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Search Results for: job interviews

Successful Job Interviews

English for Job Interviews eBook features MP3 audio, PDF and online quizzes on language and skills for succeeding in a job interview in English.

English Job Interviews eBook Course

  • Key Points to Consider for Job Interviews
  • Getting Started & Small Talk
  • Talking about your Previous Experience
  • Vivid Language for Describing your Abilities
  • Describing your Greatest Accomplishments
  • Discussing your Weaknesses
  • Handling Tough Questions
  • Asking the Interviewer Questions
  • Second Round Interviews
  • Comparing Candidates Abilities and Skills
  • Negotiating your Salary

Members: click a link below to view and download files (right-click to save to your computer).

Successful Job Interviews
Title
Transcript
Podcast
PhraseCast
Quizzes
Complete Set/ZIP
Course Introduction
Previous Experience 1
Previous Experience 2
Accomplishments 1
Accomplishments 2
Weaknesses
Asking Questions
Stress Questions
2nd Round Interview
Discussing Candidates
Salary Negotiation

Business English Pod

Learn business English with your favorite business English lessons from Business English Pod!

Business English Pod

With over 75 million lessons delivered since 2006, Business English Pod is the go-to source for Business English lessons, podcasts and mobile apps for intermediate and advanced Business English learners.

Learn English conversation and listening skills, business vocabulary, idioms, and more, with effective business English lessons on everything from meetings, presentations, negotiations to sales, job interviews and finance. Our Business English lessons are designed to help you understand the language that we use to communicate and the reasons why we use it. Our goal is to teach natural and effective English for business.

Our Business English Pod lessons (BEP) include a natural dialog featuring common and effective business English vocabulary, idioms, and phrases. It also includes a clear and complete explanation of the dialog. You will learn what the speakers are saying, why they are saying it, and other ways you can express the same ideas. The PDF transcript and practice exercises will help you understand and remember everything you learn in the podcast.

PDF transcripts for each lesson are available to premium members. Premium members can also access our online quizzes and lesson modules – take a free trial to preview the lesson resources.

Business English Pod publishes a variety of business English lessons for speaking, vocabulary and listening skills. Try Video Vocab to learn business English vocabulary for different business and technical topics. Listen to Skills 360 for advice on everything from using the telephone to high-level negotiations. Tune in to Business English News to learn advanced English vocabulary. And use our core Business English Pod lessons to study business English conversations, English speaking skills, and English vocabulary and idioms.

Our Business English lessons are designed to help you understand the language that we use to communicate and the reasons why we use it. We want our learners to be able to face different business and work situations with confidence in their English abilities.

Business English Pod lessons are carefully created by an expert team of trainers with over 50 years of frontline experience in Business English training. Our developers have worked with some of the world’s leading companies in a variety of fields including engineering, telecommunications, aerospace, financial services, and medicine. We don’t just understand English, we understand how to use English effectively for business.

Learning Process

Business English Pod lessons follow a consistent and effective format. Each podcast begins with an introduction that tells you about the topic and situation for the dialog. Then you hear the dialog, which is a natural and realistic example of a conversation in a common business situation. Then, in the “debrief” section, a teacher reviews each part of the dialog and explains what the speakers are saying, why they are saying it, and other ways to express similar ideas. Finally, in the “practice” section, you have the chance to use the language you learned.

Business English Pod is aimed at intermediate and advanced English learners, with a TOEIC score of between 400 and 700 or CEF B1-C2. However, the lessons are designed to be useful to learners at a variety of levels. Lower and intermediate learners can focus more on language development, and advanced learners can concentrate on skills, fluency, and enhancement of professionalism.

BEP 226 – Conducting a Job Interview in English (2)

Business English, Human Resources, Job Interview English /

Conducting an interview in English (2)

In this Business English Pod lesson, we continue our look at how to conduct a job interview in English.

The interview is a crucial step in the hiring process. You have the opportunity to sit down with a candidate and get as much useful information as possible. And to get good information, you need to set the right tone and ask good questions. You also need techniques for getting people to explain and elaborate on ideas. The more details you can get from someone, the better. And hopefully you can figure out if the person is right for the job and for your company.

