Змістовий
модуль 2. Career
Opportunities
Практичне заняття 9-10
Тема: Співбесіда з роботодавцем. Основні вимоги та норми етикету.
Питання:
1.
How
do you
understand the
meaning of
the word “the job
interview”?
2.
What does the employer judge during the interview?
3.
What makes a good interview?
4.
Which guidelines do you think are the most important?
Why?
5.
Can you give any other advice to a candidate?
Завдання:
1.
Підготуйте та
обіграйте у парі діалог з теми «The Job
Interview».
2.
Складіть 10
запитань до вашого майбутнього роботодавця та 10 запитань до претендента, з
яким проводитимете співбесіду.
1. Read and translate the text. Write out the
unknown words. Make up a plan of preparing to your future job interview.
The Job Interview
A job interview is your opportunity to present your talents to a prospective employer. During the interview,
the employer judges your qualifications, appearance, and general fitness for the job. Equally important, the interview gives you
a chance to evaluate the job, the employer,
and the company. The interview
helps you decide if the job meets your career needs and interests
and whether the employer is the kind you want to work for.
To present your qualifications most advantageously, you have to prepare for
the interview: you should know how to act to make the interview an
opportunity to "sell" your skills.
Careers officer
speaking:
– What makes a good interview? First, good
preparation before the interview. Three simple guidelines will help you.
Guideline number one is – find out as much as possible about the company
where you are going for an interview. For example, you can get a lot of useful
information from the company's brochures,
annual reports, and catalogues. Two, find out if the interview
is with one person or with a group of people, and what their jobs are. It's
very useful to know something about the
interviewers before you meet them. And three, make a checklist
of the questions you want to ask at the interview. Remember an interview is two-way process. The company finds out as much as
possible about you, and you find as much as possible about the company.
So, that's what you
need to do before the interview.
Now the interview
itself. There are seven more guidelines to remember here.
Guideline number four: dress smartly. A suit or something formal
is best. Five, arrive in good time. Arriving late for the interview is
the worst thing you can do. Rule
number six: create a good first impression. First impressions are very
important. Start the interview with a smile, a firm
handshake, and a friendly manner. Guideline number seven: try to stay positive
and relaxed during the interview. As a rule, people
don't feel relaxed, but your body language gives the
interviewer a lot of information about you. You want that information to be positive. Number eight: don't give only “Yes”
or “No” answers. Talk freely about yourself, give reasons for your opinions, and explain why you're interested in the job. Nine: ask questions. Remember the checklist of
questions you prepared before the interview. Show you're
interested! Finally, guideline number ten: learn from the interview. Analyze your
performance afterwards and think how you can improve the next time!
2. Look through the plan of the job interview.
Can you give any other advice to a candidate?
Before the interview:
1.
Find out all you can about the company.
2.
Find out the interviewer’s name and office phone
number.
3.
Find out where the interview is held.
4.
Find out how to get there and how long it will
take you to get there.
5.
Make sure you know what the job involves.
6.
Dress to look clean and neat.
During the interview:
1.
Arrive early. Call ahead if you’re delayed.
2.
Try to smile and show confidence.
3.
Ask questions and show interest in the job.
4.
Be polite, listen carefully, and speak clearly.
“Don’ts”:
1.
Don’t panic, even if faced by more than one
person. (Breathe deeply and remember all your good points.)
2.
Don’t slouch or look bored. (Stand and sit
straight, make eye contact.)
3.
Don’t smoke or chew gum.
4.
Don’t give one-word answer or say you don’t care
what you do.
3. Read some information about interview questions:
|
What the recruiter will ask you:
|
|
You Don't Have to Spend Hours Memorizing A Lot of
'Good Answers' to Potential Questions from The Employer; There Are Only Five
Questions That Matter
Of course, the
employer is going to be asking you some questions, as a way of helping them to
figure out whether or not they want to hire you. Books on
interviewing, of which there are many, often publish lists of these
questions -- or at least some typical ones that employers often ask.
They include such questions as:
1. What do you know about this company?
2. Tell me about yourself.
3. Why are you applying for this job?
4. How would you describe yourself?
5. What are your major strengths?
6. What is your greatest weakness?
7. What type of work do you like to do best?
8. What are your interests outside of work?
9. What accomplishment gave you the greatest
satisfaction?
10. Why did you leave your last job?
11. Why were you fired (if you were)?
12. Where do you see yourself five years from now?
13. What are your goals in life?
14. How much did you make at your last job?
The list goes on
and on. In some books, you'll find eighty-nine questions, or more.
You are then
told that you should prepare for the hiring-interview by writing out,
practicing, and memorizing some devilishly clever answers to all
these questions--answers which those books of course furnish you with.
All of this is
well-intentioned, and has been the state of the art for decades. But,
dear friend, Good News! We are in the 21th century, and things are getting
simpler.
Beneath the
dozens and dozens of possible questions that the employer could ask you, we now
know that there are only five basic questions,that you really need to pay
attention to.
Five. Just Five.
The
people-who-have-the-power-to-hire-you usually want to know the answers to these
five questions, which they may ask directly or try to find out obliquely:
1.
"Why are
you here?" They mean by this, "Why are you knocking on my door, rather than
someone else's door?"
2.
"What can
you do for us?"
They mean by this, "If I were to hire you, would you be part of the
problems I already have, or would you be a part of the solution to those
problems? What are your skills, and how much do you know about some subject or
field that is of interest to us?"
3.
