2º ENGLISH

Job interview

14
 / 1. Introduction and practical context 3

/ 2. Job interview 4
2.1. Questions and answers in an interview 5
2.2. Weaknesses and strengths 6

/ 3. Case study 1: “Getting ready for a job interview” 7

/ 4. A telephone job interview 7

/ 5. Case study 2: “A very important call” 8

/ 6. Reading 8

/ 7. Summary and unit’s case study resolution 9

/ 8. Bibliography 9

© MEDAC
Reservados todos los derechos. Queda rigurosamente prohibida, sin la autorización escrita de los titulares del copyright,
bajo las sanciones establecidas en las leyes, la reproducción, transmisión y distribución total o parcial de esta obra por
cualquier medio o procedimiento, incluidos la reprografía y el tratamiento informático.
 Learn the basic ideas about job interviews.

Know the correct behaviour tips to use during job interviews.

Learn some general ideas to develop our strengths and avoid our weaknesses.

Know how telephone job interviews are made.

Express yourself properly in all kinds of job interview situations.

/ 1. Introduction and practical context

In this fourteenth unit, we will learn several techniques to use when facing
job interviews. In order to do this, we will learn some useful tips, and some
possible questions and answers during this type of interviews too.

Listen to the following audio, which includes a case study that will be solved
along this lesson.

Fig. 1. Getting ready

Audio intro. “Steven’s job interview”

https://bit.ly/2mPInIg
 UNIT 14. JOB INTERVIEW
2º English /4

/ 2. Job interview
A job interview is part of the selection process, which is done to establish a first contact with the candidate in order
to meet him/her personally and try to clarify the main requirements to continue the selection process.

It constitutes an exchange of information. During the interview, the candidate is offered complementary data about
the company, the job position and the selection process to follow. The person responsible for the selection carries
out a brief analysis of the CV of the candidate, of the knowledge he/she has about the work for which he/she shows
interest, his/her level of agreement with the established remuneration, and what are the economic aspirations of
the candidate (and the reasons behind these aspirations).

The main objective of the job interview is to collect data that allows to make a judgment about the candidate and
make a decision about his/her suitability for the position. In addition, the interview serves to clarify the biographical
data provided, to establish a personal relationship between the candidate and the person who makes the selection,
and finally, to give the candidate more details about the position and the company.

Tips for candidates to make a good job interview

• Emotional self-control.

• Control of failure thoughts.

• Having a positive coping attitude.

• Smart and clean appearance.

• Analyzing the job position and getting some possible questions ready.

• Selling your “product” properly: know your strong points and weak
points.

• Planning for difficult questions and preparing possible answers.

Fig 2. A job interview is a quite important item
• Exhaustive knowledge of your CV. of the selection process

Positive aspects during interview Negative aspects during interview

Looking like feeling at ease. Staying passive or indifferent.
Being tolerant about overworking. Not having enough qualifications.
Being kind. Inappropriate behaviour
Being tolerant to stress situations. Being a contentious or difficult person.
Organization and planning skills. Neglected appearance.
Problem solving skills. Being too nervous or anxious.
To have initiative. Acting arrogant or too self-confident
Not being too aggressive. Not looking at the interviewer.
Self-confidence Being too interested in the salary.
Open-minded Not making questions about the job.
 ENGLISH
/5 MEDAC · Instituto Oficial de Formación Profesional

2.1. Questions and answers in an interview

Here you have a list of possible questions that the person in charge of the selection process could ask you during
the interview:

• Can you tell me a little about yourself?

• How did you hear about the position?

• What do you know about the company?

• Why do you want this job?

• Why should we hire you?

• What are your greatest professional strengths?

• What do you consider to be your weaknesses?

• Tell me about a challenge or conflict that you’ve faced at work, and how you dealt with it.

• Where do you see yourself in five years?

• What’s your dream job?

• Why are you leaving your current job?

• Why were you fired?

