【求職祕籍】外企HR現身說法面試經驗(四)

Hello! My name is Tony and I'm the HR manager for a large international hotel and resort group.

你好，我叫湯尼。我是一個大型國際酒店及度假集團的人資經理。

1 Q:能否告訴我們哪位應聘者給您留下深刻的印象？爲什麼？

Erm ... yeah... there was one person I interviewed quite recently who I think did a very good job. Basically he gave very short, concise answers. He was very well-organised in what he was saying. Now I think the thing about the interview situation is that people are often nervous and a result of being nervous is often to speak too much. And this particular candidate didn't do that - actually he came across as being very confident. He wasn't... well... he didn't appear to be nervous at all.

最近我面試了一個人，他表現挺好。他給出的答案大多短小精悍，邏輯清晰。我覺得面試的關鍵問題是應聘者大多很緊張，後果是話嘮。但這個人並沒有，他顯得非常有自信，至少顯得不太緊張。

The interview itself actually was a competency-based interview which is a rather unusual interview style, but it... it's possibly one that you might face at some point. But basically what it is - you don't have traditional questions like "why would you like to work for this company" or something like that. It's based around the competencies such as something like teamworking. And then what we ask the interview candidate to do is to give an example of... er... for example how they've worked in a team, or how they've built a team or something like that. For the... err.. because it's a rather unusual interview style, actually on our website, we give guidance to interview candidates. And it was clear from this interview that that candidate had been on the website and he had read up on our advice about how to answer questions. What we actually tell candidates to do on the website is to use a STAR format in the way that they answer. So STAR is an acronym actually and it stands for... S is situation, which means "Tell us about the actual situation that you were in." Then T is target, which means "Tell us about what you're trying to achieve." A means action, which is "What did you actually do?" And then the last one is R and that's the result - "What was the result of your actions?"

面試本身是基於能力的，是一種比較少見的形式，不過也許是你將來就有機會碰上的一種。這種面試不會問普通的問題，例如“爲什麼你願意來這間公司工作”，它更注重能力的體現，比如團隊協作能力。我們會要求應聘者給出他們在團隊裏工作，或者他們是如何建立起一個團隊之類的例子。因爲形式較爲少見，所以我們會在網站上給出指引。因此，應聘者有沒有登陸過網站、詳細解讀過我們的答題建議就非常顯而易見了。在網站上，我們指導應聘者可以利用STAR模式來回答問題。S是環境，意思就是“告訴我們你曾經身處的真實環境”，T是目標，意思是“告訴我們你究竟想達到什麼目的”，A是行動，意思是“你實際上做了什麼？”最後的R是結果，意思是“你行動的結果是什麼？”

So this candidate actually used this format for all of his answers and he'd obviously prepared in advance. And it came across very well. Some of the other candidates didn't answer in this way. They tended to waffle a little bit - maybe give a little too much information. Now bearing in mind that for this particular post, we were interviewing over two days and I think we interviewed nine... nine or ten different people. So actually, from a personal point of view, I was quite tired of listening to people talk, and it was quite a relieve actually to have somebody that kept things very concise and very to-the-point! So yeah, he did a very good job.

所以這個應聘者使用了STAR模式回答了他所有的問題，顯然他事先有所準備，因此面試十分順利。一些其他的應聘者並沒有運用此模型，他們多少會離題胡扯一點，有點信息過量。一定要記住這個特別的方式，我們兩三天來面試了9個人左右，所以個人來講，我已經不太再想聽人說話，因此有人能夠精簡準確地講話真是讓我鬆了口氣。他表現的非常好。

2 Q: 您能否給我們舉一個應聘者搞砸了面試的例子？他應該怎麼做？

Yes... erm... I must say actually that there're ... you know, not many people really mess up an interview. I think some people, you know, are nervous and come across as nervous. Some people don't answer questions particularly well. But I think very few people actually really mess up an interview. I interviewed somebody recently who kind of... didn't interview particularly well and there was a particular reason for that.

我的確遇到過。能搞砸一個面試他也是能手。我覺得有些人在面試過程中特別緊張，問題就回答的不太好。不過我覺得很少人能夠真的搞砸一場面試。我最近面過的一些人，表現不太好，但是是有原因的。

So the... erm... the post we work.... were advertising for was... err... hotel front of house receptionist that kind of post. The young lady that we interviewed had... actually had a background in graphic design - she studied that in university and I think the previous job had been in a... an advertising company. So she came to the interview armed with her portfolio. And as we proceeded through the interview and asked her questions, she constantly referenced her portfolio, pulling out pieces to show us and it was all great stuff. However it was not relevant at all to the post that we were interviewing for. Obviously, a front of house at a hotel doesn't need graphic design skills. It was obviously something she was proud of and in some ways, it got in the way of her answering the questions properly. We didn't really find out anything about her apart from her graphic design background since every question we asked, she somehow managed to pull something out of her portfolio to tell us about. So I think the key thing really is to understand the job, I mean, she obviously really didn't quite understand the job and didn't understand that her... some of her previous skills weren't really relevant.

