Researching yourself

Strengths and Weaknesses

The first thing you need to do when starting the job-hunting process is a self-assessment of your own strengths and weaknesses. This process will help you identify the skills, qualifications, experience, knowledge and personal characteristics that employers are looking for.

LISTENING 1a.. Listen to two friends, Federico and Jack, talking about Federico’s strengths and weaknesses. Answer the following questions.

1. What has Federico recently decided to do?

2. Why has he made this decision?

3. What does Federico claim to be good at?

4. What would Federico really like to be able to do?

5. What is Federico doing in order to achieve this aim?

1b. Listen again and underline the personal characteristics in the box that best describe Federico.

SPEAKING 2. In pairs discuss your answers using evidence from the conversation to support your opinion.

VOCABULARY 3. Match the personal characteristics (1-6) to the questions (a-f)

1. creative	a. Do you always do what you say you’ll do?
2. Decisive	b. Are you good at getting other people to agree with you?
3. Flexible	c. Are you good at making your mind quickly?
4. organised	d. Are you able to plan ahead successfully?
5. persuasive	e. Are you able to cope with last-minute changes?
6. Reliable	f. Are you good at coming up with imaginative solutions?

SPEAKING 4. In pairs ask and answer the questions in Exercise 3. Discuss your individual strengths and weaknesses, giving specific evidence.