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  • Hey. Come on everybody. It's going to start.

  • Well, that's true. But you know it took...Who did that?

  • Hello everybody. Welcome to The English Show. Welcome. I'm Vicki and I'm an English teacher. And with

  • me is my good friend, Fluency MC. Hey, hey, hey. I'm Fluency. I'm also an English teacher

  • and I'm a trainer and knowledge entertainer and welcome to another edition of The English

  • Show. And the other person we want you to meet is the guy who's making it all happen.

  • Jay, are you there? Jay! Hey everybody. I'm right here in the control room. I'm running

  • the show. And I'm sure you're going to enjoy all the things we have for you today. Go Jay!

  • Another person you're going to meet later is Shanthi from English with a Twist. Our

  • special guest! Yeah, and we're going to learn about job interviews today, and how to ace

  • an English job interview. What does it mean to "ace" an interview, Vicki? It means to

  • be really successful at the interview so you get the job. Right. But first of all, I'd

  • like to come to Paris. Oh, would you? Do you think Jay can bring you once again? Jay, do

  • you think you can help me get to Paris today? Come visit me. How am I getting to Paris this

  • week Jay? This week you're going to swim there. Oooh, that's a long way to swim. Yes, you're

  • going to need some help. Grab his tail.

  • Wow, I'm here. That was exciting. Look, I've made it.

  • I'm here. Oh, Whoa. Here she is again, everybody. Back in Paris. High five. High

  • five. Vicki Hollett in Paris! Yeah. Wow, so is that the first time you've traveled by

  • water? I think that's the first time I've ever swum here. Yeah. I had to be... I had

  • to be very energetic to get here. Was that a porpoise or a dolphin or...? I think it

  • was a dolphin. Ah must be. And actually, we're here with somebody very energetic who's based

  • in the UK. Shanti, are you there? Yes I am. I'm here. Hi everyone. Welcome to the English

  • Show. It's great to have you. Oh, it's lovely to be here. Because we all want to know how

  • we can ace a job interview. And we know that you're going to be able to help us. Oh yes.

  • That I can, indeed. Of course, one of the things you have to do is make a good first

  • impression. Have you got any good tips for that?

  • When you arrive, have a nice smile, a firm handshake and be smart - well dressed, good

  • haircut - nothing too strange, depending on the job you're applying for. Ok, so smile,

  • that's an important one, isn't it? Yes. And make sure you look smart. Yes, and also good

  • eye contact. You know, look the person in the eye with a nice smile and a firm handshake

  • please. None of the limp handshakes. That is terrible. I don't know about you, but I

  • just hate those. That's true, isn't it. A firm handshake suggests confidence. Indeed,

  • yes, and it shows confidence and it shows that, you know, that you're serious. OK. So,

  • imagine that I'm at a job interview, and the interviewer asks me a question like "Can you

  • tell me about yourself?" OK. It's a very general question. What does it mean? You really do

  • have to think hard. Because what they want you to do is briefly summarize who you are

  • and what you're experience is. And that's basically what most interviewers are asking.

  • Uh huh. There are some other tricky questions they might have too, like "What's your proudest

  • achievement?" You know, I always say to my clients you have to really think hard, because

  • what the interviewer is asking you really is how you solved a problem. They want to

  • see your problem solving skills and how you achieved that, not just the results. So, how

  • you solved a a problem. But they'll be interested in the results as well, perhaps. Oh yes. So

  • what you're doing is, you start off with what was the situation, then what you did to deal

  • with that problem and then what were the results at the end. And, when you're giving results,

  • be specific. Give numbers. Quantify your achievement. Don't just say 'sales increased, you know

  • we had a good sales outcome.' They want to know by how many percent, by how much. What

  • did you do? So, always give numbers. Be specific. Oh, so that's another good tip for us. So,

  • another tricky one... in fact, I can remember being asked this at a job interview... 'What's

  • your greatest strength?' That was all right. But then they said, "What's your greatest

  • weakness?" Yes. Always difficult, isnt' it, because you don't want to say too much about

  • your weaknesses. But the key here really, is turning that weakness into a strength.

