Episode 05

Marcia: Hi, Sarah. I'm Marcia Boardman. We spoke on the phone ...

Sarah: Oh yes, I remember. I was having a bad day!

Marcia: ... and, erm, this is Philip Hart, our CEO.

Philip: Hello!

Sarah: Hello, it's very nice to meet you both. 

Philip: It says on your CV that you do voluntary work.

Sarah: Well, when I have time, yes! I do work at a centre for children with difficulties.

Philip: That must be very interesting.

Sarah: It's rewarding and challenging.

Marcia: Sarah, can you tell us a little bit about your current position?

Sarah: I'm assistant sales director for a chain of language schools.

Philip: So this post would be quite a change then.

Sarah: I don't think so, honestly, because the skills are the same, despite the product.

Marcia: Why are you thinking of moving on?

Sarah: Well, I've come as far as I can in my current position, I feel, and I'm 28 now and would love to take on some more responsibility.

Marcia: OK, um, let's move on to managing people. Can you give us an example of when you had to deal with a particularly difficult managee?

Sarah: Well, yes, I had two people working for me who didn't get along at all. They had no shared values, different temperaments and used to argue a lot. It looked like it was impossible for them to work together. So, I sat down with them and we talked about their differences and their problems, and after that things went much more smoothly.

Philip: How would you deal with a rapidly changing and uncertain global market?

Sarah: Oh, that's actually something I wanted to talk about in my presentation, but I'd say to stay flexible and to diversify markets and sales strategies.

Marcia: It says on your CV you speak French and Spanish.

Sarah: Yes, I do. I lived in both France and Spain for a while.

Philip: Any plans to learn other languages?

Sarah: I'd love to try!

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

Sarah: Well, the biggest contract I won – and the thing I'm most proud of professionally – was with a large university in India, to provide language training. The contract was full of technicalities and the client was very picky! But I still pulled it off.

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

Sarah: Yes, about your ethical policy and your carbon footprint. I was wondering whether you are planning to reduce your carbon footprint and whether all your products are ethically sourced.

Philip: That's a very good question and that's something we're moving towards at the moment.

Marcia: OK, well, let's move on to the presentation.