This series is design to teach you the english you need to know to have successful interview.
The questions from the series are the most common questions as us’s bussiness interviews. Each episode have two parts,
First, we give you some important tips and how to answer the interview question, Second, we provide you with two smaple answers
that useless tips and answering the question. you might hear a typically bussiness interview.
you will hear each sample answer read slowly,then you hear explaination of the Vocabulary and expression we used in
the answer. Finally you hear the answer read at the normal speed. All the episode come with learning guid that contain all of
tips we discussed, definition and sample sentences for each vocabulary word we used and a complete transcript of the episodes.
let’s begin with question no 1, tell me about your self?
tell me about your self? is usually first question that you will hear at bussiness interview. your goal in answering question is prove
your interviewer and show the interviewer that you have the skill and experiences to be the ideal or perfect candidate for the job.
Here is some tips in answering the question, keep your answer short at about 2 minutes, the person interviewing in you want you give them
an overview and generalized idea of your skill and qualificaiotn. you don’t want to talk to much at first question. 2 or 3 minutes it’s
all you or really need. Since you can expect this question will be asked in the interview, you should prepare somthing that you can tell the person
the general qualification that you have in the short amount of time.
A second tip is focus on work related skill or accomplishment, not personal infomation. When the interviews ask you to tell him or her your self,
their intresting ing thing are related to the job, you may have personal accomplishment or personal infomation,
but what you are wanted to mostly hear is why you are good person for this job, so don’t talk about your family, or a good vacation you
went on, or something that you have done that not relate to the job in someway.
a third tip is tell the interviewer why you think your related work skill or accomplishment would be asset to the company. The asset
is a positive contribution to the company, you want tell the person interviewing in you, not was just what your skill are the thing you can do, and the
thing you have done, your accommplishment, you also want tell them why they are related, important for the company,and why you would be able to
give somthing to the company it does’t have right now, because of your skill and accomplishment.
Fourth, you want describe your education and work history very briefly. Normally if you are gonging on a interview,you would talk about very briefly
what your study in the college, for example, what degree do you have? do you have bachelor degrees, master degree, or PHD or doctor ? you want
tell them where you went to school or what you studied scool? then, you want say a little about what the company you work with or work for? what position
you have had in that company? so you give them some infomation, so that they know in gerenal what you been in doing before you came to the scene view.
you don’t want normally talk about high school or grade school, most employeer are not interested in that, unless you only graducated from high school,
you have’t gone college yet,then you might menmtion your high school degree, your high school diploma.
Since you want to tell the interviewer about things you have done and jobs you have had that are related to the position that you are interviewing for,
you want tell them about your skill and accomplishment, but you are also tell the interviewer or intterviewers about specific things you have done, specific
job you have had, that a somehow related to your positions you are interviews for now.
Finally, you want mentions one, may be two, personal characteristics that will help you accomplish your goal, and give a short example to illusrate,
we said early you don’t want talk about personal life in this question,but person characteristics are little different, person characteristics are thing that you have
and are related to the job, things such as being able to get job down at time, focusing and concentrating you attention on the job, you maight say you have
good attention to detail, you can look at out the little things in the issue and project, make sure and take care of them, that was personal characteristics.
then, you can give them example why they are important in the job or things you have already done, you may say I have a project where I had many different parts that
i have to take care of it, as i was able to do them all. that way you showing the person, your telling the interviewer how your personal characteristics will be able to
help you do your job better, and interview in general particularly for us bussiness is sort of like a opportunity to sell your self, you have to able to
show to the person and you are the best man to the job.
To summary then, in answering the question, you want keep the answer short to the three minutes, you want focus on work-related skills and accomplishment, not your personal
infomation, you want tell the interviews why your work-related skills and accomplishment would be positive thing to the company, you want to talk about your education
and where you work before you came to the interview, you also want tell the interviews the kinds of job you have done, and how they relate to the position your
interview for. finally, you can mentions some personal characteristics that would be important in doing the job your interviewing for.
Now let’s listen to the first sample answer.
I have always enjoy working with computer, so it’s easy decision to major in computer-sciences, at califina university, with a plan to enter the it field,
In school, i excelled in my computer-related classes and during my classes years, i became particularly interesting in software development, especially
software that would help consumers. That’s why i applied for and complete one year intership with alotofdoll industries. At alotofdoll, I learn how to
formulate a new idea for the software and how to communicate those idea effectively to the rest of development team. I am very focus person and
tend to be a product-oriented, at alotofdoll, I make sure that whatever project i worked on, i saw come to completion. For instance, i work with team
that was developing new version of a piece of popular software called rototype, i asked to be part of every stack of software development, At the end
of project, i was given responsibility of geting final technical approval, i made sure that i follow through right departments,keeping my
team inform of the process,this is type work i enjoy, that why i apply for the position of your company. your company is a leader in software development,
and is in the forefront of new idea in the feild, i think the product of your company has developed past several years,
has be outstanding and are best on marketing, i want to work at company where i can be challenged, or i can make a contrbution,
i would very enjoy working your company to develop new software, that improve the existing one.
