In this English Show we talk about how to succeed in an job interview and we’re joined by Shanthi Cumaraswamy Streat of the fabulous English with a Twist blog.
Hey. Come on everybody. It’s going to start.
Well, that’s true. Who did that?
Hello everybody. Welcome to The English Show. Welcome. I’m Vicki and I’m an English teacher. And with me is my good friend, Fluency MC. Hey, hey, hey. I’m Fluency. I’m also an English teacher and I’m a trainer and knowledge entertainer and welcome to another edition of The English Show. And the other person we want you to meet is the guy who’s making it all happen. Jay, are you there? Jay!
Hi everybody. I’m right here in the control room. I’m running the show. And I’m sure you’re going to enjoy all the things we have for you today.
Go Jay! Another person you’re going to meet later is Shanthi from English with a Twist. Our special guest! Yeah, and we’re going to learn about job interviews today, and how to ace an English job interview. What does it mean to “ace” an interview, Vicki? It means to be really successful at the interview so you get the job. Right. But first of all, I’d like to come to Paris. Oh, would you? Do you think Jay can bring you once again? Jay, do you think you can help me get to Paris today? Come visit me.
How am I getting to Paris this week Jay?
This week you’re going to swim there.
Oooh, that’s a long way to swim.
Yes, you’re going to need some help. Grab his tail.
Wow, I’m here. That was exciting.
Look, I made it, I’m here. Oh, Whoa. There she is again, everybody. Back in Paris. High five. High five. Vicki Hollett in Paris! Yeah. Wow, so is that the first time you’ve traveled by water? I think that’s the first time I’ve ever swum here. Yeah. I had to be… I had to be very energetic to get here. Was that a porpoise or a dolphin or…? I think it was a dolphin. Ah must be. And actually, we’re here with somebody very energetic who’s based in the UK. Shanti, are you there? Yes I am. I’m here. Hi everyone. Welcome to the English Show. It’s great to have you. Oh, it’s lovely to be here. Because we all want to know how we can ace a job interview. And we know that you’re going to be able to help us. Oh yes. That I can, indeed. Of course, one of the things you have to do is make a good first impression. Have you got any good tips for that?
When you arrive, have a nice smile, a firm handshake and be smart – well dressed, good haircut – nothing to strange, depending on the job you’re applying for. Ok, so smile, that’s an important one, isn’t it? Yes. And make sure you look smart. Yes, and also good eye contact. You know, look the person in the eye with a nice smile and a firm handshake please. None of the limp handshakes. That is terrible. I don’t know about you, but I just hate those. That’s true, isn’t it. A firm handshake suggests confidence. Indeed, yes, and it shows confidence and it shows that, you know, that you’re serious. OK. So, imagine that I’m at a job interview, and the interviewer asks me a question like “Can you tell me about yourself?” OK. It’s a very general question. What does it mean? You really do have to think hard. Because what they want you to do is briefly summarize who you are and what you’re experience is. And that’s basically what most interviewers are asking. Uh huh. There are some other tricky questions they might have too, like “What’s your proudest achievement?” You know, I always say to my clients you have to really think hard, because what the interviewer is asking you really is how you solved a problem. They want to see your problem solving skills and how you achieved that, not just the results. So, how you solved a a problem. But they’ll be interested in the results as well, perhaps. Oh yes. So what you’re doing is, you start off with what was the situation, then what you did to deal with that problem and then what were the results at the end. And, when you’re giving results, be specific. Give numbers. Quantify your achievement. Don’t just say ‘sales increased, you know we had a good sales outcome.’ They want to know by how many percent, by how much. What did you do? So, always give numbers. Be specific. Oh, so that’s another good tip for us. So, another tricky one… in fact, I can remember being asked this at a job interview… ‘What’s your greatest strength?’ That was all right. But then they said, “What’s your greatest weakness?” Yes. Always difficult, isnt’ it, because you don’t want to say too much about your weaknesses. But the key here really, is turning that weakness into a strength. One of the things about weakness is it’s demonstrating your self awareness. So, pinpoint an area. So for example, if you are someone who puts a lot of attention to detail, so you could be detail orientated. But, it could also be that you’re too concerned about details. So that particular job required you to complete it in a certain amount of time and you are focused on too much detail. That is a weakness. So then, what you want to do, is to show how you’ve overcome that weakness. You’re aware of it, so this is what you try and do. Maybe you set yourself some time lines. So that’s what they’re trying to look at also and how you’ve overcome that weakness. That’s interesting. So it’s not just a question of trying to find a weakness that isn’t really a weakness… you need to be honest. Yes. But you also need to tell them how you’ve overcome it and got round it. Have you got any weaknesses, Fluency? I sure do. Shanthi, it’s really interesting what you’re saying about different types of questions interviewers might ask that all connect to the idea of how you solve a problem. Because when you’re also… when you’re talking about a weakness that they might want to know about, you said ‘something you’re trying to overcome.’ So, it seems like problem solving skills – both at the job and also with yourself, your personality – kind of connect in a way. Yeah, I mean it is very much that, because what you’re looking at is also self awareness, self knowledge of your strengths and weaknesses. Because we’re all going to have that. One of the key things I always say when you’re applying for a job – look at the key skills they’re looking at in your job specification. And you’ve got to really think hard about what are the skills that you have where you are strong at and perhaps where you’re going to be a bit weaker. But then you’ve got to find a way to turn that round into a strength. That’s another good tip isn’t it? Very good, yeah. To make sure you study those job specifications so you can match what you’re saying to what they’re looking for. Yeah. People will see through waffe. And they will see see through – if you’re not being honest. Because what happens when we’re not being honest, we start waffling, we start talking too much, we start rambling, and we’re not focused. And an interviewer can see right through that. One of the other things I always say to my clients, particularly where they’re having an interview in English which is not their native language – is to not be afraid of pausing for a while. You know, we all get very nervous, we get get worried. And all of us do that. And then the tendency is to rush into the answer… with the answer. And what I always says is “…just give yourself a few seconds and you know pause and then answer the question.” It doesn’t show that, you know, you don’t have the answer but it just shows that you’re in control, um, of what you’re about to say. That’s another good tip, isn’t it? Yeah. I mean I… Don’t rush in. Yeah – you rushed in, Fluency. Ha ha ha ha. I was so excited that Shanthi started talking about when you’re not a native speaker since before that we hadn’t really talked about that. I mean that advice that we’re giving here – Shanthi’s giving is great for everybody – but it’s… when I work with students who are learning English, and you just prepare for job interivews, it’s even more important to be more prepared for the types of questions that will be asked, and also, as Shanthi said, to uh… it’s OK to pause and I want to ask, and I think you’ll agree Shanthi, it’s OK to ask to clarify the question and to be prepared with ways to ask “…do you mean that this” … or because that’s also a way to show that you’re solving a problem, trying to do something the right way as opposed to just pretending you understood. Yeah. That’s really important, isn’t it, to make sure you’ve understood the question. You don’t want to answer the wrong one. Absolutely, because actually it takes a lot of confidence say I didn’t quite get that – what you’re asking me is this… or maybe repeat that question so that it is down to the interviewer to confirm what they’ve just asked. Because sometimes they’re not that clear. Don’t put yourself at a lower level just because you are not a proficient speaker of English and assume that they they’re always right or they’re always clear. If you haven’t understood don’t make it “…I’m so sorry, I haven’t understood.” No. Turn it over to them to repeat their questions.
You know I often have that problem with you Jay.
With me?
Yeah, I ask one question and then you answer another.
I never do that!
I think that is selective hearing. You know, speaking of questions, I think it’s time for question Time. Question time everybody!