我們主要設計那些貼在前臺做宣傳的海報。那位年輕的女士在大學的專業是圖形設計，以前也是在廣告公司工作的，所以她來面試的時候還帶着自己的設計。面試中我們問她問題的時候，她老是看那本東西，不停地拿出設計讓我們看，的確很不錯。但是那些設計本身與我們想要的不太一樣。顯然，前臺貼出的海報並不需要運用到圖形設計。她拿得出手的必是得意之作，但她挑錯場合了，這對面試無利，反而妨礙她回答問題。結果最後除了她有圖形設計的背景之外，我們對她毫無其他的瞭解，因爲她的回答就是從圖冊裏面抽出以前的設計並展示給我們看而已。所以我覺得清楚地知道這份工作到底是幹什麼的很重要，即是，她顯然並沒有特別來哦接這份工作，她也不太清楚她的技能其實和這個工作不大沾的上邊兒。

So I think the thing to take away from this is maybe make sure you do understand the job - what the requirements are. And in an interview situation, think about that and tailor your answers towards the skills that are required for that particular job.

因此我覺得最好就是確保你自己明白這份工作的要求是什麼。面試的時候仔細思考答案再說出口，最好說些相關性較強的東西。

3 Q: 除了前面提到的，你最看重應聘者所展現出來的什麼部分？

I think there's one thing that we're always looking for, that you can't really get across in an application... on an application form or in a covering letter, and that... that's your genuine interests in a job or your enthusiasm for a job. I think that's something really you can only get across at an interview. I think when we interview people, we're never really expecting to get the finished article, to get a fully qualified person with loads of experience. In fact, if we did interview somebody for a post who'd already been doing something similar or was very experienced in that post for several years, I think we might actually question why they were continuing and perhaps not looking to improve themselves or get a better post.

我覺得我們通常都會看中一種從申請表或求職信上看不出來的東西，那就是對這份工作真正的興趣以及由衷的熱忱，這真的只能從面試中看出來。當我們面試別人的時候，我們從不期望會得到一件成品，找到一個完完全全符合要求、經驗老道的人。事實上，如果有個人在這行做了很久，我覺得我們會問他們爲什麼還繼續、爲什麼不尋求更高的職位或自我提升呢。

So what we're actually looking for is perhaps somebody who doesn't have all the skills, who doesn't have a huge amount of experience but what they do have is a willingness to learn and enthusiasm for the job and generally just somebody who shows real interest. And I think you can do that in an interview. You can really get across to the people who are interviewing you that you'd loved to do the job and that you'd liked to learn and you'd liked to improve yourself.

所以我們真正所求的人才是待琢的璞玉，這樣的人稍欠經驗，但有的是熱忱與動力，總之就是要對工作有興趣。我覺得如果你能展現出這一面會很好。你可以告訴面試官你真的會喜愛這份工作、你會爲之不斷學習、不斷進步。

4 Q: 在面試中有哪些忌諱

OK, there're some very obvious things but I think one thing that, from my own experience, is not to get too friendly or too personal with the people interviewing you. I mean I've had examples of people who've come into the interview room giving me a kind of drink or a piece of cake. I can understand why they're doing that but it's not really right in an interview situation. I've even had somebody who told me I had nice eyes. Can you believe that? I have a friend actually who was telling me about a job he applied for and he... the interview panel was made up of two ladies - it was actually a women's university. And the panel was made up of two ladies and he... at the end of the interview he kissed the interviewers on both cheeks as was his habit. But I think that probably didn't go down particularly well. So don't be too familiar with your interviewers. Don't be too personal.

有幾點需要注意的，但是從我的經驗看來，不要隨隨便便與面試官稱兄道弟比較重要。我見過幾個人，一進面試的房間就給我一杯飲料或一塊蛋糕。我能明白他們爲什麼這麼做，但在面試的場合下，這種行爲真是大錯特錯。以前甚至有人和我說我的眼睛很好看。你能相信嗎？我一個朋友告訴我他以前申請一份工作，面他的是兩位女士——因爲是一所女子大學。在面試結束的時候他親吻了兩位面試官的臉頰，這是他的習慣。我個人認爲這一點不太好，一定要和你面試官保持好距離。

From personal experience actually I... the very first job I interviewed for I can remember I was... I think I was 20 or 21 at the time. First interview. Brand new suit. Very very nervous. And when I arrived for interview, they offered me a cup of tea and I accepted it. Actually a hot drink wasn't exactly I wanted because I was probably sweating so much anyway from being nervous. It wasn't a good idea but I can just remember them giving me this hot cup of tea in a cup and a saucer, and then nowhere to put it so I was sat in front of the interviewers and trying to hold onto this cup of tea and my hands were shaking so much that I remember the cup rattling in the saucer. So things like that... I wouldn't... yeah... maybe I wouldn't accept the hot drink at interview. A glass of water might be good coz often if you are talking a lot you tend to lose your voice. But yes, hot ... definitely recommend that you leave those alone.

