B7LL100 Employability Skills: A Structured Reflection on Interview

This report presents a structured reflection on a mock interview conducted as part of an employability skills assessment. The student analyzes their performance, drawing on self-reflection and feedback to identify strengths and areas for improvement in preparation for a career in the beauty industry, specifically with Huda Beauty. The reflection covers aspects such as communication skills, industry knowledge, and handling challenging questions. The student acknowledges the need for further education, improved English language proficiency, and a deeper understanding of the company's operations and work ethics. The report emphasizes the importance of customer interaction, emotional intelligence, and staying updated with industry trends through social media. References to relevant literature on beauty standards, social media marketing, and knowledge transfer are included to support the analysis.

Running head: EMPLOYABILITY
Employability
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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I have selected a career in the beauty industry because right from my early ages I have
been very much inclined towards anything that is artistic and creative. I was always very much
attracted towards artistic stuffs like gardening, painting, cooking and several other such
activities. This is because I was very much creative right from my childhood. This interest kept
on increasing as I grew up. I observed that my interest grew towards the field of beauty and
fashion. This is because I found the world of beauty to be one of the most innovative, artistic,
creative and beautiful one. Moreover I knew that if I choose to pursue my career in this field then
I will be one among the very few fortunate ones who can earn their living through their hobby.
Moreover I came across many people who often become the victims of criticism and bullying
due to their dark complexion or their skin problems. I wanted to help those people by sharing
some beauty tips with them and making their lives beautiful. Hence, I need to keep on
experimenting and gaining knowledge about the upcoming trends in the field of beauty. I also
need to interact with a large number of people in order to know their problems and help them out
with the beauty tips that might be best suited for them.
In order to work as a beautician in the Huda beauty industry, I need to get a proper degree
from a well known and affiliated college in makeup industry. La Beauty College is one of the
leading well known colleges that provide courses in this field. As I have not gained a college
certified degree I need to get an admission in one of such well known colleges that I can carry on
my career properly in the future days. I have to keep in mind that professional certificates are of
utmost importance in the modern day scenario. Being in t he make up industry I need to get
myself admitted in a college because customers in the modern day always seek out for
professional with well known degrees (Tuten and Solomon 2017.) It is also totally justified
because they cannot risk themselves by coming to a beautician who does not have any proper

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recognized degree. Before getting an admission I must thoroughly concentrate on the summer
course that I have joined. Being a beautician I will have to deal with many different clients from
all across the world. This is one of the most important aspects of the present day business
scenario to operate over a large geographic area. As the beauty parlor is in Dubai, it is an obvious
fact that Arabic will be the main language for me to converse with the clients. However I need to
improve over my English speaking skills. I must inculcate the habit of reading a variety of
English story books and newspapers and also watch several English programs so that I can
improve myself. I must remember that I will have to interact with a large number of clients each
with different social and multilingual background. Unless I gain proficiency in English I will be
unable to interact with the non Arabic speaking customers. I need to remove all the language
barriers from myself so that there is no problem in understanding the clients and their
requirements. I must also maintain a dictionary that would translate the Arabic or any other
language to English. I will also install an app in my phone that will act as a dictionary or a
language translator and will easily help me in translating and understanding the non English
words into English with their proper meaning. Being part of a beauty industry I need to keep
myself updated with all the upcoming trends in the world of beauty. I also need to be socially
active so that I can stay updated about any and every beauty products that are being newly
launched in the market (Peltokorpi and Vaara 2014). I use social apps like snap chat and
instagram where I add a large number of followers in order to get proper feedback from them
regarding my service towards them and also to get an idea about their expectation. I also follow
the other beauty and make up industries that are the competitors (Wilkinson et al 2014.) This
gives me an idea about what more innovations is to be brought in Huda Beauty Company for
satisfying the customers in a way beyond the reach of the competitors. I also make sure to post

