Cultural Influences on Impression Management: A Focus on Internationally-Educated Engineers
Date
2018-03-29
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Abstract
Internationally-educated immigrants in regulated professions often encounter numerous barriers when striving to find employment commensurate with their skills and experience in Canada. Understanding the Canadian cultural norms and workplace culture is imperative for their success in the employment interview. This research captures employers' perceptions of how cultural influences in the interview impact their evaluations of job applicants, and in turn, their hiring decisions. To expand upon the existing research, the present study sought to explore how cultural differences within the interview context influence Human Resources professionals' perceptions of candidates and in turn, how these perceptions affect Human Resources professionals' evaluations of job applicants. Through the use of the Enhanced Critical Incident Technique, eight Human Resources professionals within the Oil and Gas Industry offered incidents that facilitated, impeded, and could improve the interview performance of Internationally-Educated Engineers. Five overarching themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) industry-specific knowledge requirement, (b) confidence and abilities, (c) personal attributes, (d) job-search process, and (e) communication skills. These results were considered in light of relevant literature, including recommendations for employers and career practitioners to enhance employment outcomes of skilled immigrants and directions for future research.
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impression management, self-presentation, immigrant professionals, cultural influences, Skilled Immigrants, employment interview, newcomer professionals, human resources professionals perceptions
Citation
Radan, J. (2018). Cultural influences on impression management: A focus on Internationally-Educated Engineers (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/31768