  • One of the things about weakness is it's demonstrating your self awareness. So, pinpoint an area.

  • So for example, if you are someone who puts a lot of attention to detail, so you could

  • be detail orientated. But, it could also be that you're too concerned about details. So

  • that particular job requires you to complete it in a certain amount of time and you are

  • focused on too much detail. That is a weakness. So then, what you want to do, is to show how

  • you've overcome that weakness. You're aware of it, so this is what you try and do. Maybe

  • you set yourself some time lines. So that's what they're trying to look at also and how

  • you've overcome that weakness. That's interesting. So it's not just a question of trying to find

  • a weakness that isn't really a weakness... you need to be honest. Yes. But you also need

  • to tell them how you've overcome it and got round it. Have you got any weaknesses, Fluency?

  • I sure do. Shanthi, it's really interesting what you're saying about different types of

  • questions interviewers might ask that all connect to the idea of how did you solve a problem.

  • Because when you're also... when you're talking about a weakness that they might want to know

  • about, you said 'something you're trying to overcome.' So, it seems like problem solving

  • skills - both at the job and also with yourself, your personality - kind of connect in a way.

  • Yeah, I mean it is very much that, because what you're looking at is also self awareness,

  • self knowledge of your strengths and weaknesses. Because we're all going to have that. One

  • of the key things I always say when you're applying for a job - look at the key skills

  • they're looking at in your job specification. And you've got to really think hard about

  • what are the skills that you have where you are strong at and perhaps where you're going

  • to be a bit weaker. But then you've got to find a way to turn that round into a strength.

  • That's another good tip isn't it? Very good, yeah. To make sure you study those job specifications

  • so you can match what you're saying to what they're looking for. Yeah. People will see

  • through waffle. And they will see see through - if you're not being honest. Because what

  • happens when we're not being honest, we start waffling, we start talking too much, we start

  • rambling, and we're not focused. And an interviewer can see right through that. One of the other

  • things I always say to my clients, particularly where they're having an interview in English

  • which is not their native language - is to not be afraid of pausing for a while. You

  • know, we all get very nervous, we get get worried. And all of us do that. And then the

  • tendency is to rush into the answer... with the answer. And what I always says is "...just

  • give yourself a few seconds and you know pause and then answer the question." It doesn't

  • show that, you know, you don't have the answer but it just shows that you're in control,

  • um, of what you're about to say. That's another good tip, isn't it? Yeah. I mean I... Don't

  • rush in. Yeah - you rushed in, Fluency. Ha ha ha ha. I was so excited that Shanthi started

  • talking about when you're not a native speaker since before that we hadn't really talked

  • about that. I mean that advice that we're giving here - Shanthi's giving is great for

  • everybody - but it's... when I work with students who are learning English, and you just prepare

  • for job interivews, it's even more important to be more prepared for the types of questions

  • that will be asked, and also, as Shanthi said, to uh... it's OK to pause and I want to add,

  • and I think you'll agree Shanthi, it's OK to ask to clarify the question and to be prepared

  • with ways to ask "...do you mean that this" ... or because that's also a way to show that

  • you're solving a problem, trying to do something the right way as opposed to just pretending

  • you understood. Yeah. That's really important, isn't it, to make sure that you've understood the

  • question. You don't want to answer the wrong one. Absolutely, because actually it takes

  • a lot of confidence say I didn't quite get that - what you're asking me is this... or

  • maybe repeat that question so that it is down to the interviewer to confirm what they've

  • just asked. Because sometimes they're not that clear. Don't put yourself at a lower

  • level just because you are not a proficient speaker of English and assume that they're

  • always right or they're always clear. If you haven't understood don't make it "...I'm so

  • sorry, I haven't understood." No. Turn it over to them to repeat their questions.

  • You know I often have that problem with you Jay. With me? Yeah, I ask one question and

  • then you answer another. I never do that! I think that is selective hearing. You know,

  • speaking of questions, I think it's time for question Time. Question time everybody!

  • OK, we had a question from Nandish. Ah. And she asked about the difference between two words: achieve

  • and accomplish. Ah I can see why. Well, they're very similar, aren't they?. Yeah, yeah. And

  • I had to think about it and go check my answers. But what it's about is 'achieve' is what we

  • say when we're thinking about the end result of something. So it's very results oriented.