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about all the new beauty products or beauty tips on my social media pages so that there is a good
advertisement of our company. Social media in the modern day scenario is one of the most
popular public domain.
This mock interview has been very helpful for me as I gained a good experience about
the client interaction sessions that I will have to go through several times in the course of my
career. I also realized this from the interview that I had good knowledge about the skills needed
to carry on a career in this field. As per the interviewer feedback I had good knowhow about the
knowledge and skills that one will require to work in this field (Wolf 2013). This is because of
my past work experience. I had previously worked in one of my cousin’s salon, so I have gained
a good knowledge in this field. I have gained knowledge about the different skills a good
beautician and makeup artist must have. I have seen that a beautician needs to have a good
knowledge about the skin types of all his customers. This is because the skin type varies from
person tom person and a beautician has to use only those beauty solutions that would match the
skin type of all the customers. Apart from this, I can also this from my personal experience that
the customers would always go for a beautician who is a good listener. A beautician often has to
do the work of a psychiatrist or a councilor. During my working period at my cousin’s salon, I
had a good reputation because as per the opinion of my customers I was a very good listener and
I could support them emotionally and morally. I always made sure that keep proper control over
my temperament. I never mingled my personal life with my professional life. I never misbehaved
with my clients and gave enough time to understand their problems. I came across many
customers who were not only in need of assistance to look beautiful but they also needed
someone who would help them to gain their lost confidence. There were clients who had a dark
skin or several skin problems and it is also for this reason that they became the victims of several

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insults and bullying at their schools, work places and even at their families. I invested a lot of
time to hear and understand their experiences and then assured them that it is not a sin to have a
dark skin or any skin problems. Everyone is beautiful in their own way and would suggest them
the best beauty products and beauty therapies with the help of rest of my colleagues. I could
realize that this helped the clients a great deal. They could find a ray of hope and also gained
back their confidence. Trust factor is another important skill that one needs in this industry.
Hence, I must work on these abilities to nurture them as they will be helpful in the future days as
well.
The question that I faced trouble with was the challenges that I come across in my work
field. I was not really very clear while answering this because I am a fresher in the beauty
industry. Though I had some past experience in this field but this world of beauty and make up
industry is huge in itself for me to explore within a short period of time (Jeffreys 2014).
Moreover I was a new employee in the Huda beauty company and I was not properly used to the
challenges that are often faced here. I also did not have sufficient knowledge about the company.
As I was a fresher in this company I also did not get time to open up with any employee in
details.
Thereby, I could conclude from this interview that I need to get an admission in one of
the well known beauty colleges in order to get a degree and also to gain a good knowhow about
the pros and cons of working in a beauty industry. I will have to brush up my English speaking
skills so that I can easily converse with a large number of clients and get their feedbacks as well.
I will also have to get a good about of information about the company and the different ways in
which it undertakes its work. I will have to talk with any well known beauty expert or makeup
artist to get proper advice regarding the work ethics and work principles of this company. I will

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also have to increase my confidence because Huda Beauty Company is a very well known
company and has a good customer base. So, in future I will have to interact with a large number
of customers coming from different backgrounds. So, I will have to be much more confident
while speaking with them and will have to develop my skill in the field of English language
speaking that I face no language barriers while dealing with the clients. If I am unable to
understand their language then I will never be able to solve their problems and they will get
irritated and this in turn will be a major setback for the entire business.

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References
Jeffreys, S., 2014. Beauty and misogyny: Harmful cultural practices in the West. Routledge.
Mostafa, M.M., 2013. More than words: Social networks’ text mining for consumer brand
sentiments. Expert Systems with Applications, 40(10), pp.4241-4251.
Peltokorpi, V. and Vaara, E., 2014. Knowledge transfer in multinational corporations: Productive
and counterproductive effects of language-sensitive recruitment. Journal of International
Business Studies, 45(5), pp.600-622.
Tuten, T.L. and Solomon, M.R., 2017. Social media marketing. Sage.
Wilkinson, A., Dundon, T., Donaghey, J. and Freeman, R., 2014. Employee voice: Charting new
terrain. The handbook of research on employee voice: Participation and involvement in the
workplace, pp.1-16.
Wolf, N., 2013. The beauty myth: How images of beauty are used against women. Random
House.