Making a good impression

My interview is today. It is with a marketing company. It is a large corporation with its headquarters in San Francisco, CA. It also has satellite offices across the U.S. and in Europe. I’m not sure if this would be the right fit for me, but I’m keeping an open mind.

I got some sound advice from my aunt. She said that I should be confident but not cocky. That means I have to look for opportunities to talk about my qualifications, but don’t make the mistake of boasting or worse, making things up. I do that sometimes when I get really nervous. My brain stops working and my mouth takes over.

I need to be respectful but not meek. I want to be professional with everyone, my co-workers and my bosses. But, I don’t want them to think that I would let my co-workers walk all over me.

I should show them that I’m a team-player. Nobody likes a person who tries to grab the limelight all of the time, especially if they’re new, like me.

Okay, I think I’m ready. I have my resume, my transcript, and the address of the office where I’m going for the interview. Now, all I need are my shoes…

(From ESL Podcast 44.)

· What shows that the company in question is really large?

· From what angles can you look at the possibility of working for a certain company?

· Is there any danger in always looking up to your elder relatives’ advice?

· How do you practically differentiate between “putting advantages to the fore” and “boasting”?

· What circumstances or state of mind may prevent interviewee’s cool reasoning?

· What dangers are lurking for the newly employed company member?

· What should one think of prior to going to an interview?

6. Listen to the monologue “Hiring for a job” and commentaries coming after it. Give English definitions to the words and expressions in bold print. Fill in the table with a checklist which is a base for the board of interviewers’ hiring decision.

Hiring for a job

Last week, my administrative assistant gave notice that he was quitting in two weeks. It couldn’t have come at a worse time. It was a very busy time of the year, but there was nothing I could do. Right away, we put a want ad in the classifieds and received several applications for the job. I called in four of them for interviews and I had narrowed it down to two candidates.

The first was Claudia Trujillo. From her resume, I knew that she had had four years of experience working at a telecommunications company. She looked promising and when she arrived for the interview, she was dressed professionally and seemed personable. When I asked her about her experience, she answered my questions with confidence. She sounded like a hard worker and showed a lot of perseverance. The only drawbacks were that she was a little chatty and she also seemed a little disorganized.

The second candidate was Alex Mayhew. Alex had more experience than Claudia, but in different capacities, and only had one year of experience as an administrative assistant. When I met Alex, he seemed a little rough around the edges. He was earnestand eager, but didn’t have the air of someone who had worked in a corporate environment. Still, he seemed bright and easy to get along with. He did strike me as being a little shy, but I think that was because he was nervous.

So, those are my two options. Now, which one should I hire? I need to give it some more thought.

(From ESL Podcast 56.)

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 859