LearnEnglish Select Advanced

2.5 The interview

Useful language
Providing context to your answers
After I left university, …
When I left / came back to …
At first …
Giving specific and relevant examples
I was responsible for rolling out a completely
new approach to key account management.
Faced with this situation, I stepped in …
In a situation like that I ended up persuading her …
One of the reasons I did well there was because …
In those circumstances, I would …

Grammar
Narrative tenses
We can describe our professional experience with After I left university, I was working as an intern
the past simple, past continuous, past perfect for Accorde.
simple and past perfect continuous forms: It wasn’t easy, but by the end of the year she had
completely changed her views.
It wasn’t easy.
I’d only been working there for a short while
I had to stop to take a call from one of our Italian
when I had to take a call from one of our clients.
clients.

Pronunciation
Dividing speech into units in formal contexts
When we’re speaking in formal contexts, we often
divide our speech into units and pause at certain
points. This helps communicate what you want to
say more clearly:
… after I left university // I was working as an intern
for Accorde …
… at first // we were having some problems …
… when I was in Europe // I was viewed as very
approachable and available

Check my progress
Are these statements true for you? If not, go back and do some activities
from the unit again.
Yes No
I can participate in job interviews, either as interviewer or interviewee.
I can use narrative tenses to describe my work experience and future career goals.
I can present information about my qualifications and work experience clearly.

© British council 2018. The British council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for
cultural relations and educational opportunities.
2.5