Improve your English for UK job interviews I nternational Students’ Careers Week 19 th February 2016 Will Hutton The Language Centre School of Languages, Linguistics & Film

Objectives of this session The context The language you need Example responses Practice Questions

The context Key terms Shortlisting Person specification Competencies Essential criteria/ Desirable criteria Competency-based interviews versus strength-based interviews Evidence and examples

The candidate Speed of delivery Relevance Elaboration Nerves Culture Language

The STAR technique Situation Task Action Response

The language you need Key tenses Adverbials Positive adjectives Highlighters

Key tenses If you are successful at interview, how long do you plan to stay with the company? I have looked into both this role and the organisation. I am impressed with the very wide range of opportunities on offer and I am very excited about the prospect of working for you. I know you have expanded recently and I have always wanted to work in an ambitious organisation. I appreciate that in employing me, you would be investing in me, and I would want to repay this investment by being a committed member of your team. Present perfect Present simple

Adverbials What are you like at time management? I am able to manage my time very effectively. For example, on my degree at Queen Mary I learnt how to record tasks systematically and to prioritise. Above all, I gained invaluable experience managing deadlines and dealing with competing responsibilities and, as a result, I feel really confident that I can manage tight deadlines well.

Positive adjectives Can you tell me about any achievements you have experienced in your life so far? Yes, I can. So far in my life I have achieved quite a few things I am proud of. For instance, on my MSc at Queen Mary I took the lead on a successful project to provide local schoolchildren with an insight into financial services. Although it was challenging, it was very exciting to work with school pupils and teachers and I had very positive feedback.

Highlighters How would you deal with someone in a work situation who you felt was not pulling their weight or working as part of a team? In my second year at Queen Mary I had a situation like this. I was working on a group presentation and one member of our group proved to be really unreliable. The most important thing to do is to not to ignore this. What we did in this case was talk to our team member in a friendly but firm way, explaining what we needed from him. It is vital to communicate and, in this case, addressing the issue early really helped.

Highlighters How would you deal with someone in a work situation who you felt was not pulling their weight or working as part of a team? The most important thing What we did in this case It is vital to In my second year at Queen Mary I had a situation like this. I was working on a group presentation and one member of our group proved to be really unreliable. The most important thing to do is to not to ignore this. What we did in this case was talk to our team member in a friendly but firm way, explaining what we needed from him. It is vital to communicate and, in this case, addressing the issue early really helped.

STAR example – Tell me about a time that you solved a problem to a tight timescale I was working on a group presentation for my Business Ethics module in my third year with a very tight deadline. Our group had to focus on a universal ethic issue in financial services across at least two different cultures. We decided to focus on whistleblowing as this seemed most relevant and I was able to get an interview with a prominent German CEO at very short notice. Our tutor was very happy with the presentation and we got a first for this assignment.

Points to remember with STAR Be specific (and concise) Remember interviewers have short attention spans Create a bank of answers

Your turn Please describe a situation when you had to demonstrate sensitivity and tact. Describe a situation in which a number of things had to be done at the same time. How did you handle it? What was the result?

Questions? In-sessionals, The Language Centre All our In-sessional provision is free for Queen Mary students