The Job Interview American English Teacher

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HEAAADERLOGORIGHT

GENERAL ENGLISH · PRACTICAL ENGLISH · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

THE JOB
INTERVIEW
QrrkoD Scan to review worksheet

Expemo code:
17B8-33R9-29K9

1 Personal characteristics

In pairs, match the adjectives below with their correct definitions and discuss how important these
characteristics are for your job or the job that you want to apply for:

1. experienced a. able to make yourself want to do something well

2. self-motivated b. able to talk to people easily and share information

3. communicative c. continually doing a lot of work

4. enthusiastic d. energetically interested in something and willing to be involved in


it
5. dynamic e. having lots of ideas and energy

6. hardworking f. having skills or knowledge because you’ve done something many


times

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THE JOB INTERVIEW

2 The Resume

Read the following resume summary and fill in the header for each section with ‘EDUCATION’, ‘WORK
EXPERIENCE’, ‘PERSONAL DETAILS’, ‘PROFILE’, and ‘SKILLS AND INTERESTS’:

Veronica Patarino
Portland, Oregon
Email: veronicap@bestemailservice.com
2

An American Culture Studies and English Linguistics graduate with four years experience in
the field of international cultural cooperation. Self-motivated, dynamic, and ready to meet
new challenges.
3

2008-2012 University of Oregon, M.A. in American Culture Studies


4

2015-present Project coordinator, American Culture Institute, Seattle, Washington


2013-2015 Internship, YMCA, Portland, Oregon
2012-2013 Tour guide, Tourist Information Center, Portland, Oregon
5

IT skills (Windows, Microsoft Office), fluent in English and Italian, enjoys reading and skiing.

3 Interview questions and answers

Look at the following ‘difficult’ questions that you might hear during a job interview:

How would you describe yourself?


What influenced you to choose a career in ...?
How has your college education prepared you for a job in ...?
Tell me about your current job. What do you do?
How would you describe yourself in terms of your ability to work as a member of a team?
Tell me about a major problem you recently handled. Were you successful in resolving it?
How do you handle pressure?
Why do you want to work for this company?
What do you feel you have to offer this company?
What personal weakness caused you the greatest difficulty on the job?
What would you say was your most rewarding accomplishment?
What are your goals for the future?
What do you think you’ll be doing in five years?

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UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

THE JOB INTERVIEW

Now read the following job ad:

Language Worldwide is an established international language center


seeking a dynamic, self-motivated, and responsible person for the
position of project coordinator. The suitable candidate must be a
college graduate and proficient in at least 2 languages, including
English.

Listen

Watch or listen to an extract from Veronica’s interview at Language Worldwide and put check next
to the questions that you hear.

Listen again and put T (True) or F (False) next to the following statements:

Watch

1. Veronica has always been interested in the American culture.


2. Her current job mainly involves preparing budgets for projects.
3. She has worked as part of a team.
4. She had to replace one of the speakers at an ACI event.
5. She believes the job she is being interviewed for is tailored to her skills and qualifications.
6. Her most rewarding achievement was successfully completing her college degree.
7. Her main weakness is handling pressure.
8. Her long-term ambition is to start her own business.

4 Key expressions

Complete the following collocations from the interview:

1. be motivated a. a well-established company

2. manage b. by challenge

3. deal with c. certain tasks

4. motivate d. deadlines

5. meet e. international projects

6. work f. others

7. be part of g. outside partners

8. delegate h. under pressure

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THE JOB INTERVIEW

Now look at the following expressions from the interview and match them with their functions below:

I would describe myself as someone who is ambitious, hardworking, and motivated by challenge.
As you can see from my resume, I’ve been working as a project coordinator for the ACI in Seattle for
several years.
My job has mainly involved organizing special events
Against the odds, I managed to successfully work with our partners and reschedule the project events.
I guess at times I’m a little reluctant to delegate certain tasks.
I would say successfully completing my college degree was my most rewarding accomplishment.
My long-term goals involve growing with a company where I can continue to learn, and take on
additional responsibilities.
Once I gain the necessary experience, I see myself moving on to a management position.

a. describing your current job


b. describing your personal qualities
c. describing a personal weakness
d. describing how you overcame a difficult situation
e. describing your ambitions
f. describing your achievements

5 Role play

In pairs, interview each other for a job of your choice. Use questions/expressions from this lesson
and any others you might need. Would you give your partner the job? Why or why not?

