Continuing our Business English Podcast series on job interviews, we look at another very common question you’ll likely be asked when interviewing for jobs in English: What is your greatest weakness?

Talking about your weaknesses tests a unique skill: It investigates your ability to present a drawback as an advantage. Thus, the theme of this episode is be positive, and that’s the main point that we’ll be focusing on.
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In this Business English Podcast lesson, we examine another good example of how to respond to questions about your previous experience and, in particular, how to describe your accomplishments and proudest achievements.

We’ll look at someone with a little more job experience: Yala Santos is an HR specialist who is working in a manufacturing company. She now has an opportunity to interview for an HR manager position in a business unit of a fast moving consumer goods company, Fun Beverages International. Let’s listen to how Yala deals with talking about her greatest achievement.

Listening Questions:

1) What was the project Yala was working on?

Yala was working on the launch of a global, harmonized performance management system that would provide a single, interlinked on employee performance for human resources worldwide.

2) What was her role in it?

Yala worked on localization and documentation for her business unit.

3) What did she do?

She coordinated with the sales team to provide them with pre-training on the system and to ensure that they could set all their targets.

4) What was the outcome?

The launch was successful. Yala’s efforts helped ensure that the launch of the new system had no negative effect on the bottom line (profit) of the company because of the seamless (smooth) transition into using the harmonized database.

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	Podcast	BEP 87 ADV – Accomplishments 2 – Listening Quiz
		BEP 87 ADV – Accomplishments 2 – Gap-fill Exercise
	Phrase-Cast	BEP 87 ADV – Accomplishments 2 – Dialog & Vocabulary
		BEP 87 ADV – Accomplishments 2 – Personal Characteristics
	Study Notes	BEP 87 ADV – Accomplishments 2 – Setting the Context
		BEP 87 ADV – Accomplishments 2 – Describing Accomplishments
	Groups	BEP 87 ADV – Accomplishments 2 – Structuring your Example
	Email for info	BEP 87 ADV – Accomplishments 2 – Review the 4-Step Structure
		BEP 87 ADV – Accomplishments 1- Vocabulary Practice
		BEP 87 ADV – Accomplishments 1 – Flashcards

This is the first in a two-part Business English Podcast series on talking about your accomplishments in job interviews.

We’ll be listening to a bad and good version of a recent graduate discussing his greatest accomplishment. In this episode we’ll focus on language for providing examples of the positive personal characteristics that our previous success demonstrates. Then, in Part 2 of this series, we’ll hear another good example of someone with more job experience, and we’ll examine a four-part structure for telling our success stories.

Listening Questions:

1) Does Alex put his success into an organized, articulate story?

Not realy. He focuses on details that are irrelevant to his interviewer rather than on those that draw attention to his positive personal attributes.

2) Does he present his accomplishment in a way that provides examples of skills and qualities that will be useful at his new job?

He has done a poor job of providing examples of how his experience demonstrates relevant skills and characteristics. For instance, he has not discussed how completing his Master’s thesis demonstrates qualities or personal characteristics that would be useful to his employer.

Premium Members		Online activities (Members / Free Trial)
	Podcast	BEP 86 ADV – Accomplishments 1 – Listening Quiz
		BEP 86 ADV – Accomplishments 1 – Gap-fill Exercise
	Phrase-Cast	BEP 86 ADV – Accomplishments 1 – Dialog & Vocabulary
		BEP 86 ADV – Accomplishments 1 – Individual Characteristics
	Study Notes	BEP 86 ADV – Accomplishments 1 – Teamwork Characteristics
		BEP 86 ADV – Accomplishments 1 – Useful Phrases
	Groups	BEP 86 ADV – Accomplishments 1- Vocabulary Practice
	Email for info	BEP 86 ADV – Accomplishments 1 – Flashcards

This is the second in a two-part Business English Podcast series on discussing previous experience in workplace English job interviews. It is one of an ongoing sequence of ESL podcasts that covers the whole interview process.

In this lesson we listen to a better interview performance by someone who has prepared to talk about their previous experience more effectively. In this good example, Sherry Shen, from Hong Kong, is interviewing with a multinational accounting company for her first job after graduating with a Master’s in finance.

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Study Notes	Phrases & Practice	BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Listening Quiz BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Gap-fill Exercise BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Dialog & Vocabulary BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Highlighting Experience BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Preposition Review BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Turning Weaknesses into Strengths BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Useful Phrases BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Vocabulary Review BEP 83 ADV – Job Interviews – Flashcards

Listening Questions:

1) Does Sherry let her guard down, or does she answer briefly and to-the-point with an appropriate level of formality?

Sherry always answers briefly and to-the-point. For example, she doesn’t take the opening small talk as an invitation to be informal; nor does she seem unfriendly.

2) Does Sherry seem well-prepared to talk about her experience?

Yes, obviously Sherry has carefully prepared for the interview, not just by being able to talk about her successes but also about her potential weaknesses.

3) How does Sherry account for the gap in her resume?

She turns a weakness into a strength by talking about how mothering a child has taught her time management and how to deal with life responsibilities

This is the first in a two-part Business English Podcast series on discussing your previous experience in a job interview. It is one of a longer sequence of ESL podcasts that will focus on the complete job interview process.

In this episode, we’ll be examining a bad example of what not to do. Since previous experience usually comes up at the beginning of an interview, we’ll look at the casual discussion that takes place when an interview starts.

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Study Notes	Phrases & Practice	BEP 82 ADV – Previous Experience 1 – Quiz BEP 82 ADV – Previous Experience 1 – Gap-fill BEP 82 ADV – Previous Experience 1 – Dialog & Vocabulary BEP 82 ADV – Previous Experience 1 – Language 1 BEP 82 ADV – Previous Experience 1 – Language 2 BEP 82 ADV – Previous Experience 1 – Language 3 BEP 82 ADV – Previous Experience 1 – Language 4 BEP 82 ADV – Previous Experience 1 – Flashcards

Listening Questions:
1) Is everything Alex says clear and to the point?

No, it isn’t. He responds inappropriately to Michael’s greeting “How are you doing?” with a serious response we might only expect from a good friend. He also seems to mistake the interview for an academic discussion by discussing his Master’s thesis in too much detail.

2) Does he seem overly friendly or informal at times?

Yes, as already indicated, Michael seems to be overly informal, or at least overly talkative. The jokes he makes do not present his skills or personality in the best light. He seems to say anything that comes into his head, which detracts from his professional image.

3) How does Alex account for the gap in his resume?

2) He maintains that his Master’s thesis was the most important thing in the world to him, which may raise his potential employer’s doubts about his dedication to any future job.