Ex.10. Discuss the following issues.

1. Why are job interviews so important for hiring employees? Does every job require an interview? Prove it.

2.Why can a phone interview be called merely screening? Can an interviewer understand everything about an applicant by phone? Why?

3. Why is a face-to-face interview so important for employers?

4. What can an employer understand about the candidates from a group interview?

5. Why do you think several members of the organization may want to take part in a panel interview? How should the candidate interact with them?

6. Is it advisable for a jobseeker to ask about his future salary?

7. Do you think you would be able to cope with the difficulties of a stress interview?

8. What are the most important things you would like to find out at the informational interview?

9. If an interviewer asks you if you have ever used your leadership skills, will it be easy for you to remember a relevant fact from your past job or studies? Can you analyze your own behavior?

10. Do you know how a jobseeker should be dressed?

Ex.11. Go through the questions with your partner. Use your fantasy to answer them.

There is a large number of common interview questions that interviewers ask in order to evaluate different aspects of your personality and work methodology such as: personal motivation, goals, flexibility, stress management, manageability, and so on.

Personal motivation and traits

• Tell me about yourself

• Why did you leave your last job?

• Do you have experience in this field?

• How successful have you been the past five years?

• How do you feel about this organization?

• What do your co-workers say about you?

• How do you feel about working in a team?

• Do you consider that you are a great asset to this company?

• Why do you want this job?

• How do you handle stress and pressure? 

• Describe a difficult work situation / project and how you overcame it.

• Why should we hire you?

• Do you think that the money is the best motivation? 

• What do you think are the disadvantages of this post?

• Could you tell me what discourages you about this job?

• Could you tell me one of your personal projects?

• What is the best motivation in your life?

• What do you think are the best conditions to work properly?

• What is your greatest strength / weakness?

• Why do you choose this company instead others?

Goals

• What are your main goals in the life?

• Tell me about a friend/relative that you consider successful

• Does "success" have any meaning to you?

• Does "failure" have any meaning to you?

• Do you consider yourself successful?

• Do you set goals in the job/life?

• What do you do to reach a goal?

• Tell me about a job experience in which you had to use communication skills

Flexibility

• How did you handle the changes?

• Do you like the risks?

• How important is the adaptability on your job?

• How do you handle the problems in the workplace?

• Have you ever worked with unpleasant co-workers?

Stress

• How do you meet the deadlines in the workplace?

• Have you ever worked in a stressful environment?

• What does "stress" mean for you?

• Have you ever taken difficult decisions?

• Could you tell me the most difficult situation you have faced on your last job?

Manageability

• Have you ever had a trouble with your boss?

• How do you handle the problems with your boss?

• How do you handle criticism?

• Could you tell me when was the last time that one of your ideas has been criticized?

• What are those things that your boss did and you disliked?

• Have you ever been unfairly criticized by your boss? How did you handle it?

Ex.12. Search the Internet for information about interview etiquette. You can go to http://www.job-interview.net. Share with the group what you have found.

Ex.13.Watch Video 9. Say if the statements are true or false. Correct the wrong statements.

1. Most interviews are designed to assess three key areas: educational background, interest for the job being offered, fit for the job including applicable skills and personality.

2. Women shouldn’t wear skirts for the interview.

3. Women shouldn’t wear jewelry, pink costumes and make up.

4. Jobseekers should give a firm but not a bone-crushing handshake.

5. Applicants should make eye-contact with the interviewer.

6. Don’t smile, or you will look silly.

7. When asked: “Tell me about yourself”, applicants should give a detailed life story.

8. When asked: “Tell me about yourself”, applicants should give a concise summary of his/her career, abilities and goals.

9. When speaking about your weaknesses avoid being too personal and say what can be improved.

10. An applicant should answer all interviewer’s questions, even if the question is illegal.

11. An applicant can answer telephone calls if they are very important.

12. An applicant should switch off the phone after checking who was calling.

Ex.14. Role-play. “Interview a jobseeker!”

Decide upon a company and a job the jobseekers are going to apply for.

Divide the class into 4 groups, each of them performing one of the following tasks:

1. “Employers”: make a job description for the position.

2. “Employers”: make a list of personal qualities and qualifications required for the position.

3. “Interviewers”: make a list of questions the interviewer is going to ask.

4. “Applicants”: think of ideas that can make you a perfect fit for the position and for the company ( in this group each student makes his/her own list of personal qualities, qualifications and experience).

Act out a panel interview. Do it in groups. Each group consists of two “employers”, one “interviewer” and one “applicant”. After the interview discuss, whether he/she is a good fit for the position.

Ex. 15. If you want to get an appointment for an interview, and an opportunity for getting a new job, it’s important to know how to write a perfect Resume (CV) and a cover letter that could show how professional and how interested in the job you are.

Listen to John Woodrow, a Human Resources professional giving some advice on writing better CVs.

