Episode 04

Daniel's interview doesn't go too well. What mistakes does he make?

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. You can also read the transcript.

Preparation

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Transcript

Daniel: Hi there!

Marcia: Good morning, Daniel!

Daniel: Oh, Dan, please.

Marcia: I'm Marcia Boardman – we spoke on the phone – and this is Philip Hart, our CEO.

Philip: Hello!

Daniel: Nice to meet you both.

Philip: So, it says here on your CV that you’re interested in rock climbing.

Daniel: Yeah, I love it!

Philip: Great, so do I! When did you last go climbing?

Daniel: Er, well, it was a while ago, now.

Philip: Anywhere interesting?

Daniel: Yeah, I walked up the hill behind my house. Took me about 30 minutes!

Philip: Oh.

Marcia: OK, erm, Daniel, can you tell us a little bit about your current position?

Daniel: Certainly. As it says in the CV, I'm part of the European sales team at Networld. We're the world's leading supplier of IT hardware.

Philip: Why do you want to move on?

Daniel: Well, they're too small for me!

Marcia: Networld are too small for you?

Daniel: Yeah, I'm looking for something much bigger.

Philip: Well, we're not a big company by any means, but we are looking to grow! Er, what first attracted you to WebWare in particular?

Daniel: Well, I see WebWare as kind of like a stepping stone ...

Marcia: Sorry?

Daniel: Yeah, start here, gain the necessary experience, then move on to something bigger.

Philip: OK ... well, I do admire your ambition!

Daniel: Thanks. I've got lots of it!

Marcia: Let's move on to managing people. Can you give an example of a time when you had to deal with a particularly difficult managee?

Daniel: Sure, well, I think that's one of my strong points, actually. Er, a couple of years ago, I was working with a guy, he wasn't pulling his weight, basically being lazy – so I told him to get out.

Marcia: Oh, you didn't give him a performance review or a warning or perhaps try to develop his motivation?

Daniel: No, no, no, no. None of that rubbish. If someone's not working hard enough, then they're out! That's the way I work. I'm a hard man.

Marcia: I see.

Philip: Erm, how would you handle a rapidly changing market?

Daniel: Basically not change anything at all! Just continue on as normal, regardless.

Marcia: Erm, according to your CV you are fluent in Mandarin ...

Daniel: Well, I wouldn't say 'fluent', exactly, but I like Chinese food a lot so I can read the menu.

Philip: So you can't actually speak the language?

Daniel: Er, no.

Marcia: Can you tell us about a time you had to close a particularly challenging deal?

Daniel: I haven't had one. They're all easy for me. I close deals all the time.

Marcia: OK, well, do you have any questions for us?

Daniel: No.

Philip: Oh. OK. Erm, thanks.

Marcia: Let's move on to the presentation ...

Task 1

Exercise

Task 2

Exercise

Discussion

What were Daniel's good and bad points? What should he do to improve his interview performance?

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Worksheet89.38 KB

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Language level

B1 - Intermediate

B2 - Upper intermediate

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This text contains tips for people who are going to a job interview. After their application, the recruiter will positively assess the person applying for a job.

Dear Moderator, Thanks for your patiently answer. At the beginning of this episode, Daniel used "Dan, please." to greetings. So can we use it in our daily lives? Like this, "Leo, please" to greet with friends. And when Philip asked Daniel "Anywhere interesting?" Does it mean if there is an interesting place, you will go or which place was interesting you most in your past experiences? So can we use "Anything interesting" to replace it? Thanks. Best regards, Leo

Hi Leo,

When Daniel says 'Dan, please', he is telling Marcia to please call him 'Dan' instead of 'Daniel'. It's not a greeting.

Philip is asking if the last place than Daniel climbed was anywhere interesting, in other words, if it was a place that is well-known or far away (for example, a mountain like Ben Nevis in Scotland, a mountain that is not easy to climb). 'Anything interesting' doesn't communicate exactly the same idea and wouldn't work as well here.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Very useful informations we got here. especially what to avoid doing during a job interview.

Mistakes to be avoided during interview...

The video shows everything you should avoid on a job interview.

What an unusual interview! It's impossible to trust a candidate like him.

Daniel, no, no there's no such man as he in this world! He's a supreme example of a bad interviewee. Exaggerating his abilities, pay no respect for the company he's applied a job for, I felt that the staff of this series made up too much! However, it was fun to see anyway... Thanks a lot.

I am from Brazil and started to study English some years ago.. Since I started to study I always had a big difficult with my listening skills for example when I talk in English with a Brazilian I understand everything that the person is talking to me but when I need to talk with a foreign (English, American or German) I have a big difficult to understand... I work in a multinational company and everytime that I need to participate of a international meeting I stay in panic... Please what suggest could you give to me to improve my listening skills faster? I always watch movies and series with Portuguese subtitles but it looks that is not helping me.. Thank you so much by the support!

Hello Vinicius Librandi,

It can be difficult to cope with fast speech, especially when there are people of different nationalities with different accents speaking together. The first thing I would suggest is that you develop one or two very polite ways to ask the other speaker to repeat what they said if you did not understand it. For example, you might say:

Could you say that once again, please, a little more slowly. The connection is not the best and I didn't quite understand.

Do you mind saying that again please? I didn't quite follow.

Another technique is to check that you understood what the person said or wants. For example, you could say:

So if I understand correctly you need to... / your problem is... / what you are saying is that...

As far as developing listening skills goes, the key is practice. Using the transcripts which we provide with our listening texts is a good idea so that you can read and listen at the same time. This will help you to get used to the rhythms of natural speech and to see how words change and are linked when they are spoken in fluent connected speech. Try also reading the transcript along with the recording after you have listened and done the various comprehension tasks. This will help both your speaking and your listening.

The more you practise, the more you will improve. Remember that we don't always see or feel progress. It is incremental and so hard to see, but if you practise you will get better.

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team