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Search Results for: job+interviews

BEP 41c – Interview English: First-Round Job Interviews (2)

Business English, Intermediate English, Job Interview in English /

BEP 41c LESSON - English Interview: First-Round Interview 2

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on the skills you need to succeed in a first-round job interview in English.

A job interview is a chance to highlight your achievements and talk about the amazing things you’ve done in your career. By talking about what you’ve achieved, you can show how your experience fits the position. And by showing how your strengths have helped you, you can convince the interviewer that you’re the right person to hire.

If only it were that easy, though! Interviewers aren’t going to ask you only about the good stuff. They’re going to ask about difficult things as well. That means they might ask you about problems in your current or past jobs. And they might also ask you that dreaded question: what are your weaknesses?

But don’t worry. You know these questions are coming, so you can get ready. Think of some difficult situations you’ve been in. Focus on the ones where you were able to solve a problem or deal with difficult people. And think about your weaknesses honestly, and how you’ve tried to improve on these things. In that way, you’ll be able to face the tough questions confidently.

In this lesson, we’ll rejoin William as he interviews for a position at a bank in Hong Kong. William is being interviewed by Mike, an HR manager at the bank. You will hear how William deals with difficult questions, and how he isn’t afraid to discuss problems and how he dealt with them.

Listening Questions

1. William talks about a problem with short-term loans. What does he say was the cause of this problem?
2. What does William say is one of his strengths?
3. What does William say is one of his weaknesses?

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BEP 40c – Interview English: First-Round Job Interviews (1)

Business English, Intermediate English, Job Interview in English /

BEP 40c LESSON - English Interview: First-Round Interview 1

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on key skills for a first-round job interview in English.

If you find job interviews stressful, you’re certainly not alone. Many people struggle to feel confident and comfortable in interview situations. And there’s the added worry that the stress you feel will make it even more difficult to answer the questions well. But you can reduce this stress with effective preparation.

You know that you’ll be asked certain types of questions. So you can make notes about your responses, or make an outline of important ideas that you want to talk about. You can also develop skills to make sure you’re being clear and accurate in your responses.

So what should you prepare and what skills should you develop? Well, for starters, you should be ready to introduce yourself and your career path, and to summarize your current job responsibilities. In terms of skills, it’s good to practice clarifying the words you use, buying yourself time, and connecting your answers back to the question.

In this lesson, we’ll listen as William is interviewed for a position in business development at a bank in Hong Kong. He’s being interviewed by Mike, an HR manager at the company. This is a first-round interview, and you can hear William show how comfortable and skilled he is at responding to the questions.

Listening Questions

1. What information does William give about his education and work history?
2. What does William say about his management style?
3. What does William say to buy himself time to think of an answer?

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Skills 360 – Advanced Interview Skills for Effective Hiring (2)

Business English, Business Skills 360, Human Resources, Job Interview in English /

Skills 360 - Advanced English Interview Skills 2

Welcome back to the Business English Skills 360 podcast as we continue our look at advanced interview skills for interviewing and hiring the right people.

Effective interviewing is essential for finding the right candidate. That’s not just someone with the right qualifications but also the right mindset and skills for long-term success. Beyond education and experience, advanced interviewing techniques can help identify critical thinking, problem-solving ability, and workplace compatibility.

Spotlight on Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is a vital 21st-century skill that isn’t always listed in job descriptions. It involves analyzing, evaluating, and making logical inferences – all crucial in today’s fast-paced work environments. To assess this, use scenario-based questions tailored to the role. For instance, ask: “You are tasked with creating a low-budget marketing campaign. What steps would you take to ensure its success?” Such questions delve deeper than generic prompts, revealing a candidate’s thought process and creativity.

Challenge-Specific Questions
Understanding how candidates handle challenges is key to gauging their suitability. Ask direct questions about common role-specific difficulties. For example: “This role involves tight deadlines. How do you manage pressure?” Responses can reveal practical strategies and resilience.

Workplace Compatibility
Discuss workplace setups—whether hybrid, remote, or in-office—and ask how candidates thrive in these environments. Instead of a simple yes/no question about preferences, explore strategies they’ve used to succeed in similar settings. This helps you understand whether they’ll adapt to your unique work culture.

Long-Term Goals
Assessing a candidate’s career aspirations ensures alignment between their goals and the role. Questions like “Where do you see yourself in five years?” can clarify whether the position supports their professional journey.

With rising costs, fierce competition, and high turnover, effective interviewing is more critical than ever. By evaluating critical thinking, adaptability, and alignment with your workplace, you’ll make informed hiring decisions that benefit both the candidate and your company.

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BEP 289 – Job Interviews: Talking about Experience

BEP 289 - English for Job Interviews: Discussing Previous Experience

Welcome back to Business English Pod for this lesson on talking about your work experience during a job interview in English.