OK, we had a question from Nandish. Ah. And she asked about the difference between two words: achieve and accomplish. Ah I can see why. Well, they’re very similar, aren’t they?. Yeah, yeah. And I had to think about it and go check my answers. But what it’s about is ‘achieve’ is what we say when we’re thinking about the end result of something. So it’s very results oriented. ‘He achieved greatness and was awarded a Nobel Prize.’ But accomplish refers to the process of doing something – getting something done. So you’ve got achieve which is about the end result and you’ve got accomplish which is about the process. Right. So another example could be you can accomplish a lot without actually achieving your goal. Hmmm. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. And of course in a job interview, they’re going to ask you about both, aren’t they? Yeah, what are your accomplishments? What have you achieved, yes. And it’s useful to know the difference. So you’re working a job and you have a sales target for the year. So that is your goal. That is your objective. You have to achieve that sales target. So in between that you have to do things. So you have to accomplish different tasks and jobs to get to that sales target. But sometimes you can do a lot of things so you can have accomplished them, but you don’t necessarily achieve that target. Excellent, yes, good example. Yeah. I’m ready for a conversation. What do you think? Is it time for ‘Conversation Time’?
I’m going to show you a business conversation today and I’m only going to show you the first half at first, and your task is to listen and to work out ‘What’s the conversation about?’, what are they discussing, and ‘What’s going to happen?’ So what it’s about – the topic – and then what’s going to happen next because you’re going to stop it. Is that right? That’s right. Are you ready? Ready.
We have big plans for you, Graham.
We’re going to give you a promotion.
You’re going to be our sales manager for all of Asia.
OK, so ‘We have big… What was the missing word? Plans. We have big plans for you Graham. We’re going to give you a… And the missing word was promotion. So a promotion is when you move up a level in your job. You’re going to be our… sales manager for all of Asia.
So did you get that Fluency? I did. It was really short, but I caught it. OK. What do you think is going to happen next? Hmmm. My guess is that Graham is going to jump for joy because he’s been wanting this promotion forever. Do you think that too, Shanthi? Erm, yes. It could be he does, or, I don’t know, he wasn’t looking terribly excited. So maybe he’s thinking Oooo. Maybe he wants to ask a few more questions. I don’t know. OK. Let me tell you. Shanthi. Yes, you’re right. What! Yes! Yes! And Fluency. Oh my god. Does Shanthi get special treatment? Is that…. Absolutely! Absolutely! Shall we look at it everybody?
We have big plans for you, Graham.
We’re going to give you a promotion.
You’re going to be our sales manager for all of Asia.
Gee, I’m sorry guys but I quit.
You’re resigning?
Yeah, I got a better job.But we had everything planned.
Wow! That came out of left field.
OK guys. So Shanthi, you were right. And in fact what he did was he quit. Quit is a very informal way of saying resign. In fact we’ve got resign coming up. ‘You’re resigning?’ ‘Yeah’, he said. ‘I’ve got a better job’. And then there’s a little idiom at the end. I don’t know if you caught it. ‘But we had everything planned.’ ‘Wow! That came out of left field’. Now that’s a baseball idiom. Fluency, you know much more about baseball than I do. What does ‘out of left field’ mean?
Well there are a few expressions with ‘left field’ in English because our image of left field in the baseball field, it’s like, really far away, over there. It’s the furthest point from where most of the action usually is. So it’s sort of that idea of out of nowhere. OK, so it’s sort of a surprise. Mmm. You don’t expect it because that’s not where the action usually is, so it’s unexpected. So there’s a little idiom for you. Out of left field means something that’s surprising – perhaps a bit of a shock. Mmm. It’s usually a bad surprise, isn’t it? So a shock. I’m curious. Is that idiom iused in British English? Even though you don’t have baseball. I know some baseball idioms are and some aren’t. No. No. We have some cricket idioms that are similar to baseball idioms. So another similar one would be, we can talk about a curve… a curved ball in British English. And that would be something that’s surprising. When somebody throws a ball and it moves in a way you don’t expect. And in American English I think you say ‘curve ball’. Yeah, but I thought some baseball idioms were also … just had gone into British even though there’s no baseball, but maybe I’m wrong. You’re right. There are a few. We do have a few. In fact we’ve made a whole series of baseball idiom videos. I was just thinking about that. Yeah, great videos so check them out. ‘Simple English Videos – Baseball Idioms’. That’s right. So Shanthi. Have you ever turned down a job offer?