"What kind
of person are you?" They mean by this, "Do you have the kind
of personality that makes it easy for people to work with you, and do you share
the values which we have at this place?"
4.
"What
distinguishes you from nineteen other people who can do the same tasks that you
can?" They mean by
this, "Do you have better work habits than the nineteen others, do you
show up earlier, stay later, work more thoroughly, work faster, maintain higher
standards, go the extra mile, or... what?"
5.
"Can I
afford you?'’
They mean by this, "If we decide we want you here, how much will it take
to get you, and are we willing and able to pay that amount -- governed, as we
are, by our budget, and by our inability to pay you as much as the person who
would be above you, on the organizational chart?"
These are the
five principal questions that most employers are dying to know the answers
to. This is the case, even if the interview begins and ends with these
five questions never once being mentioned overtly by the employer. The
questions are still floating in the air there, beneath the surface of
the conversation, beneath all the other things that are being discussed.
Anything you can do, during the interview, to help the employer find the
answers to these five questions, will make the interview very satisfying to the
employer.
4.
Read, translate and role-play the dialogue.
Interviewer: Are you working?
Mr. Guzman: Yes, I am.
Interviewer: Exactly what do you do?
Mr. Guzman: I’m a mechanic.
I work in a small auto shop with three
mechanics and supervise all auto repairs. I diagnose problems, make
repairs and also check all the repairs in the shop. I have experience with both
American and foreign cars.
Interviewer: How long have you been working there?
Mr. Guzman: For three years.
Interviewer: What other jobs have you had?
And what did you do?
Mr. Guzman: I was a maintenance mechanic in a plastics
factory. I repaired the production
machinery. I also did all the general maintenance work and made all electrical
repairs.
Interviewer: How long were you there?
Mr. Guzman: For about three years.
Interviewer: Tell me about your education and any special
training you've had.
Mr. Guzman: I graduated from high school in Colombia in 1980. After high school I went to a
university for one year and studied engineering. Now I'm studying English at
Ale Community College.
Interviewer: What other skills do you have?
Mr. Guzman: I can do general bookkeeping and
billing.
Interviewer: Why do you want to change your job?
Mr. Guzman: The auto shop I work in is very small. There is little room for
advancement.
Interviewer: What hours can you work?
Mr. Guzman: I prefer to work days, but I could work any
hours.
4. Answer the questions.
Examples how to answer such questions:
The interviewer is trying to see how you are in making long
range plans and if you have goals that
mach with the organization's. One way to
answer this question is to
look back on your accomplishments
to date.
Best answer:
"I
started out in my profession
as a junior clerk while I completed
my college studies during the evenings. Once I had my
degree, I applied for a transfer to a more advanced
position, citing my on-the-job training. This has been
my pattern for my career
with my past
2 employers. I learn quickly on the
job and am
willing to take classes and
workshops to augment my experience.
I have been able to assume
greater responsibilities and add more
value to the organization. I do not think
in terms of titles...I think
more in terms
of "How can I solve this
problem? Since this has been
my career style to date,
I do not imagine it to
change. In five years, I feel
I will have continued to learn,
to grow into
a position of more responsibility and will have
made a significant contribution to the organization."
What do you consider
your most significant weaknesses?
Best answer:
1.
"I pay close attention to details
which does result in a higher
quality of work and saves
additional time down the road,
though it does take more
time up front
and sometimes overtime."
2.
"I am a person who likes to
meet deadlines and deliver what
I promise and sometimes I can get a little frustrated
with my fellow
co-workers if I'm waiting on
them in the
last hour before something is due."
How do you get
along with different types of people?
Best answer:
1.
"I work well with anyone who
delivers what they promise."
2.
"I have always been able to
get along with anyone. It
does not matter how difficult
some of my
co-workers can be, I've always
managed to get along with
them. I even manage to get
along with those that I don't
work with on a daily basis.
Getting along with others simply
boils down to personality. When you can
understand and recognize other personality types, other than your
own, getting along becomes that
much easier. I may not get
it right on the first
try, but once I learn more
about that person and discover
their hot buttons, I won't have any problems.”
|
TIP: If you
find yourself in a situation where the interviewer
asks you “What are your
strengths and weaknesses at the same time,
make sure to always start
with your weaknesses and end with your
strengths. You want to leave
a good taste in the hiring
manager's mouth, so make sure
the last thing you say
in your response is something
that leaves you in a positive
light. |
What is your greatest strength?
Best answer
1: “ I work well under pressure. When there is a deadline (a time by which the
work must be finished), I can focus on the task at hand (current project) and
structure my work schedule well. I remember one week when I had to get 6 new
customer reports out by Friday at 5. I finished all the reports ahead of time
without having to work overtime.”
2: “I am an excellent communicator. People trust me and come to me for
advice. One afternoon, my colleague was involved with a troublesome (difficult)
customer who felt he was not being served well. I made the customer a cup of
coffee and invited both my colleague and the client to my desk where we solved
the problem together.”
3: “I am a trouble shooter. When there was a problem at my last job, the
manager would always ask me to solve it. Last summer, the LAN server at work
crashed. The manager was desperate and called me in (requested my help) to get
the LAN back online. After taking a look at the daily backup, I detected the
problem and the LAN was up and running (working) within the hour.”
Comment: This is not the time to be modest!
Be confident and always give examples. Examples show that you are not
only repeating words you have learned, but actually do possess that strength.
When can you begin?
1: “Immediately.”
2: “As soon as you would
like me to begin”.
Comment: Show your willingness to work!
5. Prepare 10 questions and 10 answers for the
job interview