Session #2 - Job Interviews

What you’ll learn:

● Vocabulary: useful words related to job interviews and job searching.
● Common questions and phrases during job interviews.
● Grammar: “Both”, “either” and “neither”.

1. Vocabulary items: Job interviews 1

2. Role-Play: Dialogue 2

3. Common questions and phrases during a job interview 3

4. Reading: Job interview 4

5. Grammar: “both”, “either” and “neither” 5

6. Conversation time! 6

1. Vocabulary items: Job interviews

Interviewer Interviewee Candidate Job Description Vacancy

CV Cover letter Role Position Experience

Department Skills Responsibilities Education Office

Meeting room Internship Full-time job Part-time position Freelancer

Common feelings and emotions before, during and after a job interview:

Nervous Confident
Insecure Proud
Anxious Excited
Stressed Relieved

1
Answer the following questions:
● Have you ever done a job interview? How was it?
● How do you generally feel before a job interview?
● Do you remember any embarrassing moments during an interview?
● What do you think is the most important quality to show during a job interview?

2. Role-Play: Dialogue
Read the following dialogue about a job interview

Personnel manager: Hi John, thanks for coming today. I’m Karen Porter. Nice to meet you.
Candidate: Hello, I’m John Tompson. Nice to meet you, too.
Personnel manager: Have you read the information about this job?
Candidate: Yes, it sounds very interesting.
Personnel manager: What did you study?
Candidate: I studied marketing at Sorbonne University.
Personnel manager: Great. Can you tell me about your present job?
Candidate: Well, I work in sales and I’ve managed teams and projects. I also have a lot of contact with
customers.
Personnel manager: How long have you been in sales?
Candidate: I’ve worked in sales for four years.
Personnel manager: What do you do in your free time, John?
Candidate: I play golf and go swimming.
Personnel manager: And finally, why do you want this job?
Candidate: I really want to work in marketing. This is a great opportunity for my career and I think I
have the right skills for the job.
Personnel manager: Thank you John. It’s been good talking to you. Thanks for coming to the interview.

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3. Common questions and phrases during a job interview
Activity - Imagine that you sent in an application for your dream job and you are now at the job
interview. The HR manager is going to ask you a series of questions. What would you answer?

1. What made you send your resume (CV) to this company?

2. Why do you think we should hire you? What could you bring to our company?
3. So far, what have been the professional experiences that have given you the
most satisfaction?
4. What is your evaluation of your last (or current) professional experience?
5. What are your greatest qualities?
6. And what are your weaknesses?
7. What are your short and long term goals?
8. Do you prefer team or individual work? Why?
9. What has been the most difficult decision you have made so far?
10. What do you do in your free time?

Common phrases during a job interview:

(1) Greeting the interviewer: “How are you today?” or “I’m pleased to meet you!”
(2) Thanking the interviewer for the opportunity: “Thank you for taking the time to meet with
me today.”
(3) Mentioning how you heard about the job: “I was so excited when _____ told me this position
was open!”
(4) Expressing gratitude: “I really appreciate being considered for this role.”
(5) Showing interest for the job: “I’ve reviewed the job description, and it aligns well with my
experience and qualifications. I’m looking forward to talking more about these with you.”

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4. Reading: Job interview
Read the dialogue and put the sentences in order, so that the dialogue follows a meaningful order:

Thomas is going for a job interview at XYZ company. The job he is applying for is Customer
Support Technician. Thomas is going to be interviewed by Louis, one of the company's HR
managers.

During the interview Louis (L) and Thomas (T) shake hands…
1 - T: Because I have experience and I like to help the customer. In my country, I have worked in this area
for two years.
2 - L: As a Customer Support Technician, do you remember any particularly challenging or complicated
situations? How did you overcome them?
3 - T: Sure. I moved to Spain because I really like the country and because I wanted to get out of my
comfort zone.
4 - L: Good morning, Thomas. How are you? Take a seat, please.
5 - L: Very well. And why are you applying for this position in particular?
6 - T: Good morning. All good, thank you. And you?
7 - L: My name is Louis and I am a Human Resources manager in the company. To begin with, could you
explain to me why you decided to look for a job in Spain?
8 - L: Interesting. Finally, what do you know about our company?
9 - T: Thank you very much. I look forward to hearing from you. Good afternoon.
10 - L: So you are already used to this area. Tell me a little about yourself: your strengths and
weaknesses.
11 - T: I know that XYZ has been on the market for 10 years and is a reference brand. It would be an
honor to be part of this company.
12 - L: Thank you very much for your time, Thomas. The interview is over. In a week, we will give you an
answer.
13 - T: My strengths are calmness in high-pressure situations, empathy and problem-solving skills. I
think my weakness is perfectionism.
14 - T: Yes, I remember once I had a customer yelling at me over the phone. I decided to pass the call to
my supervisor, as I understood that this would calm the customer down.

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Order:

_____ - _____ - _____ - _____ - _____ - _____ - _____ - _____ - _____ - _____ - _____- _____ - _____ -
_____

5. Grammar: “both”, “either” and “neither”

We use ‘both’, ‘either’ and ‘neither’ when we talk about two things.

BOTH EITHER NEITHER

None of them.

Either the red book or the blue

Both, the red book and the blue one.
one.

EITHER: NEITER:
Choice of two options Excludes both options

Examples: Examples:

“They can have either salmon or beef”. “They’ll have neither salmon nor beef”.
“Either Charles or Mary will cook for you”. “Neither John nor Sarah are hungry”.

NOT … EITHER
“Also not”
Examples:
“I can’t play the guitar and I can’t play the piano either”.
- John: “I don't like winter”.
- Sarah: “I don’t like winter either”.

NEITHER
Examples:
- Sarah: “I don’t like spicy food”.
- John: “Me neither”.

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 Activity - Complete the following sentences with ‘both’, ‘either’ or ‘neither’.
1. I went to Paris and Rome on my last vacation and I liked ______________ cities.
2. You can __________ help us or go to your room.
3. ___________ Caroline nor Mindy worked as personal trainers during the World Cup.
4. _________ Mike nor Lisa will be there.
5. __________ cars are expensive.
6. Which shirt do you prefer: the blue one or the red one? For me it doesn’t matter, __________ one is
fine.
7. Is your friend British or Canadian? _______________. He’s American.
8. It was a terrific game. ______________ teams played very well.
9. Do you prefer to go to an Italian or a Chinese restaurant? It can be ___________. I like both of them.
10. _____________ of them want to go bowling.

6. Conversation time!

What do you think is more What is more important What is the most
important when applying to show in a job important quality to How do you usually feel
for a job: the resume or interview: motivation, show in a job before a job interview?
the cover letter? experience or education? interview?

How do you feel about What was the most What are the advantages
How do you usually unpaid internships: are difficult job interview and disadvantages of
prepare for a job you for or against? you have ever had, part-time work compared
interview? and why? to full-time employment?