Business English Pod / Search results for 'interview' / Page 4

Search Results for: interview

BEP 259 – Difficult Interview Situations 2

Business English, Job Interview in English /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on dealing with difficult interview situations.

Imagine you’re in a job interview, answering questions about your experience. Things seems to be going pretty well, but suddenly you say something you wish you hadn’t. Maybe you mentioned a big mistake you made at a former job. Or perhaps you said something bad about your former employer. You watch the interviewers face to see how she reacts, and your heart starts to race.

These are not unusual situations. We’ve all faced them. And if you stay calm, there are some good ways to recover. In today’s lesson, we’ll look at some useful techniques for these types of situations. We’ll look at admitting to a past mistake, explaining what we’ve done following a failure, and highlighting what we’ve learnt from the experience. We’ll also look at toning down a negative statement and emphasizing positive ideas after saying something negative.

We will hear two short dialogs today. In the first, we’ll rejoin Simon and Charlene. Simon is interviewing for a job as bank manager. In the second dialog, we’ll hear Sara and Nick. Sara is interviewing for a position as a buyer with a big retail chain.

Listening Questions

1. What mistake did Simon make at his previous job?
2. What did Simon do after making a mistake?
3. What does Sara think her previous employer needed to do better?

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

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 258 – Difficult Interview Situations 1

Business English, Job Interview in English /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on dealing with difficult job interview situations and questions.

We all know that job interviews are stressful. And we all know that one of the keys to reducing that stress is good preparation. But sometimes, no matter how well prepared we are, we find ourselves in tough situations. Maybe we are asked to talk about a weakness, or maybe we don’t know important information about the company where we’re interviewing.

Whatever interview difficulty we are facing, we need to take a deep breath, remain calm, and show confidence. Fortunately, we can learn language techniques to help us succeed in these tough interviews. In today’s lesson, we’ll look at showing how a weakness stems from a positive, how we’ve tried to change a weakness, and how we are a team player. We will also look at showing general industry knowledge and asking good questions.

We will hear two short dialogs today. In the first, we’ll hear Sara interviewing for a position as a buyer at a large retail chain. She’s being interviewed by Nick. In the second dialog, we’ll hear Simon interviewing for a position as a bank manager. He’s being interviewed by Charlene.

Listening Questions

1. What reason does Sara give for her stubbornness?
2. What has Sara done to change her stubbornness?
3. What does Simon say he understands about the banking industry?

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

Download: Podcast MP3

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 237 – English Idioms of Luck and Opportunity (2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business Idioms /

In today’s Business English Pod lesson, we continue our look at English idioms related to luck and opportunity.

What do you say to a friend who is on his way to an important job interview? If you’re like most people, you’ll say “good luck.” But does your friend really need luck to succeed? Well, it’s clear that luck is not the only factor in success, but it does seem important in some cases. It might have been good luck that your friend saw the job posting online one day. But then again, it might be bad luck that your friend trips on his way into the interview.

In any case, making the most of a good opportunity like a job interview certainly seems to involve some luck. Think back on your own career. You can probably think of your own examples of good and bad luck, and how that affected your success with certain opportunities.

In English, we have many common expressions related to luck and opportunity. In our last lesson, we learned some great idioms such as “lucky break,” “tough luck,” and “opportunity knocks.” In this lesson, we’ll learn many more.

In the dialog, we will rejoin Jim and Oscar, two colleagues riding the bus home after work. They are talking about their own opportunities and luck, and they use many useful idioms.

Listening Questions

1. What does Jim think of his chances of getting the job?
2. What does Jim think would be difficult?
3. What does Oscar say about moving into management?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Quizzes | PhraseCast

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 232 – Discussing the Economy (Part 2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations, Finance and Accounting /

In this Business English Pod lesson, we continue our look at vocabulary and collocations for discussing the economy.

In the 21st century, the countries of the world are all closely connected. A company based in the U.S. might employ factory workers in Indonesia to make products they sell to Europeans with the help of a Chinese shipping company. In this global economy, we don’t just talk about what happens within the borders of our own country. We talk about all economies, or “the economy” in general. And we talk about it a lot!

If you’re going to do business, you need to talk about economics. And in English, there are many common expressions we use to describe the economy. Today, we’re going to listen to a dialog and learn some of these expressions.

The expressions we’ll practice today are examples of “collocations.” A collocation is a group of two or more words that we usually use together. For example, maybe you have heard the expression “to have an interview.” We can’t say “do” an interview or “make” an interview. The common expression, or combination of words, is “have an interview.” Learning collocations like these is very important, because they will make you sound more natural. When you hear today’s dialog, listen to how the speakers combine words naturally. Then we’ll explain what they mean and practice using them.

In the dialog, we rejoin David and Gordon, two expats in Southeast Asia talking about the economies in the region. Gordon has recently arrived in the area and done a tour of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Burma, while David has worked in the region for several years.

Listening Questions

1. What does David predict for Burma’s GDP?
2. What advantage does Burma have, according to Gordon?
3. How does David think their company should approach Burma?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Quizzes | PhraseCast

Download: Podcast MP3

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

Business English, Human Resources, Job Interview in 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

Download: Podcast MP3

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

Business English, Human Resources, Job Interview in 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

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 217 – Internal Job Interview in English (2)

Business English, Job Interview in 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?

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

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 216 – Internal Job Interview in English (1)

Business English, Job Interview in 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

Download: Podcast MP3