When I was in finance, in the years before, erm… no, not that many. No, actually I don’t think I turned down job offers. But ever since becoming a Business English teacher, yes. Where people have offered me certain projects or jobs, then yes, I have turned them down. I’ve become more, more brave as I’ve got older – than when I was younger. I think sometimes people can forget this at a job interview. That it’s not just an opportunity for them to get to know you. But it’s also an opportunity for you, so that you can decide whether you really want the job. Yep, absolutely, and I think that’s really important and very much something that very few people do. Especially at the end, you know, when an interviewer asks, you know, do you have any questions for us, show that you are interested. You have actually done some research on the particular company. Oh good point. Mmm. The world of business can change very quickly so what you want to see is what is the time line for this particular new enterprise or this new project. Do they have a five year plan? You know, you want to dig in a bit more to find out what is their long terms strategy for that business, for your position. So that’s a great tip, isn’t it? To do some research beforehand so that you can ask deeper questions about what this job involves and where the company is going.
Can I add something here?
Yeah.
Another thing, I… I used to interview, I don’t know, sometimes ten or fifteen people a month when I was director of a program at a school in New York… a couple of different programs, but anyway… Err, and one of the reasons that I always liked when candidates were talking about how the job would help them, why they wanted the job, not just why they were great for us, is because I found that when… when people are more invested in how it’s going to, you know, make them better professionally and their life better, they’re more likely to stay and commit and work hard. Good point. Yeah.
Yeah. It also shows enthusiasm.
Now I have another question about… A different question they sometimes ask which is ‘Why do you want to leave your current job?’ That can sometimes be hard to answer.
Yes, it can be. And I think the key here is to stay positive, and show that you’re looking at… to progress your career. Even if your reality, say for example, you know, has been difficult or there have been changes in the structure in a company and you didn’t really like it, or morale was low, turn it round and say that, you know, I’ve achieved what I wanted to achieve in this particular role and there’s no more… there’s no way of progressing in my career, so I think it’s now time for a change and to look at something different. And so that’s what I want to do. So stay positive. Mmm. And focus on the future. Mmmm. If you can. Yes. Is that the tip? Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah, it’s a great way to connect… to connect to what I was saying before, I guess about why you want to work for them and what they can do for you at this point in your career.
Yes, absolutely because the world of work has changed hugely in the last ten to fifteen years, so of course we also have people who have been made redundant. And now you can see it as a bad situation and a… and a pesimistic situation, but I know a number of people, myself included, who… for them redundancy was the best thing that ever happened to them. We should talk about the phrase ‘make someone redundant’, which means, lay them off. OK. But it’s more… it’s more common in British than American English I think, isn’t it Fluency? Absolutely. We have ‘to lay someone off’ meaning we can’t use you or we don’t need you any more. And then we have ‘to fire someone’ which is when something… when the person has done something wrong or, you know, bad. That’s right. Now we say ‘fire’ in British English as well. Mmm. But in British English we can also say ‘to sack someone’. Right. And it means the same thing. Yeah. And that’s when they’ve made a mistake or they’ve done something wrong, as you said. And you also say ‘terminate’ don’t you Fluency? Yeah, that’s more the official terminology. So if we’re talking about ‘I got fired from my job’, we wouldn’t normally say ‘I got terminated’. Certainly the verb ‘to fire’ is not used so much in official language in a company. ‘To terminate’ sounds really funny in British English. We think of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the terminator. I know, it sounds so brutal too, doesn’t it? ‘I terminate you!’ Really? What did I do that was so terrible?
OK guys. I think we’re ready for a game. Always ready for a game. Let’s go! Let’s play!
