Preparing for an Interview

You are likely to participate in many kinds of interview in your working life both as interviewerand interviewee. Let us focus on your role as a job applicant. The expectations of employers vary a great deal and you should always seek the best advice before attending an interview.

There are different kinds of interviews: traditional one-to-one interviews, panelinterviews where one or more candidates are interviewed by a panel of interviewers and even `deep-end` interviews where applicants have to demonstrate how they can cope with actual business situations. The atmosphere at an interview may vary from the informal to the formal and interviewers may take a friendly, neutral or even hostile approach. Different interviewers use different techniques and the only rules that that applicants should be aware of may be `Expect the unexpected!` and `Be yourself!`

Your role in an interview will determine what you will try to do during the interview and the kind of language you will use. Interviewer and interviewee may share a common purpose, but they may also have specific goals. In a job interview, both interviewer and interviewee sharethe purpose of finding out if the candidate and the job are well matched. But the interviewer will be looking for the best candidate, whereas the interviewee will be trying to show that he or she is the best person for the job. Whether you are an interviewer or interviewee, begin by thinking about your own goals and the goals of the person opposite you.

In order to be a successful interviewee, you need to know what the interviewer is looking for. Selection criteria vary from job to job and from employer to employer. To prepare for an interview, you should therefore do as much research as you can and try to work out what kind of person the employer will be looking for.Brainstorming questions that are likely to come up in an interview will help you put on a better performance. Remember that the employer wants to know if you are the best candidate for the job. The question underlying every other question is: "Why should we hire you?" General questions are designed to find out about your personality and attitude to work. Job specific questions are supposed to assess your suitability for the job.

You should remember that you are expected to have a fairly good knowledge of: what the company does, what you are going to be expected to do, and who you are going to report to. In case an applicant does not give an impression of understanding these three items, then obviously he or she will get marked down accordingly. Many employers ask questions based on your resume. They may appear to structure the questions on your report of work experience, education and extra-curricular activities, or their criteria for the job. Either way, both factors play a part and you need to consider both as you prepare for your interviews. Some questions seem simple but are actually designed to give you an opportunity to show yourself in a positive light. Avoid giving short, obvious answers and take the opportunity to talk. Make sure that your answer is relevant, interesting and allows you to show off your strengths. Your answers should not sound like they have been prepared in advance and should be delivered naturally and convincingly. Sometimes (actually, rather often) interviewers like to put in some tricky questions. Basically it is done to draw the applicant out, to see what kind of character he is.

During interviews, candidates sometimes come across situations where they are lost for words. So, apart from anticipating general and job-specific questions, you need to develop strategies for handling difficult or unexpected questions. At the end of an interview, the interviewer usually invites the interviewee to ask some questions. Prepare some questions appropriate to the post. This is not the best time to clarify queries about the job requirements and salary, which can be done later if you are actually offered the job. Ask questions politely and do not seem critical of the company or the job. If you cannot think of a question, or your prepared questions have already been answered, just decline to ask questions politely.

Exercises

I. Translate the text. Match the words and word groups from the first column with their translation from the second column:

III. Find the following items in the text, write out sentences containing them and translate into Russian:

· verb + infinitive

· verb + pronoun + infinitive

· verb + passive infinitive

· modal verb + infinitive

· verb in the passive voice + infinitive (“to be supposed + infinitive”, “to be expected + infinitive”)

· structure “to be likely + infinitive”,

III. Make up 10 questions to the text.

IV. Represent the main idea of the text in ten preferably short sentences (in the written form)

V. Make up a monologue on the topic: “How to prepare for the interview”.

VI. You will want to ask questions at the interview. Think it over how to formulate questions in the appropriate way about the following:

· the job itself

· training

· prospects

· further education

· conditions

· salary

IX. Prepare a dialogue with a partner on the topic: “At the Interview”.

When you are asked a question, comment on it first. This will give you time to think. Below are some useful expressions to help you to do it. Practice them in a dialogue with a partner.

• That's a very interesting question.
• I'm glad you've asked that question.
• A good question.
• I'm sorry but I don't have that information to hand.
• I'm afraid I can't answer that.
• I'm not in a position to comment on that.
• As I said earlier, …
• I think I answered that when I said …
• I did mention that.
• I don't see the connection.
• I'm sorry, I don’t follow you.
• I think that is a very different issue.

Text B

Résumé

When a company needs to recruit new people, it may decide to advertise the job in the appointments section of a newspaper. People who are interested can then apply for the job by sending a letter of application or cover letter and a résumé or CV (curriculum vitae) containing information about them: their education, background and relevant job experience.

The résumé or CV is typically the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker and is typically used to screen applicants, often followed by an interview, when seeking employment.

In many contexts, a résumé or CV is short (usually one page), and therefore contains only experience directly relevant to a particular position. At present, however, since increasing numbers of job seekers and employers are using Internet-based job search engines to find and fill employment positions, longer résumés/CVs are needed for applicants to differentiate and distinguish themselves, and employers are becoming more accepting of résumés that are longer than two pages. The transmission of résumés/CVs directly to employers became increasingly popular as late as 2002. Jobseekers were able to circumvent the job application process and reach employers through direct email contact and résumé blasting, a term meaning the mass distribution of résumés/CVs to increase personal visibility within the job market.

However the mass distribution of résumés/CVs to employers often can have a negative effect on the applicant's chances of securing employment as the résumés/CVs tend not to be tailored for the specific positions the applicant is applying for. It is usually therefore more sensible to adjust the résumé/CV for each position applied for. The complexity and simplicity of various résumé/CV formats tend to produce results varying from person to person, for the occupation, and to the industry.

There exist several formats of résumés, one of the most common being a chronological résumé. It enumerates a candidate's job experiences in reverse chronological order, generally covering the last 10 to 15 years. In using this format, the main body of the document becomes the Professional Experience section, starting from the most recent experience going chronologically backwards through a succession of previous experience. The chronological résumé works to build credibility through experience gained, while illustrating career growth over time. Also well known is a functional résumé whichlists work experience and skills sorted by skill area or job function. The functional résumé is used to assert a focus to skills that are specific to the type of position being sought. This format directly emphasizes specific professional capabilities and utilizes experience summaries as its primary means of communicating professional competency. A functional résumé is also preferred for applications to jobs that require a very specific skill set or clearly defined personality traits. Sometimes you may come across a combination résumé which balances the functional and chronological approaches. A résumé organized this way typically leads with a functional list of job skills, followed by a chronological list of employers. The combination résumé has a tendency to repeat itself and is therefore less widely utilized than the other two forms.

The Internet has brought about a new age for the résumé. As the search for employment has become more electronic, résumés have followed suit. It is common for employers to only accept résumés electronically, either out of practicality or preference. This electronic boom has changed much about the way résumés are written, read, and handled. Job seekers must choose a file format in which to maintain their résumé. Many employers, especially recruitment agencies on their behalf, insist on receiving résumés only as Microsoft Word documents. Others will only accept résumés formatted in HTML, PDF, etc.

However, including an e-mail address in an online résumé may expose the job seeker to spam. Internet résumés differ from conventional résumés in that they are comprehensive and allow for self-reflection. Unlike regular 2 page résumés, which only show recent work experience and education, Internet résumés also show an individual's skill development over his or her career. Online résumé distribution services have emerged to allow job seekers to distribute their résumés to employers of their choices via email. Finally, the internet is enabling new technologies to be employed with résumés, such as video résumés--especially popular for multimedia job seekers. Another emerging technology is graphic-enabled résumés, such as Visual CV.

Exercises

I. Read the text once again and match the words and word groups from the first column with their translation from the second column:

Text C