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Since 2006, we have been a leading provider of mobile-friendly learning resources for Business English with over 100 million lessons downloaded. Teachers, schools, companies, and individual learners around the world rely on BEP to improve their Business English.
Each Business English Pod lesson starts off with a realistic dialog. Next, we explain what was said in the dialog step by step and uncover the language and techniques used by native speakers. At the end of every lesson you’ll have the chance to practice the language and techniques yourself. We’ve got lots of great topics, lots of different accents, and lots of real-life business situations to help keep you motivated and learning every day.
Our Business English lessons cover a wide range of useful topics, situations and skills, including: presentations, telephoning, negotiating, socializing, travel, meetings, interviews, conversation, and more. Our goal is to teach natural and effective language. We want our learners to be able to face different business and work situations with confidence in their English abilities.
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As part of our series on job interviews, in this Business English Pod episode we’ll be taking a closer look at the process from the HR perspective. Specifically, we’ll be studying the language of reaching a decision about whom to hire.
A Brazilian business unit of fast moving consumer goods company Fun Beverages has recently interviewed several people for an HR manager position. Now the regional HR director, Ted, and the business unit general manager, George, are meeting to discuss the short-listed, or final, candidates.
As you listen, pay attention to the language they use to compare the two interviewees and to decide which one is the best fit. In addition, we’ll study how they support a candidate, emphasize priorities, express reservations (or second thoughts), and suggest action.
Listening Questions:
1. Which candidate do they prefer and why?
2. What are the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two main candidates, Ronaldo and Yala?
3. What are the main reservations about Yala?
Continuing our series on english for job interviews, in this lesson were going to look at what happens when is you’re asked back for a second round interview.
Congratulations! You were successful in your first job round interview, and you have been called back for a second interview. What should you expect? The key word is more – there will be more questions, more pressure – and, of course, more likelihood that you will get the job.
An important function of second-round job interviews is to find out whether we fit with the employer’s company culture.
In this lesson of English for interviews, we’ll study how to demonstrate that we are a good match with an organization. In addition, we’ll review some other useful second-round interview skills, such as summarizing the previous discussion and referring to something you forgot to mention earlier.
We’ll listen to Sherry’s second interview with a big international accounting firm, Grimshaw and Keene (GK). The interviewer is George Tan, an Asia-Pacific key account manager.
As you listen, pay attention to how George and Sherry establish that she is a good fit for the organization, and try to answer the following listening questions.
Listening Questions:
1. George describes GK as both “high-pressure” and “tremendously rewarding,” but he is concerned about whether or not Sherry is ready to “take the plunge.” What does he mean by that?
2. What does Sherry say is one of the things that most attracts her to GK?
3. What is George’s major concern about Sherry’s work experience?
As we’ve discussed in other episodes on English job interviews, one goal of the person conducting the interview is to get you to “let your guard down.” Often, after a series of “warm-up questions,” the interviewer will give you a tough question. This will likely come “out of the blue,” that is, unexpectedly. We call these types of questions “stress questions” because part of the intention is to see how you react under pressure.
Common types of stress questions range from problems, such as how to solve a business case study or even a mathematics question, to “behavioral questions,” such as how to deal with imaginary work situation involving conflict or communication.
The key with this type of question is “Don’t panic!” which is the theme of this episode. We’ll be looking at strategies and language that will help you deal with this type of query coolly and calmly.
Listening Questions (Good Example):
1. What is the interviewer’s “stress question?”
2. What does Yala do to give herself some thinking time?
3. How does Yala answer the question?
You’ve had your first and second interview in English, you’ve performed well, and you’ve been selected. You’re one of the lucky few – you’ve succeeded: You’ve got a job offer in hand. But now comes one of the hardest parts of the whole process – negotiating your salary. If you make a mistake here, all of your time and effort might be wasted.
For salary negotiation, preparation – doing your research – is obviously important. In the internet age, there are many websites that focus on salary information, so investigating the market is much easier than it has been in the past.
Knowledge, however, is not enough. We also need to have the confidence to broach, or bring up, the subject and the tools to bargain up the initial or first offer in order to reach a compromise. You will only get what you deserve if you ask for it. So in today’s episode, we’ll focus the skills you need to successfully talk money.
Fun Beverages International has already emailed an offer to Yala Santos for an HR manager position in one of its Brazilian business units. Yala has written back asking to talk with the HR director, Ted, about the details. We’ll be listening to their conversation.
Listening Questions:
1. Why does Ted say he needs Yala to begin work by the suggested start date?
2. How does Yala broach the subject of compensation?
3. How much over the median or average market rate does Ted say Fun Beverages offered Yala in recognition of her skills and experience?
4. What is the final compromise they discuss?
This is the second in a two-part advanced business English lesson on negotiation strategy. It is part of a longer series of podcasts on the language and skills of negotiating in English.
In the first episode, management consultant Bryan Fields discussed the basics of making a deal. We learned how to avoid some top common mistakes and we reviewed important vocabulary, such as BATNA, bottom line, bargaining chip, win-win, and zone of possible agreement.
Today’s podcast continues the interview with Bryan. In the dialog, we’ll learn five important elements of strategy – parties, interests, value, power and ethics. And along the way we’ll study useful vocabulary and idioms.
Listening Questions
1) What is the interviewer talking about when he refers to a “trap?”
2) How does Bryan say we should think about interests?
3) In the interview, we learn that overcoming blockage – that is, getting past problems – is not just about reaching the agreement but also about maximizing what?
This is the beginning of a new Business English Podcast series on the skills and language of negotiating in English.
Over the coming months we’ll explore the topic in a series of podcasts that examine several typical business negotiations and the language used in each stage of the process.
Today’s show is the first in a two-part sequence on the fundamentals of negotiation strategy. We will be hearing an interview with experienced management consultant Brian Fields. Brian discusses key concepts and important strategic considerations. The dialog teaches us both useful vocabulary and helpful skills.
Listening Questions
1) What are the top mistakes people make in a negotiation?
2) What is a BATNA, or “best alternative to a negotiated agreement?”
3) What does Brian think about the idea of “win-win” negotiations
There is one question that you will definitely be asked in any job interview, a question for which you should always prepare a response. That is: “Do you have any questions for me?”
In this Business English lesson, we will focus on how to deal with this question. We’ll talk about what interviewers expect from you and we’ll emphasize the importance of preparation. We’ll also study how you can use this opportunity to “interview the interviewer” – that is, to find out whether the company is a good fit for you. Meanwhile, we’ll talk about how, for the interviewer, this is a chance to put your company in the best possible light.
In the listening, we will return to Yala Santos’ interview. Remember, she is an HR specialist at a manufacturing company who is interviewing for an HR manager position in a business unit of a fast moving consumer goods company, Fun Beverages International.
Listening Questions:
1. What is Yala’s first question for the interviewer?
2. How does the interviewer respond?
3. Yala’s second question is a little tougher – what does she ask?