  • 'He achieved greatness and was awarded a Nobel Prize.' But accomplish refers to the process

  • of doing something - of getting something done. So you've got achieve which is about the end

  • result and you've got accomplish which is about the process. Right. So another example

  • could be you can accomplish a lot without actually achieving your goal. Hmmm. Interesting.

  • Yeah. Yeah. And of course in a job interview, they're going to ask you about both, aren't

  • they? Yeah, what are your accomplishments? What have you achieved, yes. And it's useful

  • to know the difference. So you're working a job and you have a sales target for the

  • year. So that is your goal. That is your objective. You have to achieve that sales target. So

  • in between that you have to do things. So you have to accomplish different tasks and

  • jobs to get to that sales target. But sometimes you can do a lot of things so you can have

  • accomplished them, but you don't necessarily achieve that target. Excellent, yes, good

  • example. Yeah. I'm ready for a conversation. What do you think? Is it time for 'Conversation Time? '

  • I'm going to show you a business conversation

  • today and I'm only going to show you the first half at first, and your task is to listen

  • and to work out 'What's the conversation about?', what are they discussing, and 'What's going

  • to happen?' So what it's about - the topic - and then what's going to happen next because

  • you're going to stop it. Is that right? That's right. Are you ready? Ready.

  • We have big plans for you, Graham. We're going to give you a promotion.

  • You're going to be our sales manager for all of Asia.

  • OK, so 'We have big... What was the missing word? Plans. We have big plans for you Graham.

  • We're going to give you a... And the missing word was promotion. So a promotion is when

  • you move up a level in your job. You're going to be our... sales manager for all of Asia.

  • So did you get that Fluency? I did. It was really short, but I caught it. OK. What do

  • you think is going to happen next? Hmmm. My guess is that Graham is going to jump for

  • joy because he's been wanting this promotion forever. Do you think that too, Shanthi? Erm,

  • yes. It could be he does, or, I don't know, he wasn't looking terribly excited. So maybe

  • he's thinking Oooo. Maybe he wants to ask a few more questions. I don't know. OK. Let

  • me tell you. Shanthi. Yes, you're right. What! Yes! Yes! And Fluency. Oh my god. Does Shanthi

  • get special treatment? Is that.... Absolutely! Absolutely! Shall we look at it everybody?

  • We have big plans for you, Graham. We're going to give you a promotion.

  • You're going to be our sales manager for all of Asia.

  • Gee, I'm sorry guys but I quit. You're resigning?

  • Yeah, I got a better job.But we had everything planned.

  • Wow! That came out of left field. OK guys. So Shanthi, you were right. And in

  • fact what he did was he quit. Quit is a very informal way of saying resign. In fact we've

  • got resign coming up. 'You're resigning?' 'Yeah', he said. 'I've got a better job'.

  • And then there's a little idiom at the end. I don't know if you caught it. 'But we had

  • everything planned.' 'Wow! That came out of left field'. Now that's a baseball idiom.

  • Fluency, you know much more about baseball than I do. What does 'out of left field' mean?

  • Well there are a few expressions with 'left field' in English because our image of left

  • field in the baseball field, it's like, really far away, over there. It's the furthest point

  • from where most of the action usually is. So it's sort of that idea of out of nowhere.

  • OK, so it's sort of a surprise. Mmm. You don't expect it because that's not where the action

  • usually is, so it's unexpected. So there's a little idiom for you. Out of left field

  • means something that's surprising - perhaps a bit of a shock. Mmm. It's usually a bad

  • surprise, isn't it? So a shock. I'm curious. Is that idiom iused in British English? Even

  • though you don't have baseball. I know some baseball idioms are and some aren't. No. No.

