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BEP 259 – Difficult Interview Situations 2

Business English, Job Interview English /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on dealing with difficult interview situations.

Imagine you’re in a job interview, answering questions about your experience. Things seems to be going pretty well, but suddenly you say something you wish you hadn’t. Maybe you mentioned a big mistake you made at a former job. Or perhaps you said something bad about your former employer. You watch the interviewers face to see how she reacts, and your heart starts to race.

These are not unusual situations. We’ve all faced them. And if you stay calm, there are some good ways to recover. In today’s lesson, we’ll look at some useful techniques for these types of situations. We’ll look at admitting to a past mistake, explaining what we’ve done following a failure, and highlighting what we’ve learnt from the experience. We’ll also look at toning down a negative statement and emphasizing positive ideas after saying something negative.

We will hear two short dialogs today. In the first, we’ll rejoin Simon and Charlene. Simon is interviewing for a job as bank manager. In the second dialog, we’ll hear Sara and Nick. Sara is interviewing for a position as a buyer with a big retail chain.

Listening Questions

1. What mistake did Simon make at his previous job?
2. What did Simon do after making a mistake?
3. What does Sara think her previous employer needed to do better?

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BEP 258 – Difficult Interview Situations 1

Business English, Job Interview English /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on dealing with difficult job interview situations and questions.

We all know that job interviews are stressful. And we all know that one of the keys to reducing that stress is good preparation. But sometimes, no matter how well prepared we are, we find ourselves in tough situations. Maybe we are asked to talk about a weakness, or maybe we don’t know important information about the company where we’re interviewing.

Whatever interview difficulty we are facing, we need to take a deep breath, remain calm, and show confidence. Fortunately, we can learn language techniques to help us succeed in these tough interviews. In today’s lesson, we’ll look at showing how a weakness stems from a positive, how we’ve tried to change a weakness, and how we are a team player. We will also look at showing general industry knowledge and asking good questions.

We will hear two short dialogs today. In the first, we’ll hear Sara interviewing for a position as a buyer at a large retail chain. She’s being interviewed by Nick. In the second dialog, we’ll hear Simon interviewing for a position as a bank manager. He’s being interviewed by Charlene.

Listening Questions

1. What reason does Sara give for her stubbornness?
2. What has Sara done to change her stubbornness?
3. What does Simon say he understands about the banking industry?

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Business English News 30 – Drones

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business News, IT and Tech /

BEN30-drones-for-commercial-use

In today’s Business English News lesson, we look at the potential of using drones for commercial purposes.

What was once a dream for science fiction fans is now inching closer to reality. Powerful companies are pouring money into what they hope will be the birth of a new delivery market. Google, Amazon, and a handful of others have embarked on a project that may change the way consumers receive products, and the commercial drone industry is poised to take off with far-reaching applications.

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BEP 102c – Signposting a Presentation

A2, Business English, Presentations in English /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to use “signposting” language to connect the different parts of a presentation in English.

To understand signposting, think about the signs you see in the street. They tell you where you are going and what you are going to see next. In the same way, when we speak, we can use words and expressions that tell our listeners where we are going and what they’re going to hear. For example, at the start of a presentation, we might say “I’m going to talk about three main ideas.” Then your listener knows the organization of your presentation. And in the middle of your presentation, you might say “So, let’s move on now” – That tells your listener that you’re changing to a new topic.

In the dialog, you are going to hear part of a presentation by a man named David. The presentation is about a company’s sales “performance.” What do I mean by “performance”? Performance is how well a person or company does what it’s supposed to do. So if a person “performs” well in his job, he’s doing good work. And if a company is “performing poorly,” it’s not doing so well. So in this presentation, you’ll hear about “sales performance.” In other words, David is talking about how well the company is selling its products.

Listening Questions

1. How many parts is the presentation divided into?
2. What’s the first topic the presenter is going to explain?
3. What’s the second topic the presenter is going to explain?

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