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THE JOB INTERVIEW

Transcripts

3. Interview questions and answers

Interviewer: How would you describe yourself?

Veronica: I would describe myself as someone who is ambitious, hardworking, and motivated
by challenge. My language and interpersonal skills have allowed me to successfully
manage various international projects for the American Culture Institute over the past
few years.

Interviewer: What influenced you to choose a career in cultural relations?

Veronica: Well, I’ve always been fascinated by the American language and culture, and how it’s
become so globally important.

Interviewer: Tell me about your current job. What do you do?

Veronica: As you can see from my resume, I’ve been working as a project coordinator for the
ACI in Seattle for several years now. My job mainly involves organizing special events,
such as the Social Diversity event which took place last month in Tacoma. I also helped
prepare budget forecasts for various projects.

Interviewer: How would you describe yourself in terms of your ability to work as a member of a
team?

Veronica: Well, during my time as a project coordinator for the ACI, I worked within an
international team and dealt with outside partners. I motivate others to meet
deadlines, and I get along well with everyone.

Interviewer: Tell me about a major problem you recently handled. Were you successful in resolving
it?

Veronica: While I was coordinating an ACI project in Seattle, one of the main speakers got sick
a few days prior to the event. Against the odds, I managed to successfully work with
our partners and reschedule the project events. I was under a lot of pressure, but in
the end the problem was resolved.

Interviewer: How do you handle pressure?

Veronica: I actually work better under pressure and I know that I enjoy working in a challenging
environment.

Interviewer: Why do you want to work for this company?

Veronica: Well, I’m an ambitious person and I want to be part of a well-established company. I
believe this job is tailored to my skills and experience, which include language skills
and managing international projects.

Interviewer: What would you say was your most rewarding accomplishment until now?

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THE JOB INTERVIEW

Veronica: I would say successfully completing my college degree was my most rewarding
accomplishment. I had to work intensively since I was taking on several jobs in order
to support my studies, including working as a tour guide for foreign visitors in Seattle.

Interviewer: What personal weakness caused you the most trouble at work?

Veronica: I guess at times I’m a little reluctant to delegate certain tasks. I think this is because
I’m hardworking by nature. However, my current employer told me that I’ve made
significant improvements during the last few months, and I believe I will continue to
improve in this area.

Interviewer: What are your goals for the future?

Veronica: My long-term goals involve growing with a company where I can continue to learn, and
take on additional responsibilities. Once I gain the necessary experience, I see myself
moving on to a management position.

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TEACHER MATERIALS · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

THE JOB INTERVIEW

Key

1. Personal characteristics

1. f 2. a 3. b 4. d 5. e 6. c
This exercise can be further developed by eliciting from the students any other characteristics that might be
important, e.g. sociable, reliable, self-disciplined, etc.

2. The Resume

1. PERSONAL DETAILS
2. PROFILE
3. EDUCATION
4. WORK EXPERIENCE
5. SKILLS AND INTERESTS

3. Interview questions and answers

Play the audio or video file. Alternatively, you can use your mobile device to scan the QR code (make sure you
have a QR code reader app installed and can access the internet on your device).
Go through all the questions with the students first to ensure that they’re understood.
Interview questions:

How would you describe yourself?


What influenced you to choose a career in ...?
Tell me about your current job. What do you do?
How would you describe yourself in terms of your ability to work as a member of a team?
Tell me about a major problem you recently handled. Were you successful in resolving it?
How do you handle pressure? Why do you want to work for this company?
What personal weakness caused you the greatest difficulty on the job?
What would you say was your most rewarding accomplishment?
What personal weakness caused you the greatest difficulty on the job?
What are your goals for the future?
True/False:

1. T 2. F 3. T 4. F 5. T 6. T 7. F 8. F

4. Key expressions

Collocations:

1. b 2. e 3. g 4. f 5. d 6. h 7. a 8. c
Function-expressions:

a. My job has mainly involved ...ing; As you can see from my resume, I’ve been working as a...
b. I would describe myself as someone who is...
c. I guess at times I’m a little...
d. Against the odds, I managed to...

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THE JOB INTERVIEW

e. My long-term goals involve ...ing; I see myself moving on to ...


f. I would say .... was my most rewarding accomplishment so far.

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