Useful vocabulary for attending a job interview in English
Do you agree with the advice in the article?
LISTENING
Discuss the following questions?
You should spend time preparing for a job interview if you have one coming up.
If the interviewer asks you about yourself, you should make sure all the information you give is relevant to the job.
You should avoid talking about personal things like your hobbies.
If the interviewer asks you about an item on your CV, you can give more detail and say how it is connected to the job you're applying for.
You should never talk about difficulties you've experienced at work.
You can't prepare for hypothetical interview questions.
It helps to think about the skills and qualities that the interviewer is looking for when answering interview questions.
Role play
In pairs, interview each other for a job of your choice.
Use questions/ expressions from this lesson and any others that you may need.
Would you give your partner the job? Why/why not?
If you need help, scroll to the bottom of the page to view the interview transcript.
Common interview questions
Common interview questions
Tell us about yourself. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Why do you want to leave your current job? Tell me about a time you had to work as a team.
Tell me about a time you had to use your creativity to solve a problem.
Tell me about a time when you experienced conflict with a colleague and how you handled that situation.
What would you do if you had a different opinion from your boss about how to do something?
How would you deal with a large volume of work with several staff members off work?
What would you do if you had to introduce a new policy that you knew was going to be unpopular in your team?
S.T.A.R
Situation – Give details about the context of your example and what you were trying to do.
Task – Describe your responsibilities and the challenges you faced.
Action – Describe what steps you took to deal with the situation.
Result – Talk about the end result and how you contributed to this outcome.
Interview transcript
Interviewer: Good morning Ms Badura, please have a seat.
Kate: Good morning, it’s a pleasure to meet you.
Interviewer: Could you tell me who you work for at the moment?
Kate: Yes. I’m working for KP Lewis.
Interviewer: How long have you been working for them?
Kate: I’ve been working for KP Lewis for the past three years.
Interviewer: And how long have your been working in the accounting department?
Kate: I’ve been working in accounts for the past eight months.
Interviewer: And why are you leaving your job?
Kate: Well, to be honest, I feel that I cannot use all my skills in my current job, and the position that you offer looked like an excellent match for me.
Interviewer: You know this job requires a lot of travel. Is that a problem for you?
Kate: No, no, that’s not a problem. In fact, I really enjoy travelling and I don’t have a family to look after, so it’s fine.
Interviewer: Have you had any experience in sales?
Kate: Yes. As you can see from my CV, I worked part-time as a representative for a language school. They were offering summer language courses and I had to visit different agencies.
Interviewer: That’s interesting. How successful were you?
Kate: Well, the school I worked for managed to increase registrations as a result of my collaboration.
Interviewer: Very interesting...so what are your goals for the future?
Kate: Well, in the short-term I want to develop my sales skills and gain more experience in selling. In the long-term, I would like to obtain a high position in a growing company...like yours.
Interviewer: And tell me...what is your greatest weakness?
Kate: Well, I admit, I tend to wait until the last minute to make appointments. But I’m getting better at this and I’ve recently realised that scheduling in advance makes more sense.
Interviewer: How do you cope with pressure?
Kate: Actually, I work quite well under pressure. I find it very motivating and it helps my focus on what I have to do.
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