Hey, we’ve got a great game today, haven’t we? Oh yeah, this one is going to be a lot of fun. OK, so here’s how it works. We’r going to interview one another for a job, but the person who is being interviewed won’t know what the job is. So they’ll have to answer the questions and try and get the job, but they won’t actually know what it is they’re being interviewed for. That’s right and I’ve got… Shanthi and I have a job we’re going to interview you for, and you have something you’re interviewing Shanthi for. Is that right? That’s right and we’ve also got a job that we’re going to interview you for, Fluency. Ooo! Yes. Really? I didn’t know that. Oh good. Yeah. Oh yeah. So shall we show everyone what the job is. Fluency, you can’t look. All right. OK. Close your eyes Fluency. We’re starting with me and I can’t look. OK. Yep. Close your eyes. I’m covering my eyes. OK. So everybody’s seen it now. You can look back. OK. All right? So Fluency, we have some questions for you. Oh, thank you so much for the opportunity to interview with you. OK, well, first question for you is: what would you say your greatest strength is? What sort of personal qualities have you go that will be good for this job? Well, let’s see. I love working with different types of people and leearning new things from them. I work really well as part of a team. So I think that’s an important quality I have. Good good. How important are qualities like honesty to you? Oooo. I think honesty, and reliablity, and loyalty – these are very important. You haven’t mentioned anything about leadership or communication skills. Ah, well, erm… Well, part of why I think I’m really good working with different types of people is that I think I’m good at communicating with people. Listening – I’m a great listener, but also I think I’m patient and can explain things to people I work with. And then leadership. I love leading projects but I’m also happy to be led – to be part of a group that has a leader, so I think I have both qualities. Leadership qualities but also working well on a team with a leader. Uhuh. Erm, that sounds quite good doesn’t it, Shanthi? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Not bad. I wanted to ask you another question, Fluency. Erm, what sort of experience have you had in negotiating? Are you good at negotiating? Yeah, I think so. I mean to be honset, not too much experience, but again I thnk it’s back to communication. I think with that skill I can build on my experience as a negotiator. Uhuh. So tell me about your free time interests. What do you like doing that perhaps connects with this job? Oh well. Let’s see. Uh, I love reading and doing research. I love cooking, of course. I think that would be… it’s a free time activity but you know, you can see the connection…. Cooking? …I’m sure with the job there. And music is a big interest of mine. And I think there’s a nice, you know, er… synergy with… with making music and with the work I’d be doing for your company. So… Uhuh. And what about beauty pageants? Well, I was Miss North Carolina, but that was years ago. No. Beauty pageants, let’s see. Erm. Well, not so much. No, I have to say, no. And do you watch a lot of television? Oh, well these days more YouTube actually. That doesn’t really count, does it? Oh, I don’t know, what do you think, Shanthi? Well, it could be. It’s another form of social media. But, speaking of social media, what other forms of social media do you like? For example, do you like to tweet? Do you use Twitter? Twitter’s OK but I’m more of a Facebook-Instagram guy. But if you need some one to.. to do Twitter, I do use it and I think I could get better and better at Twitter, I’m sure. Do you have many followers? Mmmm. Sure, oh yeah, absolutely. I think my neighbor, on my street. Let’s see, I think my son’s teacher. And then a few other people. Family mostly. What do you think Shanthi? Shall we give him the job? Oooo. I think he’s going to have to increase his er… his use of Twitter. Erm, because for this job he’s definitely going to need to tweet a lot more. And he’s going to need to increase his number of followers. Erm, I don’t know. Well, I think we could give him a go. Let him have a go at this. I don’t think he could do worse than the present one. He can’t, no, nobody can do worse than him. Fluency, what job do you think we’re interviewing you for. Err, I can guess this one for sure because these are the questions that you would only ask if you’re trying to find the best Presidents of the United States. Woohoo! That’s exactly right. Bravo! You asked all the right questions. OK, I think