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BVP 03 Business Vocabulary – Office Manager

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, ESL Podcast, Management English /

Today’s podcast continues our series on business vocabulary, with a special focus on collocations or word partnerships. By focusing on words that are commonly used together you can improve your vocabulary and also your ability to understand your English-speaking colleagues.

When you think of “office administration”, what are the first things that come to mind? They might be things like paperwork, filing, copying, and other boring and repetitive tasks. Most people probably don’t think of an office manager’s job as a crucial service that supports the successful running of a company and, therefore, its ability to make money.

Well, today we’re about to meet Thomas, who’s going to tell us about the role he plays as office manager at the Mexican subsidiary of a multinational chemical company.

Listening Questions

1) How does Thomas summarize his role as Office Manager?
2) What characteristics does Thomas list as important qualities of an office manager?
3) According to Thomas, what is a common misunderstanding about the best way for an office manager to do his job?

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BEP 114 – Job Interview English: HR Review of Candidates

Business English, ESL Podcast, Human Resources, Job Interview English /

BEP 114 - job interview listening

As part of our series on job interviews, in this Business English Pod episode we’ll be taking a closer look at the process from the HR perspective. Specifically, we’ll be studying the language of reaching a decision about whom to hire.

A Brazilian business unit of fast moving consumer goods company Fun Beverages has recently interviewed several people for an HR manager position. Now the regional HR director, Ted, and the business unit general manager, George, are meeting to discuss the short-listed, or final, candidates.

As you listen, pay attention to the language they use to compare the two interviewees and to decide which one is the best fit. In addition, we’ll study how they support a candidate, emphasize priorities, express reservations (or second thoughts), and suggest action.

Listening Questions:

1. Which candidate do they prefer and why?
2. What are the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two main candidates, Ronaldo and Yala?
3. What are the main reservations about Yala?

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BEP 113 – Job Interviews: Second Round Interviews

Business English, ESL Podcast, Job Interview English /

BEP 113 - job interview English lesson

Continuing our series on english for job interviews, in this lesson were going to look at what happens when is you’re asked back for a second round interview.

Congratulations! You were successful in your first job round interview, and you have been called back for a second interview. What should you expect? The key word is more – there will be more questions, more pressure – and, of course, more likelihood that you will get the job.

An important function of second-round job interviews is to find out whether we fit with the employer’s company culture.

In this lesson of English for interviews, we’ll study how to demonstrate that we are a good match with an organization. In addition, we’ll review some other useful second-round interview skills, such as summarizing the previous discussion and referring to something you forgot to mention earlier.

We’ll listen to Sherry’s second interview with a big international accounting firm, Grimshaw and Keene (GK). The interviewer is George Tan, an Asia-Pacific key account manager.

As you listen, pay attention to how George and Sherry establish that she is a good fit for the organization, and try to answer the following listening questions.

Listening Questions:

1. George describes GK as both “high-pressure” and “tremendously rewarding,” but he is concerned about whether or not Sherry is ready to “take the plunge.” What does he mean by that?
2. What does Sherry say is one of the things that most attracts her to GK?
3. What is George’s major concern about Sherry’s work experience?

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BEP 112 – Negotiations: Getting Started

Advanced, Business English, ESL Podcast, Negotiating /

This is part of an ongoing series on negotiations. In this Business English Podcast episode, we’ll study how to open a traditional commercial negotiation between buyer and seller. We’ll focus on creating goodwill, starting off, setting ground rules, suggesting an agenda and exploring possibilities.

We’ll be listening to a telephone conversation between Tony, a supplier of building materials, and Paul, a purchasing manager for a large construction company in Canada. Paul is buying materials for a harbor project. A harbor is a protected area of water where boats dock, or park. For this project, Paul needs to buy anchor bolts. These bolts are the thick steel screws that are embedded or buried in concrete to support or anchor structural steel columns. Structural columns refer to the steel frameworks that hold buildings up.

This is the first time Tony and Paul have talked on the phone. As you listen, pay attention to the language they use to get the negotiation started, and try to answer the following questions.

Listening Questions

1. How does Tony begin off the phone call to establish goodwill?
2. How long does Paul say he has available for the phone call?
3. Paul asks Tony how he will be using the bolts. How does Tony respond?
4. What other option does Paul want to explore with Tony?

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BEP 111 – Negotiations: Relationship Building

Advanced, Business English, ESL Podcast, Negotiating /

This Business English Podcast episode on relationship building is part of an ongoing series on negotiation skills.

In negotiation, establishing a good relationship based on trust makes it possible to jointly search for creative solutions, to overcome blockage and even to turn conflict into a productive force.

Both Peter and Maxine are owners of local telecommunication services that provide mobile phone users with ring tones and games. Peter’s company, Textacular, has a significant presence in Denmark; meanwhile, Maxine’s company, Gamester, is based in northern Germany.

Peter is working on a plan to sell his business to a large, European-wide telecom service provider. In an effort to increase his company’s value so that he can get more money for it, Peter wants to roll up or buy other local services like his. In today’s listening, he is having lunch with Maxine to find out whether she might be interested in selling her company. As the dialog starts, they have just ordered their food.

Listening Questions

1) Have Peter and Maxine met before?
2) What does Peter say is his and Maxine’s “biggest overlapping concern?”
3) How does Peter bring up the subject of a possible merger between his and Maxine’s company?

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