English Job Interview: Fail to prepare, prepare to fail!

  
Prepare properly for your English Job Interview | Self-Assessment 1

Preparing properly for your job interview is one of the most important things you can do for your career development. However, the weeks leading up to your interview can be very stressful. If you are a non-native English speaker and your interview is taking place in English, then the stress levels increase even further. 

To pass any job interview, it is vital that you know both yourself and the company inside out. You need to have a clear understanding of your own skills, experience, talents, abilities, strengths, weaknesses, interests, work values and achievements, and additionally, you need to be able to express all of this in English.  

An excellent way to prepare for a interview is to conduct a thorough self-assessment. Your self-assessment, if completed properly, acts as an invaluable bank of knowledge from you can find the information required to answer any type of interview questions, even the strange and awkward ones. 

I have been using the self-assessment method with my students for many years and it really helps them to formulate their thoughts in English before they start preparing answers to common interview questions. I hope it helps you too! 

I will post the second self-assessment in a couple of days. Please leave any comments or questions below. 

Self-Assessment 1 – Qualities and Skills
Your first job interview self-assessment should focus on the skills and qualities that you possess and how they can be applied to the job you are applying for.  

Qualities / soft skills
Your qualities include your ‘soft’ and ‘interpersonal’ skills. They are non-technical and related to your attitude, personality, values and character. You need to highlight your qualities throughout the interview when you discuss your work experience. 
Some common qualities that are generally sought after by employers include: 

· Advanced communication skills
· Ability to work as part of a team
· Crisis management skills
· Positive, can-do attitude
· Goal-orientated
· Ambitious
· Flexibility / adaptability
· Reliability
· Motivational skills
· Self-awareness 
· Creativity
· Honesty / Integrity

When describing your qualities in the interview please ensure that you discuss the qualities that are most relevant to the position you are seeking! ALWAYS link your answers to the job description. 

Grammar Tip!!
Many students have a habit of mixing up nouns and adjectives when it comes to describing their qualities. 
Use the verb BE + ADJECTIVE when talking about qualities 
I am reliable / I am highly motivated / I am creative 
NOT >> I have reliable / I am reliability 

Use the verb HAVE + NOUN when talking about skills
I have great motivational skills / I have advanced crisis management skills
NOT >> I am motivation 

Hard Skills 
Questions regarding your technical ability will be specific to your career and job responsibilities. Hard skills are teachable qualities, you can learn them and then improve them, for example learning a new language and then becoming proficient in it over time. 

Hard skills include
· Proficiency in a foreign language
· A degree or certificate
· Typing speed
· Machine operation
· Computer programming
· Accounting
· Medical procedures 

Task 1 
· Make a list of your qualities and skills in relation to the job requirements. 

Task 2 
· Use these skills and qualities to help you answer the following questions. 

Describe yourself. 
What applicable skills and expertise do you have? 
What can you contribute to this company? 
What is your greatest strength? 
Describe a challenging work situation / project and how you overcame it. 
 Describe how you develop relationships with new colleagues.