Shanthi’s might be a little bit harder. Shall we interview Shanthi now? Yes, let’s go. So Shanthi, I wanted to start by asking you about your experience, and thye training that you’ve had for this job. OK, so I graduated from university and I got a degree in politics and international studies. And I’ve had twenty years in the finance world. So my qualifications and experience has been in investment management and in finance. And then I changed career and then I came into Business English teaching. So banking and finance is her background Fluency. Yeah. I mean I’ve heard of career changes but erm… This is quite unusual. Erm, what about manual dexterity? Yeah, could I ask her a question about that? Yeah. Yeah, so, so, how… are you good… good with your hands? Erm, I mean all this finance stuff, it’s very interesting, but yeah, like Vicki was saying, manual dexterity. It’s really important how well you can, you know how precise and how comfortable you are using your hands. Oh, OK. Well. I’m good at knitting and crocheting. Wow! And yeah, you know, I use my hands well. That’s a pretty big leap from knitting to what we’d have in mind for you in this position. Erm. Yeah. Right Vicki? Yeah, I’m surprised by that, but maybe you’re really good with modern technology. Ah, that’s important, yeah. Well, yeah, I’ve had to learn a lot in the last few years, especially, you know, the different apps and what to do. Apps? Yeah. yeah. Well it sounds like you’re someone who likes to jump in and experiment then? Yeah, I don’t mind trying things out, so I’ll jump in a try something out. OK, so you’re not particularly cautious. You prefer to take risks. Mmm. But it all depends. I mean, physical risk, if it’s going to hurt me, then no, I’m not very good at that. But if it’s a business risk, then I don’t mind too much. Well actually we’re more worried about whether it’s going to hurt the other person. That’s right. Yeah. Am I … Am I apply for a job to be a wrester or something? Vicki do you want to tell her. I think we should tell her, don’t you? You’re applying for a job to be a brain surgeon. Obviously. A brain surgeon? We were surprised by your training. Yeah, you might want to shelve some of that finance interest for a little bit. A brain surgeon? Oh I get it. Manual dexterity. Yeah, we were impressed by your knitting skills, but we’d have prefered to hear sewing, I think. Yeah, the knitting could lead to sewing. I’m not sure if sewing could lead to surgery though. So hit the street. It’s a definite no. Yeah, no that was totally way way off. OK, do you want to interview me now and see if I can get a job? Yeah, I’d love to. I’ve got time because I have almost four years until I need to start my new job as President. So er…
Yeah, Shanthi and I have some questions for you, Vicki. Erm, Shanthi, do you want to begin? Yeah. OK. So Vicki, we’d like to know if you prefer to work on your own or do you like to work in a team? I love to work in a team. I really enjoy working with lots and lots of people. Hmm. Oh. OK, so should you have moments when you have to work on your own, would that be a problem? Oh no. I could perhaps work on my own for a little while. Because independent work is very important in this position. Oh, Oh I’m a very sort of independent person actually. OK. Good. Erm… how about travel. I mean would you be OK being away from home for, I don’t know, maybe a week at a time – maybe even a little bit longer? Oh, I love travelling. In fact I love going to different countries. I hope it involves foreign travel. Not so much actually. Ah. OK. Mmm. Maybe it could become an international job in the future. That’s what I’m hoping. Or Maybe not. Shanthi, your turn to ask a question. Err, OK I would like to know, in terms of your time keeping, are you usually on time? Oh erm, I’m very very punctual. In fact normally I arrive ten minutes early for every event. Interesting. Wow! OK, and this is also with traffic? Erm, well, I don’t drive any more these days. Uhuh. But I take Ubers a lot. Shanthi, would Ubers work for this position? I don’t know. It’s going to be a bit difficult, isn’t it Fluency? Just a little bit. Err, you know, my next question Vicki – it’s, it’s very interesting to us that you don’t drive. You know I was going to ask, if you have a clean driving record. Because that’s actually… Well I do have a licence. And I have a clean driving licence. It’s just because I live in the centre of the city, I haven’t driven for a few years. Is it because you don’t like driving? Erm, well it’s very busy. The traffic’s very bad in the city centre and I can walk everywhere.
