause for both sides' misunderstanding is the "mismatch" of their received information. As for the interview's perspective, she has no knowledge about the interviees' background information and thus also no exception for Mr Song's any possible reation, resulting in her failure of maintaining the overall pace and atmosphere of the job interview. As for Mr. Song, however, he still uses his preferred approaches to solve the interpersonal issues in front of a person who is actually brought up in a throughly different background, and naturally will seek for totally different ways to solve the same problems.

I wanna to discuss Interviewer's points first. I don't think she is a professional interview, especially when she chose to ask for Mr.Song's nationality. Normally, a experienced interviewer will ask interviwees make a brief self-introduction first, which leave enough personal space for interviewees to make decisions about things they wanna to discuss or not. However, in this incident, Mr. Song first impression about this woman interview must be extremely terrible. It's quite rude and aggressive when she questioning Mr.Song's nationality.

As for Mr.Song, I also find he knows quite few about the new environment, leaving interviewers a bad impression that he is not good at information-searching (even the simpliest Google Search!) and lack of self-motivation (he's unwilling to do something by something, but only do as others ask him to do). It's so so bad!

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Q1: About the training session of the interviewer, the trainer should focus more on the transcultural aspects such as culture awareness, rapport management and other things which conclude cultural diversity so that the HR can have more knowledge about his or her employees to avoid some problems. Just like the analysis said, the interviewer may make a mistake by asking if Mr song is Chinese just because his last name. Something like avoiding stereotypes definitely should be mentioned during training.

Q2:As for the interviewees, it’s important to learn the cultural and company background before they go for the interview. That includes mastering the language they use most at workplace, learning the taboos and how to behave properly and professionally and so on. The misunderstanding in the text is totally avoidable if Mr Song can dive into the company’s history and search for the quality they ask for.

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1. Every company with a multicultural background should carry out training or education on "transcultural communication at work", which can make interviewers aware of their potential bias and the influence of cultural differences, and help them understand the behaviors and expressions of different cultural backgrounds. The training content can include cultural sensitivity, non-verbal communication skills and transcultural communication theories, so as to reduce the prejudice caused by cultural misunderstanding and give more opportunities to more interviewees from different cultural backgrounds, so as to promote cultural exchanges and the diversity of the company.

2. Candidates should understand the norms of behavior and communication of the target culture, and demonstrate their professionalism, flexibility and adaptability in an international working environment. Before entering the workplace or when answering interview questions, candidates can avoid unnecessary misunderstandings by learning cultural etiquette, adjusting the tone of voice, and respecting the other party's communication style. For example, candidates need to pay attention to non-verbal cues given by the interviewer, such as eye contact and body language, which can help bridge communication barriers caused by cultural differences, so as to secure potential job opportunities for themselves.

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Q1: To reduce the intercultural bias of interviewers, especially those in the role of international ‘gatekeepers’, companies can implement a range of training and education strategies, including cultural competence training, which promotes understanding of diversity through an in-depth understanding of different cultural norms, values, communication styles and business etiquette.

Q2: Interviewers can improve their international communication skills and reduce the possibility of cross-cultural misunderstandings in the following ways: First, study the culture and understand the cultural norms, business practices and social etiquette of the host country before participating in the event to show respect and be well prepared. Second, keep communication clear and simple, and avoid using idioms, slang or colloquial expressions that may not be accurately translated. In addition, actively listen to the verbal and non-verbal cues of the interviewer to accurately understand the question and respond appropriately.