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A job interview

A good first impression

When looking for a job, first present your CV, which contains your personal and academic details and your work experience, if any. More and more job candidates are sending their video curriculum to employers as it is a more attractive self-introduction than just a piece of paper. If the employer likes your CV, you may be called for a job interview.

At the end of this section, you will have:

  • Listened to several video curricula.
  • Practised questions to find out personal and professional information.
  • Learnt how to behave at a job interview.
  • Role-played a job interview.

Let us start this section by watching the videos of three people who are looking for a job.

After watching the videos, comment with your classmates on the good qualities of these people and suggest which jobs and work places are ideal for them. 

Your boss
Geralt. Precoz (CC0)

As a company's boss, what questions would you like to ask to Ana, Adar and Samantha? With a partner, write a list of questions that you would like to ask to these people at a job interview. If you need some help, you can find relevant questions in the job interview document.

Now, watch Alexandra's video curriculum. What qualities and interests does Alexandra show about herself?

Pay attention to the questions that she asks to herself and add any that you think interesting to your list of questions. 

Practise the questions and keep them for your next mission consisting of role-playing a job interview.

The ideal candidate

You have worked on the questions that an employer may ask candidates at a job interview. But, it is also important that you know about the problems that candidates may face.

Enter the Caroline Brown Listening Lessons site and learn about these problems. About how you should behave at a job interview, visit the BBC learning English site and read some useful information.

Job interview
Kathrogers180. Entrevista (CC0)

In this mission, we suggest that you practise the roles of employer and candidate at a job interview. Please, follow the guidelines below.

  • You are going to work in groups of four students.
  • The four of you need to agree on the type of company that is hiring people and on the ideal candidates' profile. Prepare relevant questions concerning the candidate's personality, skills, interests and hobbies.
  • Individually, prepare a candidate's profile with information that is relevant for the post you are going to apply for.
  • Please, before performing the dialogue, get the questions and answers ready and organize them. You can use the tool StoryboardThat to prepare your draft. 
  • Include in your interview polite language to greet, give thanks, etc.
  • Practise the interview as much as you can.
  • The four of you will take turns to play the roles of employer and candidate.
  • You can use the tool Voicethread, which is a free online tool, to record your voices through the webcam.
  • Insert an image or video related to the job offered.
  • Save your voicethread and copy the URL link to the 'My digital resources' page in your Weebly site. 
  • In case you need some extra help on how to use Voicethread, watch the video Tutorial voicethread.
  • Share the link to your interview on Pinterest with other student groups. Remember to attach an image to the link.
  • After finishing the interviews, the group will agree on who is the ideal candidate for the job. Finally, the whole group will present their best candidate in front of the class group.

Your teacher will assess your work by taking into account the criteria in the  'Rubric for assessing an interview' (download in editable odt format, download in pdf).

Learning diary

One last thing, but not the least. It is very important that you reflect on how you felt while you were learning the contents and preparing the job interview.

your learning diary

Peter O'Shea. Writing tools(CC BY)

Create a new post on your blog with the title  'A Job Interview' and answer the following questions:

  • What are the most difficult aspects?
  • What tool was the most difficult for you to work with?
  • What do you think is the most important aspect you have learned?
  • Are there any aspects you didn't understand?

Do not forget it would be great if you shared these feelings and thoughts with your classmates. You will have 10 or 15 minutes to complete this part.

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)