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LISTENING 6a. Alejandro is a recent Economics graduate, practicing for an interview at an international bank. Listen to his answers to the four questions in Exercise 5a. What questions was he asked?

6b. Discuss what you think of Alejandro’s answers, and suggest ways in which he could improve them.

6c. Listen to a recruitment expert, Grace, commenting on each of Alejandro’s answers. Do you agree with her?

6d. Listen to the answers Alejandro gives in the real interview. How has he improved his responses?

6e. Complete Alejandro’s improved answers using the correct form of the verbs in the box.

Interviewer: Can you tell us something about yourself?

Alejandro: Well, I’m motivated and I ¹ a lot of effort into everything I do, whether I’m studying at university, at work or even when I’m playing sport. During my last year at university I was captain of the basketball team. I had to organize matches and ² the players. As captain it was essential that I was able to ³ effectively and get along with everybody in the team and for the first time in years our team managed to reach the regional final. We didn’t unfortunately, but ⁴ the team to the final was a big achievement for me.

Interviewer: What did you learn during your time at university?

Alejandro: Oh, lots of things. My Economics degree was very practical, and there were many elements of the degree that could be ⁵ to the business world. I had a number of challenging assignments, which often had to be completed within a short period of time. This helped me to ⁶ my prioritizing skills and ability to ⁷ to tight deadlines.

Interviewer: What kinds of things do you worry about?

Alejandro: I worry about normal things, the same as everybody else, I think. I worry about ⁸ deadlines and ⁹ everything done on time. I used to worry data on my computer quite a bit. Now I back up all my data on an external hard drive, so that everything is protected. This way I’ve got one less thing to worry about.

Interviewer: Would you say you are an ambitious person?

Alejandro: Yes, I would say that I’m ambitious. I’m very keen to ¹⁰ a job with a company such as yours where I can ¹¹ full use of my degree and professional experience. I am a dedicated worker and would hope to ¹² internal promotion based on my performance at work.

7a. Underline useful phrases from Alejandro’s answers in Exercise 6e which you could use to answer the same questions. For example, I put a lot of effort into everything I do.

SPEAKING 7b. In pairs, ask and answer the questions.