  • We have some cricket idioms that are similar to baseball idioms. So another similar one

  • would be, we can talk about a curve... a curved ball in British English. And that would be

  • something that's surprising. When somebody throws a ball and it moves in a way you don't

  • expect. And in American English I think you say 'curve ball'. Yeah, but I thought some

  • baseball idioms were also ... just had gone into British even though there's no baseball,

  • but maybe I'm wrong. You're right. There are a few. We do have a few. In fact we've made

  • a whole series of baseball idiom videos. I was just thinking about that. Yeah, great

  • videos so check them out. 'Simple English Videos - Baseball Idioms'. That's right. So

  • Shanthi. Have you ever turned down a job offer? When I was in finance, in the years before,

  • erm... no, not that many. No, actually I don't think I turned down job offers. But ever since

  • becoming a Business English teacher, yes. Where people have offered me certain projects

  • or jobs, then yes, I have turned them down. I've become more, more brave as I've got older

  • - than when I was younger. I think sometimes people can forget this at a job interview.

  • That it's not just an opportunity for them to get to know you. But it's also an opportunity

  • for you to get to know them, so that you can decide whether you really want the job. Yep, absolutely, and

  • I think that's really important and very much something that very few people do. Especially

  • at the end, you know, when an interviewer asks, you know, do you have any questions

  • for us, show that you are interested. You have actually done some research on the particular

  • company. Oh good point. Mmm. The world of business can change very quickly so what you

  • want to see is what is the time line for this particular new enterprise or this new project.

  • Do they have a five year plan? You know, you want to dig in a bit more to find out what

  • is their long terms strategy for that business, for your position. So that's a great tip,

  • isn't it? To do some research beforehand so that you can ask deeper questions about what

  • this job involves and where this company is going.

  • Can I add something here? Yeah.

  • Another thing, I... I used to interview, I don't know, sometimes ten or fifteen people

  • a month when I was director of a program at a school in New York... a couple of different

  • programs, but anyway... Err, and one of the reasons that I always liked when candidates

  • were talking about how the job would help them, why they wanted the job, not just why

  • they were great for us, is because I found that when... when people are more invested

  • in how it's going to, you know, make them better professionally and their life better,

  • they're more likely to stay and commit and work hard. Good point. Yeah.

  • Yeah. It also shows enthusiasm. Now I have another question about... A different

  • question they sometimes ask which is 'Why do you want to leave your current job?' That

  • can sometimes be hard to answer. Yes, it can be. And I think the key here is

  • to stay positive, and show that you're looking at... to progress your career. Even if your

  • reality, say for example, you know, has been difficult or there have been changes in the

  • structure in a company and you didn't really like it, or morale was low, turn it round

  • and say that, you know, I've achieved what I wanted to achieve in this particular role

  • and there's no more... there's no way of progressing in my career, so I think it's now time for

  • a change and to look at something different. And so that's what I want to do. So stay positive.

  • Mmm. And focus on the future. Mmmm. If you can. Yes. Is that the tip? Yeah. That makes

  • sense. Yeah, it's a great way to connect... to connect to what I was saying before, I

  • guess about why you want to work for them and what they can do for you at this point

  • in your career. Yes, absolutely because the world of work

  • has changed hugely in the last ten to fifteen years, so of course we also have people who

  • have been made redundant. And now you can see it as a bad situation and a... and a pesimistic

  • situation, but I know a number of people, myself included, who... for them redundancy

  • was the best thing that ever happened to them. We should talk about the phrase 'make someone

  • redundant', which means, lay them off. OK. But it's more... it's more common in British

  • than American English I think, isn't it Fluency? Absolutely. We have 'to lay someone off' meaning

  • we can't use you or we don't need you any more. And then we have 'to fire someone' which

  • is when something... when the person has done something wrong or, you know, bad. That's

  • right. Now we say 'fire' in British English as well. Mmm. But in British English we can

  • also say 'to sack someone'. Right. And it means the same thing. Yeah. And that's when

  • they've made a mistake or they've done something wrong, as you said. And you also say 'terminate'

  • don't you Fluency? Yeah, that's more the official terminology. So if we're talking about 'I

  • got fired from my job', we wouldn't normally say 'I got terminated'. Certainly the verb

  • 'to fire' is not used so much in official language in a company. 'To terminate' sounds

  • really funny in British English. We think of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the terminator.

