BEP 159 – Talking about your Job

BEP 159 - Describing your Job

This is the first in a two-part Business English lesson on talking about your job and company.

The way you talk about your job gives clues to what you’re like as an employee or colleague. So, it’s important to consider your audience. For example, if you’re talking to a recruiter or future employer, you want to be brief, but still provide enough details to give an accurate description and make a good impression.

In this lesson, we’ll talk about ways to explain the basic aspects of your job and give details about your duties. We’ll also cover ways to talk about any special projects you’ve worked on and how to discuss your job satisfaction.

We’ll be listening to Ronda, a recruiter, and Stella, an IT manager. Ronda is going to help Stella find a new IT position, but first she wants to get some more information about her current job. They are meeting over lunch at a restaurant.

Listening Questions

1. What is the name of Stella’s current employer?
2. What are two of Stella’s responsibilities?
3. Why does Stella feel like she can’t grow at her current job?

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BEP 132 – Job Interviews: Telephone Screening Interview

In this Business English Pod episode we’ll be looking at how to handle a telephone interview for a new job. If you’re joining us here, you may want to check out BEP 82 and BEP 83 first to see how to talk about your experience in a face-to-face interview. Unit 301 from our Interviews e-book also gives a good overview of all our previous lessons on job interviews.

We’ll be listening to James, who has lots of experience in his field, but has nevertheless recently lost his job due to downsizing at his company. He has been applying for jobs and has completed a series of aptitude and attitudinal tests at an agency that is representing Xeon IT, a multinational IT company.

Angie, who works in Human Resources at Xeon’s head office, calls James at home in the evening to do a screening interview. She needs to ask him some preliminary questions to decide if he will be invited for a face-to-face interview at Xeon.

Listening Questions

1) Why does James want to call Angie back?
2) Why did James leave his previous job?
3) How long does James have to wait to find out if he has a second interview with Xeon?

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Revised e-Book for Job Interviews in English

Business English for Job Interviews eBook

This is a preview of our revised Business English e-Book for job interviews: Successful Job Interviews in English.

Business English Pod e-Books enable you to learn on the go with MP3 audio lessons and the detailed PDF study guides, including a PDF transcript of each lesson. The revised editions include over 100 online quizzes, exercises and flashcards designed to help you practice and use all the language covered in the course.

You can purchase the complete e-book on the signup page.

BEP 114 – Job Interview English: HR Review of Candidates

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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