The first answer begin with person telling with the interviewer something about her education,
and what her plan are in term of the area or field that he interesting in, she said:
I have always enjoy working with computer, so it’s easy decision to major in computer-sciences,
at califina university, with a plan to enter the it field.
To Major in something is to study something at unviersity,
when you get bachelor degree from four years univsersity, you have a speclization,something you are studying, phycology, computer-science,
or bussiness, that’s your major. so you can say, your major in industry-engineers at bob university, whatvere the university you study at,
that was interview question does here, she may begin say what’s major? where she study?
to enter a field: to means begin working in a particular area, a particular kind of job, it could be madical field, insurance field,
when you finish your college education or high school education, you often are interesting in have a particular kind of job,
that was expess meaning, to enter a black field, in this case, IT field. then she talk about a little bit about what she studied specific at
calfion university, note that what she was good at, again, this is important in us business interview, partticular to be able to tell the person
things you are good at.
she say her sample answer in school i excelled in my computer-related classes,To excell means to do very well somthing,to be excellent something.
it’s a good verb to use in talk about your qualification,why are you good for the job? I excell in …,and then you talk about waht are your good at,
in this example, she was good at my computer-related classes. when i was in college, i am good at watching tv, not studying, that didn’t give me
a good job,so ever,so don’t talk about that.
during my classes years, i became particularly interesting in software development,especially software that would help consumers.,
note there she give a little more specific information about why she is interesting in particular specialization.
That’s why i applied for and complete one year intership with alotofdoll industries.,many time in american colleges,
people work whether in college often the summer time,but sometimes part-times during their last two years,or one of last two years.
in the intership, when you work for a company as a trainee as someone who is and learning how to do somthing,
the intership is also a example of complement,something person did,that shows, they are able to go out get thing done.
formulate,means to come up with to think of to invent,
effectively means the same as quickly and shortly to do somehting with most some efficiency.
she does’t just tell the person where she worked in the intership, what she did,
and in particular she give them a example of accomplishment at that job, thing she learn from the job.
I am very focus person and
tend to be a product-oriented, at alotofdoll, I make sure that whatever project i worked on, i saw come to completion.
this is a person characteristics that she has , relay the job, then she tell us how she use the person characteristics,
why is the person characteristics important in the job that has alread done? she still talk about the one year intership at alotdoll indusry,
focuse mean has very clear idea about what you are doing, to have good concentration on whatever you are doing,that is definitively
positive preson quality, very focuse, i can ignore everything around me,and do my job effectively.
product-oriented this is something that company like the exployee,she is concern about the result that she gets.
she want make sure that she get the job done,you could also say, i am result-oriented,i am really try to get result that i am spot to
get that.
she continued and said,at alotofdoll, I make sure that whatever project i worked on, i saw come to completion,completion
means you get the project finished,get the project compeleted,again,that something that company wants from you,you can actually get
thing accomplishment.
then she give a specific example.For instance, i work with team
that was developing new version of a piece of popular software called rototype, i was asked to be part of every stack of software development,
At the end of project, i was given responsibility of geting final technical approval ,so not only she is focus on project-oriented,she give
the specific example of their job,how she did this?or instants example,when i was working on this project,i was part of entire project,
i saw completion, i was part of finshing the project.
i made sure that i follow through with right departments,keeping myteam inform of the process,
follow through means finish what you are started,this is again positive quality that bussiness company look for,someone who
will follow through on one thing, or has good follow through using that now,be able to finish you are starting,in this example ,she
use this as a piece of evidence and sample of her personal quality,
this is type work i enjoy, that why i apply for the position of your company once again,she is connectting what she is done int the past,
with the company she is interviewing with right now,she show them why she would be a good person for the company.
At the interview,she said,your company is a leader in software development,
and is in the forefront of new idea in the feild, i think the product of your company has developed past several years, every like compliment,
every like to know the work good for company, so very important to the interview to say i want work for you company because you are great company.
you don’t have to talk about too much,but this a good sample of a person want work for you company because you are great company.
forefront means to be leading position,in first position, with a leader area.
challenged means to someone give you problem that you can solved,someone give you somehing difficult or interesting to do,so she like to be
challenged.
contrbution means to somehthing you give someone else , something positve that you are able to give,usually in the company or orginzation.
in this case,she help the company do what they do.
Now,let’s listen to the interview answer this time at the native speech.
Sample answer no 2:
I have work successfully in sales for over 10 years, one of my first sale jobs was in college, where I majored in business,i work for college newpaper
selling advertise space, as an extrovert who like interacting with people.i was very successful int he job,what also help me sell more than any another
sell job person was my persistence, i was willing to follow up with potential client over weeks even months, developing relationship with them until
they were a ready to make a deal with us.
I am currently working as a sales rep for the michmilk company, i am been top sell person for the past 2
years,last year, i sold over 3 millions dollars worth of products.
Now i am ready for the new challenge, i went to public relations,because it is the area i
can use my creativity together with my knowledge of advertising and sales, i have a proven ability to work well with people, and i can develop good long
term relationship with clients, i work your company in particular because you work primarily with a internet-base companys which is a area that is growing at the
rate of 40% a year, this makes your company a leader in the industry, and i would like to be part of that.