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/professionals-podcasts/advice-writing-cvs

Before you listen match the words and phrases in the table to their definitions.

1.recruitment 2. CV 3. post 4. database 5. candidate 6. flexible 7. relevant 8. reference

a. A person who is competing to get a job b. A document that describes your qualifications and working history to support a job application c. Able to change or be changed easily according to the situation d. The process of finding people to work for a company or become a new member of an organization e. A computer system that stores lots or information f. Connected with what is happening or being discussed g. A person who knows you can say why you are suitable for a job h. A job in a company or organization

Ex.16. Listen to John Woodrow. Decide if the following statements are true or false.

1. Part of John Woodrow’s job is deciding which new people his company will employ.

2. Woodrow reads hundreds of CVs every month.

3. His company does not accept CVs.

4. Woodrow’s company keeps lists of potential employees on a computer.

5. Woodrow will ignore a CV which is too long.

6. He thinks the first CV he looks at is too short.

7. One problem with the first CV is that it includes irrelevant information.

8. Woodrow suggests that placements are not important when describing your experience.

9. The second CV has too much space on it.

10. The second CV includes information about the languages the person can speak.

11. Woodrow is only interested in people who can speak Spanish.

Ex.17. Listen to the audio again and complete the text by writing the missing words into the gaps below.

1. John, ____________ about your work.

2. It’s good to know what ____________ people are out there.

3. What advice ____________ give us on writing a CV?

4. Anything longer ____________ pages will automatically go into the bin.

5. Make sure it’s clearly written and ____________ no spelling mistakes in it.

6. We don’t need ____________ what people look like.

7. We’re ____________ a couple of CVs now.

Ex.18. Here is a sample resume. Read and analyze it.

Jodi Shannon 317 Jefferson St. Amherst, MA 01004 (512) 555-0917 jshannon@earthlink.net __________________ Objective Seeking position as Department Store Manager. Qualifications summary - Four years of experience in retail merchandising, specializing in men's wear. - Experience creating financial plans and meeting budgets. - Created promotional concepts. - Purchased and maintained inventory for a $12M company - Experience creating radio and print advertisements. Employment History Jones Department Store 2005 - Present Buyer, New England Region Supervised a sales staff of 22 associates.  Responsible for purchasing men's wear sold in the men's department of all company stores in New England, with years sales exceeding $2M.  Drafted budgets, solved problems for individual stores, and developed new merchandising concepts. Analyzed sales, planned key promotional events, and wrote quarterly reports. J.C. Goodwin Department Store 2001 - 2005 Manager, Men's Department Responsible for all aspects of Men's Department management. Recruited and trained new employees.  Responsible for loss, prevention, inventory control, and merchandising. Education B.A., Marketing 2001 Boston University, Boston, MA References Available upon request.

Ex.19. Search the Internet for more samples in various fields of business (you can go to http://www.freeresumesamples.org.) Write your own resume (it can be fictitious) applying for a position in a company. Try to use free resume builders at the site.

Ex.20. Learn how to write a cover letter.

A cover letter is a marketing tool in every job search; therefore it's necessary to attach this document to every resume that you send. The main objective of the cover letter is to attract employer's attention towards your resume and in order to do so, you need a document free of mistakes; it also should be interesting to read. The information that is contained in your resume should be summarized and it should have around four paragraphs. The cover letter gives you another chance to market yourself and show what you have to offer to the company, it answers the questions "How can this person help the organization?" 

Generally a cover letter has the following format:

Hard copy: sender’s address and contact info at top. Place your address and the date, they can be left-justified, or centered.)  Your Street Address City, State Zip Code Telephone Number E-mail Address  Month, Day, Year Mr./Ms./Dr. First Name Last Name Title Name of Organization Street or P. O. Box Address City, State Zip Code Dear Mr./Ms./Dr. LastName: Introduction paragraph: Describe why you are writing; how you learned of the company and/or the position, add basic information about yourself.  Second paragraph: Describe why you are interested in the employer's type of work. Demonstrate that you did your homework and investigated about organization and the employer or position. List those relevant qualifications that make you a good fit for the employer's needs. If you can you should explain more deeply those skills you described in your resume. If you have other enclosures besides of your resume, mention them here.  Third paragraph: Emphasize the fact that you would like to have an interview with the employer to know more about the position. Let the employer know that you will call in two weeks to know if they need something else from you. Thank the employer for his/her time and consideration.  Sincerely, (Your handwritten signature) Your name and last name typed. (In case of e-mail, your full contact info appears here)  Enclosure(s) (refers to resume, etc.)

Ex.21. Search the Internet for sample cover letters and write your own cover letter to match the resume you have already written.

Following the interview process, an HR manager will call a candidate's references. HR managers also tend to call the candidate's former employers - whether the candidate has the former employer listed as a reference is typically irrelevant.