  • I know, it sounds so brutal too, doesn't it? 'I terminate you!' Really? What did I do that

  • was so terrible? OK guys. I think we're ready for a game. Always

  • ready for a game. Let's go! Let's play!

  • Hey, we've got a great game today, haven't

  • we? Oh yeah, this one is going to be a lot of fun. OK, so here's how it works. We're going

  • to interview one another for a job, but the person who is being interviewed won't know

  • what the job is. So they'll have to answer the questions and try and get the job, but

  • they won't actually know what it is they're being interviewed for. That's right and I've

  • got... Shanthi and I have a job we're going to interview you for, and you have something

  • you're interviewing Shanthi for. Is that right? That's right and we've also got a job that

  • we're going to interview you for, Fluency. Ooo! Yes. Really? I didn't know that. Oh good.

  • Yeah. Oh yeah. So shall we show everyone what the job is. Fluency, you can't look. All right.

  • OK. Close your eyes Fluency. We're starting with me and I can't look. OK. Yep. Close your

  • eyes. I'm covering my eyes. OK. So everybody's seen it now. You can look back. OK. All right?

  • So Fluency, we have some questions for you. Oh, thank you so much for the opportunity

  • to interview with you. OK, well, first question for you is: what would you say your greatest

  • strength is? What sort of personal qualities have you got that will be good for this job?

  • Well, let's see. I love working with different types of people and learning new things from

  • them. I work really well as part of a team. So I think that's an important quality I have.

  • Good good. How important are qualities like honesty to you? Oooo. I think honesty, and

  • reliablity, and loyalty - these are very important. You haven't mentioned anything about leadership

  • or communication skills. Ah, well, erm... Well, part of why I think I'm really good

  • working with different types of people is that I think I'm good at communicating with

  • people. Listening - I'm a great listener, but also I think I'm patient and can explain

  • things to people I work with. And then leadership. I love leading projects but I'm also happy

  • to be led - to be part of a group that has a leader, so I think I have both qualities.

  • Leadership qualities but also working well on a team with a leader. Uhuh. Erm, that sounds

  • quite good doesn't it, Shanthi? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Not bad. I wanted to ask you another

  • question, Fluency. Erm, what sort of experience have you had in negotiating? Are you good

  • at negotiating? Yeah, I think so. I mean to be honest, not too much experience, but again

  • I thnk it's back to communication. I think with that skill I can build on my experience

  • as a negotiator. Uhuh. So tell me about your free time interests. What do you like doing

  • that perhaps connects with this job? Oh well. Let's see. Uh, I love reading and doing research.

  • I love cooking, of course. I think that would be... it's a free time activity but you know,

  • you can see the connection.... Cooking? ...I'm sure with the job there. And music is a big

  • interest of mine. And I think there's a nice, you know, er... synergy with... with making

  • music and with the work I'd be doing for your company. So... Uhuh. And what about beauty

  • pageants? Well, I was Miss North Carolina, but that was years ago. No. Beauty pageants,

  • let's see. Erm. Well, not so much. No, I have to say, no. And do you watch a lot of television?

  • Oh, well these days more YouTube actually. That doesn't really count, does it? Oh, I

  • don't know, what do you think, Shanthi? Well, it could be. It's another form of social media.

  • But, speaking of social media, what other forms of social media do you like? For example,

  • do you like to tweet? Do you use Twitter? Twitter's OK but I'm more of a Facebook-Instagram

  • guy. But if you need some one to.. to do Twitter, I do use it and I think I could get better

  • and better at Twitter, I'm sure. Do you have many followers? Mmmm. Sure, oh yeah, absolutely.

  • I think my neighbor, on my street. Let's see, I think my son's teacher. And then a few other

  • people. Family mostly. What do you think Shanthi? Shall we give him the job? Oooo. I think he's

  • going to have to increase his er... his use of Twitter. Erm, because for this job he's

  • definitely going to need to tweet a lot more. And he's going to need to increase his number

  • of followers. Erm, I don't know. Well, I think we could give him a go. Let him have a go

  • at this. I don't think he could do worse than the present one. He can't, no, nobody can

  • do worse than him. Fluency, what job do you think we're interviewing you for. Err, I can

  • guess this one for sure because these are the questions that you would only ask if you're

  • trying to find the best President of the United States. Woohoo! That's exactly right.

