This is the first in a two-part Business English Podcast series on talking about your accomplishments in job interviews.

We’ll be listening to a bad and good version of a recent graduate discussing his greatest accomplishment. In this episode we’ll focus on language for providing examples of the positive personal characteristics that our previous success demonstrates. Then, in Part 2 of this series, we’ll hear another good example of someone with more job experience, and we’ll examine a four-part structure for telling our success stories.

Listening Questions:

1) Does Alex put his success into an organized, articulate story?

Not realy. He focuses on details that are irrelevant to his interviewer rather than on those that draw attention to his positive personal attributes.

2) Does he present his accomplishment in a way that provides examples of skills and qualities that will be useful at his new job?

He has done a poor job of providing examples of how his experience demonstrates relevant skills and characteristics. For instance, he has not discussed how completing his Master’s thesis demonstrates qualities or personal characteristics that would be useful to his employer.

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	Podcast	BEP 86 ADV – Accomplishments 1 – Listening Quiz
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		BEP 86 ADV – Accomplishments 1 – Individual Characteristics
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This is the second in a two-part Business English Podcast series on discussing previous experience in workplace English job interviews. It is one of an ongoing sequence of ESL podcasts that covers the whole interview process.

In this lesson we listen to a better interview performance by someone who has prepared to talk about their previous experience more effectively. In this good example, Sherry Shen, from Hong Kong, is interviewing with a multinational accounting company for her first job after graduating with a Master’s in finance.

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Study Notes	Phrases & Practice	BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Listening Quiz BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Gap-fill Exercise BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Dialog & Vocabulary BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Highlighting Experience BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Preposition Review BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Turning Weaknesses into Strengths BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Useful Phrases BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Vocabulary Review BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Flashcards

Listening Questions:

1) Does Sherry let her guard down, or does she answer briefly and to-the-point with an appropriate level of formality?

Sherry always answers briefly and to-the-point. For example, she doesn’t take the opening small talk as an invitation to be informal; nor does she seem unfriendly.

2) Does Sherry seem well-prepared to talk about her experience?

Yes, obviously Sherry has carefully prepared for the interview, not just by being able to talk about her successes but also about her potential weaknesses.

3) How does Sherry account for the gap in her resume?

She turns a weakness into a strength by talking about how mothering a child has taught her time management and how to deal with life responsibilities