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BEP 167 – Interview in English for your First Job (1)

Advanced, Business English, ESL Podcast, Job Interview English /

BEP-167 - interview in English

This Business English Podcast lesson is the first in a three-part series on first job interviews in english.

Job interviews in English can make anyone nervous. After all, you want to make the best impression you can. But as a new graduate, you have an added challenge: little formal job experience. You need to prove to the employer that your studies and university experiences relate to the job you’re seeking.

Today, we’ll cover some ways to help you connect your college experiences to an employer’s job requirements. We’ll look at making introductions and explaining ground rules and interview format. We’ll also look at two types of common questions – “tell me about yourself?” and discussing your education.

We’ll meet Owen, who just got his master’s in electrical engineering. He’s originally from Chengdu, China, a city 2,000 kilometers west of Shanghai. But he moved to Shanghai for graduate school and has decided to stay here for work. He’s interviewing for a test engineer position at IBH, an electronics company.

Today’s meeting is a panel interview. This means a group of people will be asking the questions. So we’ll also meet Erica, who’s in charge of recruiting for IBH, and two of her colleagues: George, an engineering manager, and Cindy, a new HR manager.

Listening Questions

1. Why do you think George is handling the technical aspects of the interview?
2. What are two qualities or transferable skills that Owen mentions?
3. What does Owen say about his university’s approach to learning?

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Skills 360 – Tips for your First Job Interview: Work Experience

Business English, Business Skills 360, ESL Podcast, Job Interview English /

Today, we’re launching a new podcast: Skills 360 for Business English.

Business English Skills 360 will focus on the soft skills essential to your success in business.

Appropriately enough, we’re doing this first series on another kind of first: your first job interview. The biggest question about first job interviews relates to experience. How do I show I’m right for the job when I have little or no work experience? What am I supposed to talk about? Even if it’s not your first job interview, you might run into the same difficulty. Perhaps you’re changing careers or transitioning into a new aspect of business. The question remains: How do I relate what I’ve done to what they want, even if it’s not directly related?

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BEP 162 – Dealing with Customers on the Phone 2

Business English, Customer Service, Intermediate English, Telephone English /

This Business English Pod lesson is the second of a two-part series on telephone skills and dealing with customers on the phone.

When you’re helping a caller on the phone, unexpected things can happen. You might need to get some additional information from another source or have the caller to speak to someone else. Or, there may be some interference with the telephone connection that makes it hard to hear someone. It’s good to be prepared so that you can handle the call efficiently, without irritating the customer.

In this lesson, we’ll look at some of these unexpected situations. We’ll discuss ways to tell a caller what’s happening during the call and how to politely question and clarify if you don’t hear or understand something. We’ll cover language for signaling that a call is about to end, and how to politely finish the call.

In the last episode, we met Leroy and Paul. Leroy is a customer care agent for a credit card company. Paul is a customer whose card is about to expire. He hasn’t received a replacement card yet and Leroy is helping him.

Listening Questions

1. Why does Leroy need a minute to pull up Paul’s records?
2. What is Paul’s correct street address?
3. Why didn’t Paul receive his replacement card?

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BEP 161 – Dealing with Customers on the Phone 1

Business English, Customer Service, Intermediate English, Telephone English /

This is the first in a two-part Business English lesson on dealing with telephone inquiries.

It’s natural to feel a little nervous when answering questions on the phone, especially when you’re using a different language. You can’t see the other person, so you can’t interpret facial expressions and body language. You also need to listen more carefully, so you can help the caller quickly and efficiently.

Today, we’ll look at some common strategies that can make handling telephone inquiries a little easier. We’ll start with ways to answer the phone and identify yourself. We’ll also explain language you can use to verify a caller’s name, confirm something a caller says, and clarify the inquiry by restating it.

Now, let’s listen to a conversation between Leroy, a customer service rep at a credit card company, and Paul, a customer. Paul has some concerns about his account and Leroy is helping him.

Listening Questions

1. What is Paul’s main concern?
2. How is Paul’s last name spelled?
3. What are the last 3 digits, or numbers, of Paul’s bank ID number?

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BEP 160 – Talking about your Company

Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Job Interview English /

BEP 160 - Describing your Company

This is the second of a two-part Business English Pod series on talking about your job and company.

What can you say about your company? How would you describe it? There are a number of things to consider. There’s the company size, its employees, and its branches. But there’s also company history, culture, reputation, and future plans.

In today’s lesson, we’ll cover language for talking about your company. We’ll start with giving the basic facts and then move on to ways to describe company culture and structure, reputation, and the organization’s future plans and goals.

We’ll listen to Stella, an IT manager, and Ronda, a recruiter who is helping Stella find a new job. In the last episode, Stella told Ronda about her job and her concerns about the company’s old equipment and outdated technology. Today, she’ll tell Ronda more about the company itself.

Listening Questions

1. How many people work at Stella’s company?
2. What does Stella’s company sell?
3. What are two ways the company contributed to the local community?

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