An interview in english might just be one of the most stressful experiences in our working lives. The stakes are high, because there’s a job on the line. And it’s our one and only shot to show people why they should choose us over all the other applicants.

So how do you convince someone you’re the best candidate? Well, you need to answer their questions, of course. But you also need to look behind the questions to see what the interviewer is trying to learn about you. And you need to take the questions as opportunities to impress.

Fortunately, there are techniques and language you can learn to help you make a great impression. You can highlight transferable learning from your previous experience. You can also highlight accomplishments and their impact as well as describing your personality. And finally, you can show why you want to work for the company. In today’s lesson, we’ll learn how to use these techniques in a job interview.

In the dialog, you’ll hear Ryan, who’s interviewing in English for a job at a large software company. Two managers from the company – Sandra and Victor – are asking questions about Ryan’s experience and personality.

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Skills 360 – Advanced Interview Skills for Effective Hiring (1)

Business English, Business Skills 360, Human Resources, Job Interview in English /

Advanced English Interview Skills (1)

Welcome back to the Business English Skills 360 podcast as we look at advanced interview skills for interviewing and hiring the best staff.

Interviewing effectively is a skill that goes beyond asking common questions – it’s about uncovering the ideal candidate who fits both the role and the organization’s culture. Here’s how to elevate your interviewing game.

Start with Fit
Interviewing isn’t just about verifying skills; it’s about evaluating fit. A candidate may have the right experience but still might not align with your company’s values, mission, or work style. Frame your questions around this concept. For instance, “Can you describe a workplace where you felt most productive?” helps identify if their preferences match your environment.

Values Matter
Understanding a candidate’s values is key to predicting how they’ll integrate into the team. Ask open-ended questions like, “What motivates you most in your work?” or “What does success look like to you?” Such questions provide deeper insights into their core drivers and compatibility with your organization’s culture.

Assess Soft Skills During the Interview
Strong soft skills such as communication, collaboration, and problem-solving often make the difference in team performance. Use the interview to dig deeper: ask candidates to share examples of handling conflicts or overcoming challenges. Observe their responses for clarity, tone, and adaptability. This will help you gauge their interpersonal and emotional intelligence.

Build Rapport without Bias
Creating a comfortable environment helps candidates show their true selves. Begin with job-related small talk, avoiding potentially sensitive topics like family or health. Remember, rapport shouldn’t overshadow diversity. A hiring panel with varied perspectives can provide valuable insights and help counter biases.

Adopt Fair Practices
Blind screening of resumes and consistent, structured interview questions can mitigate bias and ensure objectivity. This approach prioritizes finding the most qualified candidate rather than the one who interviews most smoothly.

Ultimately, an effective interview isn’t about who you personally like most – it’s about finding evidence of alignment with the job, the team, and the company. Perfecting your interviewing strategy is the foundation of successful hiring.

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Skills 360 – Keeping your Career on Track (2)

Business English, Business Skills 360, Human Resources /

Business English Skills 360 - Keeping your Career on Track 2

Welcome back to the Business English Skills 360 podcast for today’s lesson on how to restart your career and keep it on track.

With the current job market being so uncertain, it’s a great opportunity to make a change, whether that means a new job in your current career track or a whole new career.

When considering a change, it’s important to think long and hard about what you really want to do. Be honest with yourself about how well your current job aligns with your ambitions. If you’re feeling unfulfilled, take the time to imagine what a more rewarding career might look like. If you’re not sure what that is, do some research and talk to people you know about what they do. The right job may be out there waiting for you, but you need to be able to recognize it.

When searching for a new job, don’t just focus on interests, skills, and rewards. Think about the kind of workplace you want and what a good work-life balance looks like. It’s also important to consider learning opportunities and advancement potential. Smart companies understand that people are looking for the right culture fit as well as suitable compensation and benefits.

Once you’ve figured out what you want, it’s time to update your resume and prepare for interviews. Make sure to include any new training, skills, and achievements. Remember, the world has changed, and digital literacy, collaboration, and a growth mindset are all important factors to consider. Also, review your online presence and make sure your Facebook privacy settings are tight and your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date.

Overall, this is a great time to think about a job that does more than just pay the bills. Look for a job and culture that aligns with the life you want. With so many openings, it’s a golden opportunity to find the right job for you.

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BEP 375 – Job Interview English: Online Interviews (2)

Business English, Job Interview in English, Video Conferences /

BEP 375 - Interview English: Online Interview 2

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on doing an online interview in English. Today, we’re going to look at how to talk about a gap in your resume or employment history.

It’s actually not that unusual to have a gap in your resume. Many people get laid off and then spend several months trying to find a new position. Other people have a gap because of family or health issues. And others require time to find a job after relocating.