• What are you looking for in a new position?

• What type of work environment do you prefer?

• How would your boss and co-workers describe you?

• Why was there a gap in your employment?

• How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?

• What are your salary requirements?

• What do you like to do outside of work?

• Are you married or single? Are you planning on having children?

• Do you have any questions for us?

The answers to these questions will depend on the job offer we are applying
for and the type of company.

Generally speaking, we should sound natural and sincere in our answers, but
we have to play our cards wisely. Fig 3. Job interview.
 UNIT 14. JOB INTERVIEW
2º English /6

We have to remark our strong points in our interview and try to hide our weaknesses if possible, so it is recommended
to act prudently in every single answer we are giving to the interviewer.

Audio 1. “Questions during a job

interview”
https://bit.ly/2msn8fB

2.2. Weaknesses and strengths

Before going to a job interview, we should get ready by going through a preparation process. This process would
include some techniques to get to know ourselves properly.

By doing that, we will be able to detect our weaknesses and strengths.

Here we have a list of top 10 questions we should ask ourselves before going to a job interview:

• What are my qualities for this position (my skills and knowledge)?

• How will I manage in this position with my qualities?

• What is my potential?

• What can I improve?

• What makes me different from the other candidates applying for this position?

• What are my short and medium term goals?

• Which of the job requirements can I fulfill better?

• Why am I more interested in this company than in other companies?

• What can I bring to the company, in terms of skills and wit?

• What is the basis for my salary expectations?

The answers to these questions will result in a deep self-knowledge, and they will help us to point out the strong
items of our CV during the job interview.

Audio 2. “Weaknesses”
https://bit.ly/2kqN4HF
 ENGLISH
/7 MEDAC · Instituto Oficial de Formación Profesional

/ 3. Case study 1: “Getting ready for a job interview”

Situation: Anita is going to a job interview today.

Question: She wants to get ready for the possible questions the recruiter will do, so she decides to make a list. What
type of topics will she include in the list of questions?

Solution: The topics could be the following: academic qualifications, past work experiences, reasons for applying for
that position, behaviour at the workplace, future projects and ambitions, personal situation, types of personality or
salary conditions.

Video 1. “Getting ready for a job

interview!”
https://bit.ly/2m3QIaR

/ 4. A telephone job interview

Nowadays, more and more companies are using telephone interviews as a way of screening candidates; so, it
becomes quite necessary to be best prepared when we finally get that call.

Here we have some top telephone interviews tips to help you:

Do this

Research. Like in a face-to-face interview, start by finding out as much information as possible about the company.

Write down any questions you want to ask. The questions can be about the position you’ve applied for, the company
culture, etc.

Have your CV to hand. The recruiter may open the interview by asking questions about your experience, and it’s a
way recruiters use to find out how communicative you are.

Smile. Although your interviewer can’t see you, they can actually hear you smiling.

Listen. Listen to all their questions, and make note of anything that seems of particular importance.

Other tips. Have a glass of water to hand, remember to breathe, articulate properly.

Don’t do this

Treat it different from a face-to-face interview. If possible, dress properly to the occasion.

Get distracted. You need to remain focused on the task, try to find a place that is free from distractions.

Eat. The worst moment for eating is during a telephone job interview.

Interrupt. Let the interviewer finish their sentence, and always allow for a gap before you begin answering.

Sound bored. Try to sound positive, and avoid yawning or mumbling your responses.

Other tips. Don’t chew gum, don’t smoke, don’t zone out.
 UNIT 14. JOB INTERVIEW
2º English /8

/ 5. Case study 2: “A very important call”

Situation: Amy applied for a job on a mobile app last week.

Question: One day, she is eating her lunch and she receives a phone call, she doesn’t recognize the telephone
number. She answers the telephone and the person on the line tells her that he is calling from IT consultants for a
telephone interview. What should Amy do to start the phone interview properly?