  • Bravo! You asked all the right questions. OK, I think Shanthi's might be a little bit

  • harder. Shall we interview Shanthi now? Yes, let's go. So Shanthi, I wanted to start by

  • asking you about your experience, and the training that you've had for this job. OK,

  • so I graduated from university and I got a degree in politics and international studies.

  • And I've had twenty years in the finance world. So my qualifications and experience has been

  • in investment management and in finance. And then I changed career and then I came into

  • Business English teaching. So banking and finance is her background Fluency. Yeah. I

  • mean I've heard of career changes but erm... This is quite unusual. Erm, what about manual

  • dexterity? Yeah, could I ask her a question about that? Yeah. Yeah, so, so, how... are

  • you good... good with your hands? Erm, I mean all this finance stuff, it's very interesting,

  • but yeah, like Vicki was saying, manual dexterity. It's really important how well you can, you

  • know, how precise and how comfortable you are using your hands. Oh, OK. Well. I'm good at

  • knitting and crocheting. Wow! And yeah, you know, I use my hands well. That's a pretty

  • big leap from knitting to what we'd have in mind for you in this position. Erm. Yeah.

  • Right Vicki? Yeah, I'm surprised by that, but maybe you're really good with modern technology.

  • Ah, that's important, yeah. Well, yeah, I've had to learn a lot in the last few years,

  • especially, you know, the different apps and what to do. Apps? Yeah. yeah. Well it sounds

  • like you're someone who likes to jump in and experiment then? Yeah, I don't mind trying

  • things out, so I'll jump in a try something out. OK, so you're not particularly cautious.

  • You prefer to take risks. Mmm. But it all depends. I mean, physical risk, if it's going

  • to hurt me, then no, I'm not very good at that. But if it's a business risk, then I

  • don't mind too much. Well actually we're more worried about whether it's going to hurt the

  • other person. That's right. Yeah. Am I ... Am I apply for a job to be a wrestler or something?

  • Vicki do you want to tell her. I think we should tell her, don't you? You're applying

  • for a job to be a brain surgeon. Obviously. A brain surgeon? We were surprised by your

  • training. Yeah, you might want to shelve some of that finance interest for a little bit.

  • A brain surgeon? Oh I get it. Manual dexterity. Yeah, we were impressed by your knitting skills,

  • but we'd have prefered to hear sewing, I think. Yeah, the knitting could lead to sewing. I'm

  • not sure if sewing could lead to surgery though. So hit the street. It's a definite no. Yeah,

  • no that was totally way way off. OK, do you want to interview me now and see if I can

  • get a job? Yeah, I'd love to. I've got time because I have almost four years until I need

  • to start my new job as President. So er...

  • Yeah, Shanthi and I have some questions for you, Vicki. Erm, Shanthi, do you want to begin?

  • Yeah. OK. So Vicki, we'd like to know if you prefer to work on your own or do you like

  • to work in a team? I love to work in a team. I really enjoy working with lots and lots

  • of people. Hmm. Oh. OK, so should you have moments when you have to work on your own,

  • would that be a problem? Oh no. I could perhaps work on my own for a little while. Because

  • independent work is very important in this position. Oh, Oh I'm a very sort of independent

  • person actually. OK. Good. Erm... how about travel? I mean would you be OK being away

  • from home for, I don't know, maybe a week at a time - maybe even a little bit longer?

  • Oh, I love travelling. In fact I love going to different countries. I hope it involves

  • foreign travel. Not so much actually. Ah. OK. Mmm. Maybe it could become an international

  • job in the future. That's what I'm hoping. Or Maybe not. Shanthi, your turn to ask a

  • question. Err, OK I would like to know, in terms of your time keeping, are you usually

  • on time? Oh erm, I'm very very punctual. In fact normally I arrive ten minutes early for

  • every event. Interesting. Wow! OK, and this is also with traffic? Erm, well, I don't drive

  • any more these days. Uhuh. But I take Ubers a lot. Shanthi, would Ubers work for this