While a gap in employment isn’t unusual, many job-seekers feel it looks bad and is hard to explain. But it doesn’t have to be. And it doesn’t have to become the only focus of an interview. So how can you ensure a gap doesn’t overshadow your upsides?

For one thing, it’s good to explain a job loss concisely. Secondly, it’s a good idea to show how you developed yourself while you were unemployed. If you can do these things, then you can move on to other aspects of the interview. That might include explaining why you like the company where you’re applying, and asking diplomatically about work flexibility. It may also mean asking for clarification when you don’t understand a question clearly.

In today’s dialog, we’ll continue listening to an online interview with Rachel, who’s applying for an operations manager position at a property management company. In this part of the interview, she has to explain a gap in her employment. Let’s hear how she answers questions and asks some good ones of her own.

Listening Questions

1. What is the basic reason Rachel lost her previous job?
2. How did Rachel develop her skills while unemployed?
3. What two things does Rachel like about the company where she’s applying?

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BEP 374 – Job Interview English: Online Interviews (1)

Business English, Job Interview in English, Video Conferences /

BEP 374 - Job Interview Online (1)

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on doing an online job interview in English. Today, we’re going to look at some tips for online interviews, especially how to relate your experience to a new field of work.

Just a few years ago, you might have been surprised if a prospective employer requested an online interview. After all, we often think of interviews as a good chance to meet face to face. But these days, in many sectors, online interviews are completely normal. In fact, with the move toward remote work, many newly hired people have never met their colleagues or boss face to face.

This is part of a shake-up in the world of work brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in the pandemic, millions of people lost their jobs. Now, more and more of those people are getting hired for new positions, often in different industries. And to get those jobs, they likely had to talk about how they would transfer their experience to a different line of work.

One of the things you’ll have to deal with in an online interview is, of course, possible technical issues. It’s a good idea to be able to deal with such problems calmly and confidently. Another important skill in any interview is talking about how you added value in your previous position.

When it comes to transferring experience, you’ll need to consider how to discuss similarities between the industry you’re leaving and the one you’re hoping to find work in. And given the uncertainty of the pandemic, it’s a good idea to talk about how you’ve adapted to change and demonstrated learning.

In today’s dialog, we’ll listen to part of an online interview for the job of operations manager at a property management company. Rachel is applying for the job after working for many years in operations at a hotel chain. Let’s hear how she answers the interviewer’s questions, deals with technical issues, and talks about transferring her experience.

Listening Questions

1. What accomplishment does Rachel feel demonstrates her value at her last job?
2. What did Rachel focus on during the transition to remote work?
3. What kinds of learning did Rachel focus on in her last job?

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BEP 363 – English Idioms for Strengths and Weaknesses (2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business Idioms, ESL Podcast /

BEP 363 - Business English Idioms for Strengths and Weaknesses 2

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on business English idioms related to strengths and weaknesses.

Job interviews, performance reviews, hiring decisions, promotions, pay raises… what do all of these important aspects of work and business revolve around? Well, one major theme is people’s strengths and weaknesses. If you can’t assess strengths and weaknesses very well – either your own or other people’s – you’re bound to make some bad decisions.

So it’s no wonder you hear so many business conversations about what people can and can’t do, or what they’re good at and what they’re not good at. And in these conversations, you’re bound to hear lots of idioms. English has tons of expressions for talking about strengths and weaknesses. And in today’s lesson, we’ll take a look at some of these business English idioms.

In the lesson, we’ll rejoin a conversation about hiring a new communications director at a mining company. Three managers are talking about the strengths the new director will need, as well as the weaknesses of the previous director, which they want to avoid. They use many useful English idioms during their discussion.

Listening Questions

1. What type of attitude does Annette say the new communications director needs?
2. What type of person does Drew think they need to deal with controversy?
3. At the end of the dialog, what kind of person does Annette say they should avoid?

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Skills 360 – English Interview Tips 3: Career Goals

Business English, Business Skills 360, ESL Podcast, Job Interview in English /
YouTube video

Welcome back to Business English Skills 360 for today’s lesson for the final part of our series on English interview skills.

In previous lessons, we’ve gone over some of the fundamental questions about who you are and what you’ve done. Today I want to take a closer look at talking about your career goals and researching prospective employers. Interviewers don’t just want to know whether you’ve got the skills, personality, and qualifications. They also want to know that you’re a good fit, and that they are a good fit for you.

One important question you need to be ready for in an interview in English is “why are you leaving your current position?” This question makes a lot of people squirm. But it’s actually an opportunity to talk about growth and change. Nobody stays at the same job their entire life. And this question isn’t necessarily fishing for problems in your past.

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