Solution: Amy should stop eating her lunch and she should find a place that is free from distractions to focus on the
telephone interview.

Video 2. “A very important call”

https://bit.ly/2lIR9aF

/ 6. Reading
Read the text and answer the questions. Source (adapted from): https://careersidekick.com/job-interview-dos-
donts/

Dos and Don’ts for Job Interviews

What to Say (without words)

Do: Project confident body language. Sit up straight, lean slightly forward, and look your interviewer in the eye.
Smile and engage with each interviewer and nod slightly as he or she speaks.

Don’t: Try not to slouch or cross your arms as questions are asked. Don’t fidget. Try to project body language that
is positive and indicates interest. The best way to show confidence is by sitting in an “open stance”. That’s why you
shouldn’t cross your arms or do anything that makes you seem hesitant or closed-off.

How to Act

Do: Stay poised and relaxed. Interviews are designed to see how you react to challenge. That’s why so many
interviewers try to throw in that one unexpected question. When it comes, be relaxed, flexible, and as engaging as
possible. Keep a smile on your face even if you don’t have a ready answer. This will show your interviewer that you
don’t get rattled, even when you don’t have all the answers. If you need time to think, say, “that’s a great question,
let me think for a second. I want to give you a good answer here.” No hiring manager is going to fault you for doing
that once or twice.

Don’t: Don’t show signs of panic and don’t lose your cool if things take an unexpected turn or you face a tough
question. Also don’t rush while answering. You don’t want to blurt something out that you can’t take back, so stay
calm.

What to Highlight

Do: Go into your interview prepared to highlight the abilities and the aspects of your background that you believe
make you a good fit for the position. Take notes on the position and the company, as well as relevant aspects of
your qualifications that make you a strong candidate. Taking the time to research the company and job will help you
remember what you want to say, and will allow you to weave your knowledge into the answers to their questions.
 ENGLISH
/9 MEDAC · Instituto Oficial de Formación Profesional

Don’t: The worst mistake you can make is to skip the pre-interview research stage of preparation. Let’s repeat this—
the worst mistake you can make is to skip the pre-interview research stage of preparation.

Questions

a. It is OK to ask for a little time to answer a question. TRUE / FALSE

b. The worst mistake you can make is showing up in casual clothes. TRUE / FALSE

/ 7. Summary and unit’s case study resolution

Throughout this unit, we have learnt, remembered and reinforced the following concepts:

• Learning the basic ideas about job interviews: we have studied the main concepts about job interviews and
some useful tips to face them.

• Knowing the correct behaviour tips to use during job interviews: we have studied several possible questions
and answers for these interviews.

• Learning some general ideas to develop our strengths and avoid our weaknesses: we have studied some
techniques to highlight our strengths and improve our weaknesses during job interviews.

• Knowing how telephone job interviews are made: we have studied a list of positive and negative things to
take into account during telephone job interviews.

• Expressing yourself properly in all kind of job interviews situations: we have studied how to behave during job
interviews (face-to-face or by telephone). In the practical cases of this unit, we have revised these situations
again.

Case study resolution

At the beginning of this unit, we had proposed the case study of Steven, a teenager who is looking for a summer job;
he has been selected to work at a big chain of supermarkets in Dover, and he has to go to a job interview. He usually
wears very informal clothes and his mother is trying to help him choosing the outfit for the interview. The possible
answer can be the following: He should have a smart and clean appearance.

/ 8. Bibliography
Downes, C. (2008). Cambridge English for Job-hunting. Cambridge, United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press.

Hashemi, L. & Thomas, B. (2006). Grammar for PET. Cambridge, United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press.

McDermott, J. & Reed, A. (2012). Top answers to 121 job interview questions. London, United Kingdom. Anson Reed Limited.

Murphy, R. (2009). Essential Grammar in Use. Cambridge, United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press.

Murphy, R. (2003). English Grammar in Use. Cambridge, United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press.