Job interview in English: how to show class and get your dream job

The principles of interviews are similar for almost all recruiters, so the main questions are almost always the same. Here are the most common ones to work through before your interview:

An important nuance! It is imperative to prepare for these questions because there is a very high chance that at least a few of them will be asked to you. But don’t learn the answers by heart.

The main reason is that the memorized text is immediately audible. And if the recruiter suspects that you are speaking by memorized phrases, then he will certainly try to divert the conversation somewhere aside, for which you certainly were not prepared.

It is best to prepare your answers and read them aloud several times. This will help you remember the main points, but you will not be attached to specific words and phrases.

Native speaker tip:

Try to make your speech more natural with fillers. Simple plug-ins and phrases like “well”, “let me think”, “by the way”, “honestly”, “actually”, “so” show that you are dealing with language naturally. They will also give you a second or two to think and formulate your sentence more precisely.

The tone of the conversation with the recruiter should be semi-formal. That is, try not to pretend to be an English queen or “your own guy on the board”, but to communicate as if with a friend. Friendly, open, but no familiarity. So forget about slang words for the duration of the interview – even if you are good at them.

Telling yourself in English: how to build it right

Self-presentation is a recruiter’s introduction to you as a person and a great way to make a great first impression.

You need to prepare for a story about yourself. But there are a few important rules. The optimal length of a monologue is 2-4 minutes. That is 10-15 sentences, no more. Otherwise, you may be interrupted, which will not very well affect the overall mood of the interview. Below is the outline of a story about yourself:

Name and age

Hi, my name is Mykola Koval, I’m 27.

Everything is simple here, but there is a nuance.

Don’t use the phrase “Let me introduce myself”. The first impression will be ruined.

Residence

Don’t go into too much detail here. Unless you live in the city where you are trying to get a job – it is better to indicate this in advance.

Family status

It should be mentioned, but it is not worth focusing on this. If you are not married (not married) and you have no children, then you can skip this point altogether.

Education

Please note that this block must occupy at least half of the story.

Focus on your real skills, experience, and achievements. You can remember about higher education, but you need to talk about it if you have no experience in the field at all.

Previous positions and competencies

You will still be asked where you worked before and what you did. Therefore, you can say this in your monologue. If you have any outstanding achievements in past positions, they are worth mentioning.

Personal qualities

Soft-skills play a huge role in hiring now. Professional skills are very important, but so are social skills. A lone genius will achieve much weaker results than a well-coordinated team of strong middlings.

Here is a list of the most common personal qualities that are valued when applying for a job. Choose the ones that suit you the most:

• adaptable – easily adaptable;
• flexible – flexible;
• creative – creative;
• communicative – communicative;
• scrupulous – attentive to details;
• persistent – persistent;
• team player – team player;
• responsible – responsible;
• open-minded – open to everything new.

The Most Important Tips for Preparing for an English Interview

Preparation is most important

Yes, memorizing a monologue and answering questions by heart is not worth it – you will only harm yourself. But you can and should think about what is interesting to tell the recruiter in advance.

If you are not quite confident speaking English, then without proper preparation you will surely get confused in words and stumble. And this will start a chain reaction: hesitated, worried, made more mistakes, worried even more.

To feel more confident, drive your self-presentation into your phone notes and re-read just before the interview. If you have a lot of specific terminologies in your specialty, we highly recommend that you study them in advance.

Calm, only calm

Interviewing is stressful. And if it is also conducted in English, which is not a bit naive to you, then this is three times stress.

If you are very anxious before the interview, do a simple breathing exercise: inhale and exhale slowly and deeply 10 times, trying to concentrate fully on your breathing.

Alternatively, you can simply warn the recruiter that you are worried because you really want this job. Ideally, this should be said in English:

“Sorry, I’m a little bit anxious, because I want to get this job very much. – Sorry, I’m a little worried because I really want to get this job.”

By the way, some recruiters deliberately try to undermine the state of the applicant, because this is how his communication skills and ability to think are revealed.

Be mentally prepared for strange and tricky questions like: “Name as many ways to use a regular paper clip as possible”. This is how the recruiter wants to see exactly how you think. So the most important thing here is not to shade and not get lost. You can take some time to think and correctly answer the question.

Use simple words

If you want to immediately show how excellent you are in the language, that’s commendable. But completely irrational. The more difficult phrases you use, the higher the chance of mistakes. That is why we advise you to speak in simple and understandable words, without complex structures and rare phraseological units.

In general, a working interview in English is a tough test for your English skills if you don’t use the language every day. But with proper preparation, you can handle it without any problems and get the long-awaited job.