Good techniques for conducting interviews can help you in many other situations. Any time you need to evaluate a person, or a person’s company, you will use the same techniques. Imagine you need to contract an Internet marketing company. You will probably sit down with someone to ask them questions. Or imagine you have a paper salesman in your office. Again, you will need to ask him some good questions to evaluate his company.

Today, we’ll learn some great interviewing techniques, including how to ask stress questions and hypothetical questions. We’ll also learn about echoing someone to encourage them to speak more and calling someone on an evasive answer. And finally we’ll learn about giving the candidate a chance to ask questions of their own.

In today’s dialog, we’ll rejoin Sandy and Lee, who are interviewing Maria. Sandy and Lee are looking for someone to lead their company’s expansion into Asia.

Listening Questions

1. What does Maria say she does that Sandy repeats in order to encourage more detail?
2. What type of situation does Sandy ask Maria to imagine?
3. What does Sandy give Maria the chance to do at the end of the interview?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Quizzes | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

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BEP 225 – Conducting a Job Interview in English (1)

Business English, Human Resources, Job Interview English /

Conducting an interview in English (1)

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on conducting an interview in English.

How do you assess potential employees? Or contractors? Or business partners? Or anyone, for that matter? Well, you can look at a person’s resume or CV. And for more information you can google someone. But that’s never enough to really get an idea about someone. What we rely on are interviews, which can be very powerful tools. Interviews give us a chance to meet someone face-to-face, to ask tough questions, to find out how they solve problems, and to really get a sense of how they interact.

Asking someone questions face-to-face is not only important for job interviews. There are a wide range of situations where interview techniques are useful. Say you want to build a relationship with a new supplier. You’ll want to ask some questions and get to know the company. Or maybe you want to contract a tech support company. You’ll want to do interviews to see who is the right fit.

Interviewing is a skill, just like being interviewed. And there are some excellent techniques that you can learn to become a better interviewer. Today, we’ll look at how to make someone feel comfortable, how to ask open-ended questions, and how to get someone to give recommendations and provide more detail.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Sandy and Lee interviewing Maria. Sandy and Lee work for an international fast moving consumer goods – or FMCG – company that is expanding into Asia. They are looking for the right person to lead this expansion.

Listening Questions

1. What aspect of Maria’s work does Sandy want to hear more about?
2. What does Sandy want Maria’s “thoughts” about?
3. Which idea does Lee want Maria to explain in more detail?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Quizzes | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

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BEP 217 – Internal Job Interview in English (2)

Business English, Job Interview English, Management English /

BEP 217 - Job-Interview English: Internal Interviews 2

This is the second part of our Business English Pod lesson on internal job interview English.

Let’s think about the purpose of an interview for a second. For the company that’s hiring, the interview lets them find out more about the candidates. Who are they? How do they communicate? What can they contribute to the company? For the people applying for the position, it’s a chance to show their personality. They can build on what appears on their resume, emphasizing important accomplishments and abilities. All this may seem obvious, but the important thing to remember is that this is a competition.

Many people, one position. So part of your purpose is to show why you’re better than the other applicants. And when you’re applying within the company you already work for, you may have an advantage. You know more about the company, and they know more about you.

In an internal interview, you need to use this advantage properly. You’ll hear some of the same questions as other applicants, but you may be able to respond with better answers. In this lesson, we’ll learn some of these ways of responding. This will include techniques such outlining your strategic vision, showing loyalty, and showing leadership. It will also include disagreeing politely and talking about career goals.

In the dialog, we will rejoin Graham, Seth, and Michelle, who work in a software company called BitSoft. Seth and Michelle are interviewing Graham for a managerial position.

Listening Questions

1. What is the first suggestion Graham makes?
2. Why does Graham say he has stayed at BitSoft?
3. What does Graham say he eventually wants to become in his career?

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BEP 216 – Internal Job Interview in English (1)

Business English, Job Interview English, Management English /

BEP 216 Lesson - Job Interview English: Switching Careers (1)

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on internal job interviews in English.

