Abstract:

The current research touches upon the process of teaching for BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) International Level 2 Certificate/ Diploma in Business programme. According to the requirements stipulated in the programme specifications, one of the key outcomes of the studying traced throughout all the units is developing various vocational skills. The primary set of vocational skills necessary for any professional contains communication skills, in particular, interview skills, which prove to be crucial not only within the application process but also in any one-to-one meeting.

The aim of this research is to compare and evaluate the results of mock job interviews conducted by the students of British College of Banking and Finance online and offline in the traditional classroom environment. Since any job interview requires prior preparation, the report also includes the description of the pre-interview stages the students are supposed to go through both as a recruiter and an applicant and the analysis of the skills they develop meanwhile.

The research is based on the teachers’ assessment of the students’ papers, observation during the mock job interviews and unstructured questionnaires collected from the students having participated in the process of preparing and conducting the mock job interview. For better understanding, all the stages of the preparatory procedure algorithm elaborated by the college assessors are described and evaluated in terms of the skills the students are expected to develop participating in the mock recruitment/ application process. Comparative analysis of the online and offline mock job interviews has been conducted to reveal if the different formats require the same skills and abilities or students need to develop any additional skills.

The findings prove that first of all a proper step by step preparation for the job interview leads to the students’ success at the interview, which might sound like a truism. Nonetheless, the preparatory stage is supposed to develop such vocational skills as planning, time management, professional writing and analytical skills, thus, these stages play an important self-development role. The analysis of the online job interviews and traditional classroom job interviews prove that in general, in terms of procedure, the online and offline job interviews have a lot in common, though in terms of communication skills there are certain differences which are to be considered while teaching the students and providing them with the guidelines. For example, unlike being surrounded by their groupmates in the classroom, the students find themselves one-to-one with each other and, what is more, at distance, when they can see only the video of each other. It creates a sense of a real job interview that leads to their getting into the character, increases their responsibility for the process and improves their performance. The situation triggers additional communication skills, in particular, listening and non-verbal communication ones.

Based on the research results more specific guidelines for students working on BTEC Business programme might be elaborated to facilitate their successful meeting the programme requirements.

Keywords:

Vocational qualifications, job interview skills, communication skills, e-learning, BTEC.