The Careers Powered By English series

English Interview Skills

By Lado Management Consultants Adrian ODonnell

Course Overview
Week One March 9th Self-Introductions

Week Two March 16th Types of Job Interviews Common Questions

Course Overview
Week Three March 23rd How To Stand Out At Interviews Video Case Studies
- Analysis of interview performance

Week Four March 30th Types of Job Interviews Common Questions

Course Overview
Week Five April 13th What employers look for - 4 types of Job Interviewers
- HR Guest

Week Six April 27rd Coaching Sessions

Course Overview
Week Seven May 4th

Interview preparation
Week Eight May 11th

Specific company job interview

Course Overview
Week Nine May 18th Language Assessment Interviews
- TOEIC,BULATS,FCE,IELTS

Week Ten May 25th Summing it up - interview dos and donts

Course Overview
Week Eleven June 1st 4th Mock interviews - individual interviews with HR guests

Self-Introductions

First Impressions Count

'What does the interviewer need?'

1. Find the best person 2. Learn about your personality and technical ability. 3. Justify their decision to hire you, to someone higher!

Tell me about yourself

1. Be positive
2. Be relevant 3. Use the right tone

Why are they asking this 'tell me about yourself' question in the interview?
1. Are you confident?
2. Can you think clearly? 3. Do you understand the job requirements?

Self-Introduction needs to

Show why you are here!

Briefly! (2-3 minutes).

What to show
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Your skills Your development Your compatibility Your vision Your excitement

How to sell yourself

Use short focused statement interesting, short and relevant
Emphasize strengths and achievements

show your personality

How to sell yourself

Sound confident Practice speaking: experiment and vary your tone!

Personal and Education

Do not include: marital status, children, etc. Include information such as: hometown or country and/or personal attributes. Education: either the latest obtained and/or major field if relevant to job objective.

Early Career and Life Experiences

Stay relevant!

"Could I tell you a little about myself?"

Dont miss an opportunity to sell yourself!

Tell me about yourself

3 Steps:
1. Qualities 2. Experience 3. Reasons

Tell me about yourself Step 1

3 Most important qualities for the job.
For example: The ability to communicate well with people The ability to set goals and stay on track The ability to handle rejection "I am an extravert who interacts well with people. I like to set myself goals and keep them and I'm very persistent."

Tell me about yourself Step 2

Your latest activities and achievements.

I worked as an intern for Chungshan Consultants, and I helped design their web site. The feedback since has been extremely positive.

Tell me about yourself Step 3

Why you want the job. Show knowledge. Be enthusiastic!
I want to work in software sales because it is an area where I can use my ability to create solid long term relationships with clients. I want to work for your company in particular because you concentrate on antivirus software which is an area that is growing at the rate of 20% a year. That gives you a solid base from which to introduce new products like Viruskill. Id like to be part of that.

Put It Together

Prepare your self-introduction

Tell me about yourself - video examples

Good example#1
A woman is interviewed for a position as a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR-IhZJOq3U&feature=related 3 min 15

Good example#2
A woman is interviewed for a position as a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1bu5s3zGQs&feature=related 1min 32

Bad example#1
A woman is interviewed for a position as a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDhbLdFJAF4 1 min 30

Practice
Make notes for your self-introduction. (5-10
mins.)

In pairs, practise telling your partner about yourself and why you want the job.
Remember to vary your speed, your intonation, your volume. Be confident and keep the interviewers interest. Support your introduction with examples.