Impression Management Tactics in Job Interviews among Fresh graduates in Malaysia: A Case Study in a Workplace

The job interview is a viable assessment platform for interviewers to determine the viable prospective graduate for job hiring. During such critical meeting point, the fate of fresh graduates is decided by representatives of an organisation on the suitability of an interviewee for the job. Yet many fresh graduates struggle at such entry level gatekeeping to the professional workplace in view of inability to impress the interviewer. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether impression management tactics are portrayed by the fresh graduates during job interviews. They were 15 interviewees who participated in the present study. The job interview data from an organisation was analysed qualitatively using impression management tactics (IMTs) theories. The findings show that the interviewees were poor impression management tactics; interviewees indicated lack of self-presentation and exemplification as positive indicators in securing a job. Hence, impression management tactics are essential in job interviews.

Shared Learning from the Implementation of a Technical Leadership Program

Capstone projects have been an established vehicle of student–industry engagement in a university setting. In engineering, capstone projects are a point of transition from student to professional, as student engineers gain practical work experience and apply their technical skills and knowledge for an industry-proposed design, research, and/or development challenge. In this paper, we report on a supplementary program—the Technical Leadership Program (TLP)—which was designed and delivered for students to hone their technical leadership skills within a capstone project. To report on the outcomes of this case study, we use a student-as-partners philosophy to share the case study as a series of vignettes from co-authors who participated in the TLP. These have been collated into four key thematic areas including building awareness through technical leadership; building a personal repertoire of leadership; creating a common platform for collaboration; and transitioning into a professional workplace environment. The reflections are then shown to map to relevant competencies in technical leadership. Alongside these themes, the paper shares the design of the TLP delivery and reflects on the challenges and benefits of this mechanism to enhance student experience.

Uncloaking the anxiety behind professional dress.

Graduating from university is one of life’s greatest milestones. Students expect their stress to subside upon graduation; however, the transition from student life to career track entails a new set of stressful circumstances, including how to dress professionally. Using a mixed methods approach, this study examined how recent graduates prepare their clothing for the professional workplace. Participants included 15 recent, professionally employed, postsecondary female graduates who completed a demographic questionnaire, a modified version of a standardized anxiety scale, and a phone interview. In order to determine best wardrobe practices, research included interviews with 5 fashion advisors. Although results revealed recent graduates did not experience any quantitatively significant anxiety, interview responses demonstrated both concern and uncertainty. This research provides insight into the lived experience of recent female graduates. Findings may be used to assist retailers, create guides, and develop workshops for new graduates entering the professional realm.

Uncloaking the anxiety behind professional dress.

Graduating from university is one of life’s greatest milestones. Students expect their stress to subside upon graduation; however, the transition from student life to career track entails a new set of stressful circumstances, including how to dress professionally. Using a mixed methods approach, this study examined how recent graduates prepare their clothing for the professional workplace. Participants included 15 recent, professionally employed, postsecondary female graduates who completed a demographic questionnaire, a modified version of a standardized anxiety scale, and a phone interview. In order to determine best wardrobe practices, research included interviews with 5 fashion advisors. Although results revealed recent graduates did not experience any quantitatively significant anxiety, interview responses demonstrated both concern and uncertainty. This research provides insight into the lived experience of recent female graduates. Findings may be used to assist retailers, create guides, and develop workshops for new graduates entering the professional realm.

Sticking to the rules

In this paper, we take an ethnomethodological perspective to analysing members’ competence in a professional practice. We propose an approach which systematises different levels of analysis to identify the underlying management rules, principles and procedures that are significant for the way members in a Lean department meeting organise their in situ activity. Authentic video footage, on-site observations and ethnographic material form the basis of our research focus. Our analysis suggests that the mere presence of an inscribed post-it within an activity does not automatically render it into an object which facilitates discussions, organises activities or records outcomes, but that it is embedded within the members’ taken-for-granted knowledge and routine ways of doing. As such, it is the larger organisational context and the activity at hand which determine the role of the post-it in the moment-to-moment interaction. In conclusion, we suggest going beyond the conventional understanding of context and participation framework in analysing work practices, as an approach to broadening our understanding of what constitutes context from members’ own perspectives in a professional workplace practice.

Causes of stress and conflict in the veterinary professional workplace – a perspective from Poland

Background The problems of burnout and the moral and ethical distress resulting from various kinds of conflict have been raised in the veterinary profession. However, their sources and inter-relationships have not been thoroughly recognized mainly due to the multidimensional nature of human interactions related to animal breeding, farming, welfare, prophylaxis and therapy. For the first time in Poland, an analysis of conflict and conflict-causing factors in veterinary practice has been conducted with the participation of veterinarians of various specialties and the owners of different animal species. Results Conflict in the course of work is most often experienced by young veterinarians. The problems associated with communication between veterinarians and animal owners and unforeseen random situations are the general causes of conflict. Approved Veterinarians were identified by animal owners as the most common professional group associated with the conflict experienced . Conclusions There is a lack of professional preparation by veterinary surgeons to cope with unpredicted stressful situations at work, resulting from an absence of appropriate educational input in this area. The animal owners do not understand the role and duties of Approved Veterinarians.

Understanding and Explaining the Marginalization of Part-Time British Army Reservists

Recent changes in the British Army mean part-time reservists and full-time regulars need to become better integrated. However, there has been a long history of workplace tensions between the full-time and part-time elements in the British Army. This mirrors those found in many civilian workplaces. Focus group data with 105 full-time regular British Army soldiers confirmed that time and emotional commitment are strongly linked in a full-time professional workplace that has strong, definite, and enduring boundaries. This, alongside demands for conformity and stratification by rank explained the high risk of marginalization of part-time reservists. The legitimacy of part-time reservists, especially in the combat arms, was often challenged. Using this explanatory framework, some implications and practical ways that tensions may be reduced between full-time and part-time members of the British Army, and other armed forces facing similar tensions, were highlighted.

Needs Analysis To Design a Set of English Teaching Materials for Non-English Subject Teachers

This article aims at describing the rationale and principles of designing English teaching materials for teachers of non-English subjects. Those teachers use English as a medium of instruction. English is used to teach the subjects. To improve the teachers’ English skills, the school provided an English course. However, the teaching materials for those specific learners were not available. Therefore, designing materials is needed to precisely fulfil their needs of English in the target professional workplace. A needs analysis was conducted to gather information using questionnaires distributed to the non-English subject teachers as the learners. The data from the questionnaire were analysed qualitatively by interpreting and categorising in themes. Using the needs analysis result, a syllabus was then designed as the guidelines for developing the materials. This paper reports how the needs analysis process is employed to design a set of English teaching materials for nonEnglish subject teachers. The discussion highlighted the present situation, the target situation, the principles of designing English materials. The overview of the designed materials for teachers of non-English subjects was then presented.