Aha! So when you’re out of the city, how do you like to travel? How do you travel normally, once you get out? I love boats. I love planes. Flying is great. Hmm. Wow! Uhuh, Uhuh. Shanthi, I think there may be some challenges for Vicki in this position. One more question I have Vicki is how… how is your endurance? I mean can you work for a long period of time without a break? When I get interested in a task, I like to work all night on it. Oh wow! That’s good. So what do you think? Have I got the job? That’s a tough one because – Shanthi, here’s what I think… I think that… What was the job? One second. What we just found out about you Vicki is really important. The endurance but no driving licence. Oh you say driving licence, by the way and in the States we say driver’s license. Just something for everyone to know out there. What do you think, Shanthi? Good point. You know Vicki, you wouldn’t be right for this job. Oh no! I’m so sorry. So what job have I missed out on? Tell me! Well, driving an eighteen wheeler. A truck driver, of course. You were going to be a truck driver. Oh a truck driver! Do you know, I might actually like that job, because you get to see America, don’t you? That’s true, but unfortunately you chose to tell us about your love for walking and boats and planes and pretty much every mode of transportation you could think of besides a truck – which is not so good when you’re interviewing for the job of truck driver. Ah. And you wanted to go abroad. You wanted to do international travel. Ah, I’m going to have to give myself a mark here. Finally! Boing for Vicki. It’s about time. OK, I think we should stop playing this stupid game and have a rap. Let’s do it! Oooo! Let’s do it! Cool!
Once again it’s Fluency MC, Flu, Flu, Fluency MC. Once again it’s Fluency MC. Grammar though lyrics, kick it! Ha! Yeah! Well, I want to tell you about the rap for today. But first I want to quickly explain, in case we have any new viewers for the English Show today, why we do raps on the English Show. So, I like to write short raps using rhyme and rhythm to give you practice with the vocabulary and the grammar structiures that we’ve included in different segments of the show. So I made a rap for today and Vicki made a video. WE’re going to show you the video so you can watch, read and listen. We’ll have the lyrics there. Then we’re going to practice together and Shanthi, will you practice with us. Yes, of course. Can’t wait. Excellent. And then what we’ll do is show the video again. And of course you can watch this English Show program and all the English Show programs multiple times to keep practising, because these raps really can help your pronunciation, your listening skills, and most importantly, help you remember the great vocabulary and structures that we talked about today on the English Show. So, Jay! Could you roll the video?
Good morning! Thank you for coming in for this interview today.
I’ve just had a look at your resume.
What are your greatest strengths?
How about your long-term objectives?
Why do you want to work for our company?
In what ways would you be effective?
What gives you the most satisfaction?
What are you passionate about? Do you work well on a team?
Absolutely, without a doubt!
I achieved a lot at my last job, but I recently resigned.
I have big plans for the future, you know.
Well, thank you for your time.
We appreciate your coming in and we’ll be in touch soon.
Thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to hearing from you.
All right. Cool, very good. Great. I love the video Vicki, thanks for that. It was fun to make. So there’s vocabulary and grammar structures that I hope you remember from earlier in the show. So things like ‘resigned’ and we talked about ‘achieving’ versus accomplishing. And I also put in some other vocabulary that I think is very common in job interviews so I focused a lot on the questions the interviewer asks, as you can see, not so much on the answers to the questions. And it might seem a little fast so we’re going to do it slower but with the same rhythm, because the rhythm here is the natural rhythm of conversation. So Shanthi, if you will repeat after me for this practice? And everybody out there in the audience, please do the same. Shanthi, ready to go? Yes, I am. Ready everybody?
Let’s go like this.
Good morning! Thank you for coming in for this interview today.
Good morning! Thank you for coming in for this interview today.
Good. I’ve just had a look at your resume.
I’ve just had a look at your resume.
Good. In the United States we usually say resume. Er, resume. Other places sometimes, cv. I say cv. Yes, cv for sure. Curriculum vitae. Yeah.
What are your greatest strengths?
What are your greatest strengths?
How about your long-term objectives?
How about your long-term objectives?
Why do you want to work for our company?
Why do you want to work for our company?
In what ways would you be effective?
In what ways would you be effective?
What gives you the most satisfaction?