You already have experience with interviews. You know the kinds of questions that are typically asked, and you’ve rehearsed your answers to those kinds of questions. But this is different. In an internal interview in English, chances are you’re talking with someone you already know. And you’re talking about experiences they already know about. They know you too. That can make it more comfortable in some ways. You don’t have to break the ice and you probably understand the company’s priorities. But it can be more uncomfortable in other ways. You might not have talked in this way with these people before. And you won’t be able to exaggerate anything.

For these reasons, you might need some different techniques. You need to use your knowledge of the company and your experience as an advantage. But at the same time, you have to watch your language and maintain a very high level of professionalism.

We’ll be looking at some of these techniques in today’s lesson. We’ll cover how to give an example of a positive change you’ve made, as well as how to accept responsibility for mistakes. We’ll also learn how we can differentiate ourselves from external candidates, identify problems and solutions, and show a commitment to professional development.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Graham interviewing for a managerial position with a software company. He’s being interviewed by Seth and Michelle. You’ll notice right away that it sounds a bit different than a standard interview at a new company. Seth and Michelle have firsthand knowledge of what Graham has done and how he works.

Listening Questions

1. What positive change did Graham make for the company?
2. How does Graham show he is committed to developing professionally?
3. What does Graham understand about the company that other candidates might not?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Quizzes | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

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Business English Games – Job Interviews Jumpshot

Games /

Review key language and techniques from our recent series on language for job interviews (BEP 204 and BEP 205).

This challenge has 10 questions. For each correct answer you receive 10 points. For each wrong answer you loose 5 points. Your total score at the end of the quiz is the amount of time you have to play the hoops game and get as many balls as possible into the net (eg. 55 points quiz score = 55 seconds of game time).

Fun Business English Games

BEP 205 – English Job Interviews: Switching Careers (2)

Advanced, Business English, Job Interview English, Management English /

BEP 205 - English job interview

This is the second of a two-part Business English Pod lesson on job interviews for when you’re changing jobs or switching careers.

You can’t do the same thing for your entire life. That’s why you’ve chosen to make a change, to take your skills and experience and apply them to something new. But this comes with a challenge. How can you convince an interviewer that you’ve got what it takes to make the switch?

This is especially true for those of us who are more “mature.” There’s an old saying: “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Well, your task in the interview is to show why this saying is wrong. And you need to demonstrate why an “old dog” brings a lot more to the table than a younger dog.

In today’s lesson, we’ll rejoin Patrick, an accountant who’s interviewing for a position with an advisory firm. Frank and Nina are conducting the interview. We’ll hear Patrick demonstrate some key interview skills; he’s going to answer hypothetical questions, highlight transferable skills, and demonstrate research. He’s also going to make polite suggestions and ask good questions.

Listening Questions

1. Why does Patrick talk about his work developing junior accountants?
2. What is Patrick’s suggestion about training and development?
3. What does Patrick want to know about the position?

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BEP 204 – English Job Interviews: Switching Careers (1)

Advanced, Business English, Job Interview English, Management English /

BEP 204 - English Job Interviews: Switching Careers (1)

This is the first of a two-part Business English Pod lesson on English job interviews for when you’re changing jobs or making a career shift.

You’ve racked up a lot of work experience and you’re proud of your special accomplishments. And you know enough to have clear opinions about how things should be done. But it’s time for a bit of a change. Maybe you’re switching careers altogether, or maybe you’re just looking to change roles. Regardless, you’re going to have to explain your accomplishments and express your opinions carefully in order to a make a good impression.

In an interview, it’s not just about what you say, it’s about how you say it. You will be asked some difficult questions, and you may only have one shot at it. The stakes are high, and the competition may be great. You need to sell yourself and demonstrate why you are the right choice for the position.

In this lesson, we’ll hear Nina and Frank interviewing Patrick. Patrick is a seasoned accountant looking for a career shift. He’s applying for a job with one of the major accounting advisory firms. Patrick is going to highlight his unique experience, politely criticize his former employer, admit challenges, and talk about past conflict. These are all tough things to do well, but Patrick handles them wisely.

Listening Questions

1. Why is Patrick talking about changes to a company’s internal controls?
2. How does Patrick describe financial meetings with executives?
3. How does Patrick say he dealt with the executives?

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Download: Podcast MP3