Implementing VR Application as a Job Interview Practice Tool for Business Students and Beyond

Teacher: Ms. Kasina Wong, Lecturer

Department: Center for Language Education, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)

As a compulsory course in the Business School, hundreds of students enrolled in “LABU2060 - Effective Communication in Business” every cohort but only one lesson could be allocated for interview practice within the fully packed course schedule. Ms Kasina Wong, a lecturer in the Center for Language Education of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, recognised the need for out-of-class drilling resources in consideration of the insufficient yet valued in-class practices time and materials. With the physical limitations brought by COVID as a catalyst, Ms Wong and her team have developed a job interview practice application with a built-in Virtual Reality version.

The application aimed to improve students’ job interview skills by providing two resources: 1) interview practices and 2) mini-lessons. For the practice section, job interview questions tailored for 15 professions with three difficulty levels and three duration types were provided and students could meet an avatar interviewer in the practice. Upon finishing the interview, students could self-rate their practice performance, receive standard feedback, and access their recordings on the project website. For the mini-lesson section, pre-recorded short videos covering job-seeking topics were provided.

The solution was favourable to both teachers and students. Students could practise anytime and anywhere without imposing any additional workload on teachers. They commented that the application helped to increase their confidence in using interview techniques and the ability to give concrete detailed answers. Despite the majority of students having operated the application in the non-VR mode, Ms Wong stressed the importance of bringing VR technology into the application, especially in the interview practice section. She emphasised, “not only do we want to prepare students for the interview content, but we also want them to be mentally prepared.” The immersive version could create a sense of presence for students to overcome their nervousness and get used to the interview atmosphere.

To further enhance the learning experience, Ms Wong and her team planned to improve the application and project website with feedback collected through field observation and focus groups. She wished to promote the usage of the application by gamifying the job interview assessment in the course by giving out badges with respect to students’ application usage frequency and challenge level. Publicizing the application university-wise and among other sister institutions was also her high priority.

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