  • position? I don't know. It's going to be a bit difficult, isn't it Fluency? Just a little

  • bit. Err, you know, my next question Vicki - it's, it's very interesting to us that you

  • don't drive. You know I was going to ask, if you have a clean driving record. Because

  • that's actually... Well I do have a licence. And I have a clean driving licence. It's just

  • because I live in the centre of the city, I haven't driven for a few years. Is it because

  • you don't like driving? Erm, well it's very busy. The traffic's very bad in the city centre

  • and I can walk everywhere. Aha! So when you're out of the city, how do

  • you like to travel? How do you travel normally, once you get out? I love boats. I love planes.

  • Flying is great. Hmm. Wow! Uhuh, Uhuh. Shanthi, I think there may be some challenges for Vicki

  • in this position. One more question I have Vicki is how... how is your endurance? I mean

  • can you work for a long period of time without a break? When I get interested in a task,

  • I like to work all night on it. Oh wow! That's good. So what do you think? Have I got the

  • job? That's a tough one because - Shanthi, here's what I think... I think that... What

  • was the job? One second. What we just found out about you Vicki is really important. The

  • endurance but no driving licence. Oh you say driving licence, by the way and in the States

  • we say driver's license. Just something for everyone to know out there. What do you think,

  • Shanthi? Good point. You know Vicki, you wouldn't be right for this job. Oh no! I'm so sorry.

  • So what job have I missed out on? Tell me! Well, driving an eighteen wheeler. A truck

  • driver, of course. You were going to be a truck driver. Oh a truck driver! Do you know,

  • I might actually like that job, because you get to see America, don't you? That's true,

  • but unfortunately you chose to tell us about your love for walking and boats and planes

  • and pretty much every mode of transportation you could think of besides a truck - which

  • is not so good when you're interviewing for the job of truck driver. Ah. And you wanted

  • to go abroad. You wanted to do international travel. Ah, I'm going to have to give myself

  • a mark here. Finally! A 'Boing' for Vicki. It's about time. OK, I think we should stop playing

  • this stupid game and have a rap. Let's do it! Oooo! Let's do it! Cool!

  • Once again it's Fluency MC, Flu, Flu, Fluency MC. Once again it's Fluency MC. Grammar through

  • lyrics, kick it! Ha! Yeah! Well, I want to tell you about the rap for today. But first

  • I want to quickly explain, in case we have any new viewers for the English Show today,

  • why we do raps on the English Show. So, I like to write short raps using rhyme and rhythm

  • to give you practice with the vocabulary and the grammar structiures that we've included

  • in different segments of the show. So I made a rap for today and Vicki made a video. We're

  • going to show you the video so you can watch, read and listen. We'll have the lyrics there.

  • Then we're going to practice together and Shanthi, will you practice with us. Yes, of

  • course. Can't wait. Excellent. And then what we'll do is show the video again. And of course

  • you can watch this English Show program and all the English Show programs multiple times

  • to keep practising, because these raps really can help your pronunciation, your listening

  • skills, and most importantly, help you remember the great vocabulary and structures that we

  • talked about today on the English Show. So, Jay! Could you roll the video?

  • . All right. Cool, very good. Great. I love

  • the video Vicki, thanks for that. It was fun to make. So there's vocabulary and grammar

  • structures that I hope you remember from earlier in the show. So things like 'resigned' and

  • we talked about 'achieving' versus accomplishing. And I also put in some other vocabulary that

  • I think is very common in job interviews so I focused a lot on the questions the interviewer

  • asks, as you can see, not so much on the answers to the questions. And it might seem a little

  • fast so we're going to do it slower but with the same rhythm, because the rhythm here is

  • the natural rhythm of conversation. So Shanthi, if you will repeat after me for this practice?

  • And everybody out there in the audience, please do the same. Shanthi, ready to go? Yes, I

  • am. Ready everybody? Let's go like this.

  • Good morning! Thank you for coming in for this interview today.

  • Good morning! Thank you for coming in for this interview today.

  • Good. I’ve just had a look at your resume. I’ve just had a look at your resume.