說說我自己的經驗吧，我記得我應聘的第一份工作。那時候我20、21歲的樣子。第一次面試，穿了全新的套裝，非常非常緊張。到達面試地點之後，他們給了我一杯茶，我喝了。實際上我並不太需要熱飲，因爲那時候我緊張到出汗。其實要了那杯熱飲不是什麼太好的注意，我記得茶杯下面還有個碟狀杯託，而且沒地方能給我放這些東西，所以我坐在面試官面前，拿着杯子和杯託，雙手抖的不像話，結果有些茶都灑到杯托裏了。也許接受那杯東西就是個錯誤。不過一杯水還是可以接受的，因爲如果你一直講話，到最後會失聲。不過熱飲還是算了吧。

5 Q: 通常應聘者都會被問到自己的強項與弱項，談論自己弱點的最好方式是什麼？

I think this is a question I am not sure how often this gets asked actually but if you did get asked this question, I think you have to be honest. Well maybe not too honest I mean I think you don't want to say something that's going to jeopardise your chance of getting the job so I mean don't say that you're lazy or that you're a bad time keeper and you turn up late every morning. You know that wouldn't be a good thing. I think also, don't try to say something that would be a cliche - "I'm too hardworking" or something like that. It's just not believable. I think you have to be honest. I think maybe... I think what...  the point of this question is I think what they want to do is see how you look at yourself. So can you evaluate your own performance in a way and also can you... if you can evaluate your own performance can you think about how you would change or go about improving. So maybe try to give a past example of a weakness that you had in the past but then also show how you might have changed. So for example, time management is often a difficult thing for people in a job and it's something that you can learn, I mean there are certain things that you can do to improve your time management. So maybe you could use an example like that say a couple of years ago I had problems meeting deadlines and so on, but I realise that this is a problem and these are the steps that I took to change and now I... you know I'm much better at time management - I meet all my deadlines. So try to put a positive spin on it if you can by giving example of maybe how you've changed.

我不確定這個問題出現的頻率到底高不高，但如果一旦被問到，我覺得最好的方法是如實回答。但我的意思不是坦誠到要毀了你所有的機會——比如說回答什麼你很懶，你不太守時，你每天早上遲到之類的。你應該清楚地知道以上的答案並不怎麼樣。而且不要說些無用的話，比如“我過於勤奮”。也許他們問這個問題的意義在於想發現你如何審視自身。他們想知道你能否爲自己的表現作出恰當的評估；如果可以，你能否作出改進。例如，對於很多人來說時間管理非常困難，這就是你可以學習的東西，你總可以做一些事來改進自身時間管理的技巧。你可以用一些例子，比如說幾年前我總是無法按時完成任務，但我意識到這是個問題，以下是我改進的方法，而現在我已經如何如何，我現在非常擅長管理自己的時間——所有工作都可以在截止日期之前完成。所以你要做的是找出積極的方面，如果有例子的話，用例子說明你是如何改變的。

Related to that actually is an interview I did recently, I was quite impressed by somebody who, when asked about experience for a particular job, he was very honest and said that he didn't have any experience in that area at all. But what he did do is that he told us about the skills that he has that would suit that job. And I was very impressed with that answer. It was very candid, very honest. And I think you... often in interview situation people tend to try and cover up gaps in their skills or experience and don't do that particularly well but I think this particular person... I was very impressed with the way that he dealt with that question with honesty. If you can't... if you don't have the skills or experience, maybe that doesn't really matter do you actually have other skills that would... that you can offer up that would meet the needs of the job. So I was really impressed with that particular person.

舉個例子吧，最近我面了一個人，他給我留下很深的印象。問他有沒有做某個工作的經驗時，他非常坦誠地說他在那個領域一點經驗都沒有。但是他又告訴我們，他有其他的技能，完全適合這份工作。我對那個答案的印象很深刻，非常坦誠。在面試中，面試者都竭力表現出自己嚴絲合縫地契合該職位的要求，但其中一些表現的並不如意。可是這個人真的回答的特別好，而且特別坦誠。如果你沒有一份工作所要求的經驗或技能，不要怕，但你必須能夠告訴面試官你本身具有的技能也符合這份工作的要求。所以這個人給我留下了深刻的印象。

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