Essay on Interviewing an International Student:

                Interviewing an international student can be a very rewarding experience. Although the interview might be rewarding, that doesn’t mean you won’t experience some obstacles along the way to the finish product. You should try to be ready for some challenges that you may experience. But don’t worry the benefits out way the challenges and in the end, it is worth it.

                First of all the challenges, some challenges you may encounter will be more difficult to handle than others. First off, starting the conversation may be difficult. If you are not around international students often, you may not know what to say or how to address the person. If you are not an international student, you could have difficulties even finding one if you don’t know many international students. This could pose a huge problem. Another major problem you might have is the language barrier. Every international student is at a different level of English speaking, which could make interviewing them difficult. Silence doesn’t mean a sign of disrespect or lack of know knowledge. The interviewee might need time to formulate his/hers answer into English or have some time to process the questions (1). Remember English isn’t their first language. The interviewee may not know some words, so be prepared to reword your questions if necessary. You may also have some mispronunciation or misuse of some words as well. They may experience trouble continuing their thought process. Another problem that may occur is some questions might be misunderstood, so your answer could be wrong or not make sense, so you might need to talk some time to clarify the answers. The interviewer should try their best not to do anything that could come off offensive. Body language, actions, questions, and some words may be offensive to the international student. Some improper topics to address could be: race, religion, ethnicity, and sexuality (2).  The last challenge you may encounter would be the time situation. Some cultures “on time” are different that your own idea of what “on time” really is.  Also you and your international student interviewee may have extremely conflicting schedules, so finding a time may be difficult.

                Secondly the benefits of interviewing an international student are quit rewarding. The interviewer gets to meet a new person who they might have not even thought about approaching before, a person from a different country with a different culture. The interviewer will gain a firsthand experience in talking to them face to face. They will learn new cultures, traditions, food, clothing, music, manners, what is offensive to them, art, educational systems, politics, and about their family. You will learn how the foreign exchange process works, and how they got the opportunity to come study here in the United States. Also the meeting between an international student and you will be more professional. You won’t have as much small talk because you two will lack common interests. That will help the interview process because you will stay on topic and not introduce small talk. You will also gain a perspective on their nonverbal communication. You will be able to see what topics make them uncomfortable and how they respond to certain subjects and questions.

                So in conclusion, I think interviewing an international student is quite difficult. But I feel that even though you may have more challenges than benefits, the benefits will out way the challenges and you will have a rewarding experience.

 Resources:

1.       http://www.relocation.com/library/career_guide/interview_challenges.html , October 16, 2012

2.       http://www.relocation.com/library/career_guide/interview_challenges.html, October 16, 2012