What gives you the most satisfaction?
What are you passionate about?
What are you passionate about?
Do you work well on a team?
Do you work well on a team?
Absolutely, without a doubt!
Absolutely, without a doubt!
Good, notice we say ‘on a team’ usually in American English, but British? ‘In a team.’ Yeah, yeah. I was going to correct you then! Aha! All right let’s continue. I achieved a lot at my last job.
I achieved a lot at my last job.
But I recently resigned.
But I recently resigned.
I have big plans for the future, you know.
I have big plans for the future, you know.
Well, thank you for your time.
Well, thank you for your time.
We appreciate your coming in.
We appreciate your coming in.
And we’ll be in touch soon.
And we’ll be in touch soon.
Thank you for this opportunity.
I look forward to hearing from you.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Very good. One more thing I wanted to mention, because some of you might be wondering, ‘we appreciate your coming in’. In more formal English in American English (I’ll ask you two in a moment about British) we would use the possessive pronoun here – your coming in. But in everyday conversation in American English, we don’t use this so much. ‘We appreciate you coming in’ but in a more formal context it would be ‘your. How about in British? Oh same thing in British. Although I have to say when I saw it I thought mmm. Because I’m so used to hearing it in the informal way. Great, well thanks Shanthi, and thanks to all of you for practicing. As you see we slowed it down, but I hope when you’re watching the video, you’ll notice that the rhythm is the same, so for example, we said, erm, ‘how about your long term objectives?’. In the video it’s more ‘how-about-your…’ Right? But the idea is to get practice with it more slowly, really focusing on it as we did. And then also to get listening practice and then when you’re ready, also speaking practice by rapping along with the video. So can we check out the video again, Jay?
Good morning! Thank you for coming in for this interview today.
I’ve just had a look at your resume.
What are your greatest strengths?
How about your long-term objectives?
Why do you want to work for our company?
In what ways would you be effective?
What gives you the most satisfaction?
What are you passionate about? Do you work well on a team?
Absolutely, without a doubt!
I achieved a lot at my last job, but I recently resigned.
I have big plans for the future, you know.
Well, thank you for your time.
We appreciate your coming in and we’ll be in touch soon.
Thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to hearing from you.
That was great. Well, thank you. Great video for the rap and I hope everybody enjoyed it. I hope that everybody who is applying for a job and has an interview coming up, gets that job. Good luck. Yes! Good luck! Hopefully you’ll know before the interview what the job is for. That definitely helps you prepare. And I want to say thank you to Shanthi for all the great tips she’s given us about interviews today. Thank you Shanthi. Thank you very much it was a pleasure. Listen. If people want to stay in touch with you, or get in touch with you, or follow you, what can they do? Well, what they could do is they can have a look at my website: English with a Twist dot com, sign up to my free e-guide where they… and they sign up to my blog, and that way I deliver weekly lessons every Friday, which is specifically for Business English. And they also get a free e-guide on the ten ways to communicate better and more effectively in business with English. Now the other thing is you’ve actually written a book about interviews – English job interviews, haven’t you? Yes, I have. It’s part of my book called Business English Secrets. And one section of it is dedicated to job interviews, but it also covers other areas like presentations, and also writing skills, and small talk – which are the key skills that a lot of my clients have, you know, asked me to cover and where I’ve coached them. And job interviews is a big section of that. Yes. Fantastic! Great. And erm… if you want to follow us, and I hope you do, then how can they follow us on ‘The English Show’ Fluency? Well, it’s really easy because you can look in the description box below for all the information. Definitely our YouTube channels: Fluency MC and Simple English Videos, and also to be on our mailing lists to get information from us. You can do that by going to our websites. So I think all we need to do now is say goodbye to everybody, but first, good-bye to you Jay and thank you for your help today. Thanks so much Jay. It’s been my great pleasure. I’ve had a lot of fun. I hope you have. It was great to see you Shanthi. And we’ll see you in the next show! Goodbye then everybody. Bye. See you soon. Bye-bye. Bye.
nice article.thanks