  • Good. In the United States we usually say resume. Er, resume. Other places sometimes,

  • cv. I say cv. Yes, cv for sure. Curriculum vitae. Yeah.

  • What are your greatest strengths? What are your greatest strengths?

  • How about your long-term objectives? How about your long-term objectives?

  • Why do you want to work for our company? Why do you want to work for our company?

  • In what ways would you be effective? In what ways would you be effective?

  • What gives you the most satisfaction? What gives you the most satisfaction?

  • What are you passionate about? What are you passionate about?

  • Do you work well on a team? Do you work well on a team?

  • Absolutely, without a doubt! Absolutely, without a doubt!

  • Good, notice we say 'on a team' usually in American English, but British? 'In a team.'

  • Yeah, yeah.All right let's continue. I achieved

  • a lot at my last job. I achieved a lot at my last job.

  • But I recently resigned. But I recently resigned.

  • I have big plans for the future, you know. I have big plans for the future, you know.

  • Well, thank you for your time. Well, thank you for your time.

  • We appreciate your coming in. We appreciate your coming in.

  • And well be in touch soon. And well be in touch soon.

  • Thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to hearing from you.

  • I look forward to hearing from you. Very good. One more thing I wanted to mention,

  • because some of you might be wondering, 'we appreciate your coming in'. In more formal

  • English in American English (I'll ask you two in a moment about British) we would use

  • the possessive pronoun here - your coming in. But in everyday conversation in American

  • English, we don't use this so much. 'We appreciate you coming in' but in a more formal context

  • it would be 'your'. How about in British? Oh same thing in British. Although I have to

  • say when I saw it I thought mmm. Because I'm so used to hearing it in the informal way.

  • Great, well thanks Shanthi, and thanks to all of you for practicing. As you see we slowed

  • it down, but I hope when you're watching the video, you'll notice that the rhythm is the

  • same, so for example, we said, erm, 'how about your long term objectives?'. In the video

  • it's more 'how-about-your...' Right? But the idea is to get practice with it more slowly,

  • really focusing on it as we did. And then also to get listening practice and then when

  • you're ready, also speaking practice by rapping along with the video. So can we check out

  • the video again, Jay?

  • That was great. Well, thank you. Great video

  • for the rap and I hope everybody enjoyed it. I hope that everybody who is applying for

  • a job and has an interview coming up, gets that job. Good luck. Yes! Good luck! Hopefully

  • you'll know before the interview what the job is for. That definitely helps you prepare.

  • And I want to say thank you to Shanthi for all the great tips she's given us about interviews

  • today. Thank you Shanthi. Thank you very much it was a pleasure. Listen. If people want

  • to stay in touch with you, or get in touch with you, or follow you, what can they do?

  • Well, what they could do is they can have a look at my website: English with a Twist

  • dot com, sign up to my free e-guide where they... and they sign up to my blog, and that

  • way I deliver weekly lessons every Friday, which is specifically for Business English.

  • And they also get a free e-guide on the ten ways to communicate better and more effectively

  • in business with English. Now the other thing is you've actually written a book about interviews

  • - English job interviews, haven't you? Yes, I have. It's part of my book called Business

  • English Secrets. And one section of it is dedicated to job interviews, but it also covers

  • other areas like presentations, and also writing skills, and small talk - which are the key

  • skills that a lot of my clients have, you know, asked me to cover and where I've coached

  • them. And job interviews is a big section of that. Yes. Fantastic! Great. And erm...

  • if you want to follow us, and I hope you do, then how can they follow us on 'The English

  • Show' Fluency? Well, it's really easy because you can look in the description box below

  • for all the information. Definitely our YouTube channels: Fluency MC and Simple English Videos,

  • and also to be on our mailing lists to get information from us. You can do that by going

  • to our websites. So I think all we need to do now is say goodbey to everybody, but first,

  • good-bye to you Jay and thank you for your help today. Thanks so much Jay. It's been

  • my great pleasure. I've had a lot of fun. I hope you have. It was great to see you Shanthi.

  • And we'll see you in the next show! Goodbye then everybody. Bye. Have a great week. See you soon. Bye-bye.

Hey. Come on everybody. It's going to start.

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