English speaking practice how to answer the number one job interview question
that students usually feel nervous about well watch and find out coming up
hey student I am Teacher Prix and I’m going to help you talk to anyone anywhere anytime in
English thank you so much for watching this lesson make sure to subscribe so that you don't miss any
of my weekly videos now guys this is a very basic question but it usually makes the students nervous
okay and guys even though this is a very basic question it is very important and I will give
you three reasons why answering this question will show how basic or how advanced your English
really is this is important to know because some people put in their resumes advanced
intermediate certification in Cambridge but when it's time to speak they can't so be careful
okay sometimes you're very worried about the level but when it's time to deliver you cannot so when
the interviewer asks this question they want to see if you really know a bit of English how
basic or how advanced your English is because this question will determine the next questions they
are going to ask you in English second reason it shows how confident or how nervous you are
everybody gets nervous okay it is natural we are human beings the interviewer will analyze
your ability to speak to show confidence even though this is not your native language
so when they ask you this very basic question they are testing your ability to keep it cool
and give the best possible answer why you may have presentations to make
you may have meetings to attend you may need to speak on the phone can you keep it cool
even if you make mistakes can you continue the conversation well they are testing you
and we can do this test with very simple questions because if you get too nervous you will show okay
it shows the interviewer if you actually have the skills to continue the interview in English
yes because if you fail at this question why keep going okay so this may be a very simple question
so you actually have to prove yourself here paper lies so what you wrote in your resume may not be
true you may believe it is because you went to school because you traveled abroad because you
took an international certification but can you do it now when I had my interview at Bank of America
in English they saw my resume this was in Portuguese this moment was in Portuguese okay
oh you went to Harvard and I said yeah and then after that the entire interview was in English
it was my first interview when she saw you went to Harvard I said yes and then the rest of the
interview the first interview was in English and she asked me this very basic question that
I’m going to share with you let's take a look at the question and then I’m going to teach you
how to answer this question the best way you can and it's simple tell me about yourself now
you could go right now and I understand if you decide to go but if you believe in me a little bit
okay and in my professional experience I ask you to stay I’m going to give you some recommendations
so that you don't sound stupid or too nervous when answering this question that's why I told
you it's a basic question but people fail here we are going to focus on three important elements
your current situation are you currently working have you recently finished an MBA
or post-graduation or have you recently left a company are you currently working somewhere okay
so this is something you need to analyze you can also give a brief introduction well I’m Priscila
I’m from Sao Paulo and then carry on to your current professional situation okay you can say
I’m married I’m single but it doesn't matter stay focused now the mistake that I usually identify
here when I prepare people for job interviews is oh okay I’m sorry I'll make some mistakes
but I'll do my best no never apologize for future mistakes politely start you will make mistakes
but showing you're nervous will not make them sympathize for your situation they are testing you
they are testing your ability to communicate so don't start well
my English is not so my English is not so advanced but but okay okay no this is not a game this is
not a class it's the it's the jungle okay it's real life it's it's hunt or die so go there
with confidence and say okay I got this well thank you very much I’m Priscila I’m from Sao Paulo and
then you continue don't start with apologizing for your English level okay never do that and when I
say this I mean respectfully okay because when you do that you are already sending a message to
your brain oh I’m not good and you will begin to feel nervous about that and at that moment they
don't really care so much about your feelings they care about whether you can deliver or not
so your current situation and I will give you a complete example I'll give you two examples okay
key points about your professional journey now keep in mind they have your resume
okay so you don't need to repeat everything that is in your resume they may not remember
everything but they have it there so you don't need to say everything that
is in your resume key points key points you're just getting started you don't need to mention
everything you did relax they're just testing your ability to keep it cool
right at the beginning and three you can connect the information you're giving with your background
some interests and some qualifications that you have that can be relevant to the position
you are interested okay but remember this is just an ice breaker you are just starting you
don't need to mention all your characteristics so take a look at the screen now I’m going to read
you a short example of how I would recommend someone to answer this question and remember
guys there may be more information for you to mention depending on your level of experience
you just need to avoid exaggerations okay I don't want to know about your 10 brothers and sisters
that's not relevant but if you casually mention well I love spending time with my family
at some point it's okay you are talking to a human being so you can be a little bit personal if it's
somehow connected with the position you're looking for okay so let's go well I’m Alice I’m from Sao
Paulo I have recently finished an MBA program that helped me improve my management skills in
my latest job I had the chance to help my manager run the entire department I learned a lot during
that time and my interest in managing teams only grew as a result of that experience I’m currently
looking for an opportunity that will help me grow as a professional in business management I’m very
good at working in a group and handling multiple projects I can speak English and Spanish well
and I feel comfortable having meetings and presentations in both languages outside
of the office I am an avid reader or I love reading and I love spending time with my family
all in all I believe this position seems like a great opportunity for me to enhance my project
management skills and continue building my career and challenging myself guys now let's analyze here
some key points from this presentation you don't need to speak perfectly here
and in a real interview they may interrupt you if they hear something oh really that gets their
attention so this is what you should study but when you go there the conversation may go in
a different direction okay so when I start hi I’m Alice I’m from Sao Paulo okay they will not
interrupt you there I have recently finished an MBA an MBA program that helped me improve
my management skills here they may stop you and say where oh where oh oh that's wonderful where
did you study where did you take this MBA and then you start talking about your latest job
oh in my latest job experience or in my last no problems okay in my latest means in my most recent
but if you say my last it's fine as well I had the chance I had the opportunity to help my manager
my manager so I helped my manager run the department run in this case means to manage
why didn't I use manage because I said manager so manager manage manager run
run the department I learned a lot and my interest in managing teams grew increased
because of that experience so you're just giving a little bit of information you're not going into
details okay I’m currently looking for or nowadays I’m looking for these are two things you can say
nowadays I’m looking for an opportunity that will help me improve my management skills
that will help me improve my what my project development skills
what kind of skills my analytical skills you name it you need to to find in your niche what is the
best kind of word okay so if you are a doctor if you are a nurse and you're looking to work
more specifically in surgeries let's say you're a nurse and you're going internationally I’ve
helped nurses go internationally actually and you need to say something about that there you have it
if you are an IT specialist do you help implement systems project management what
kind of work do you do in information technology what kind of systems do you usually work with
so maybe you're looking for an opportunity to work more closely with A, X, Z system implementation
you name it okay or with the specific kinds of companies and then I continue I’m quite good at
you're describing something you do well some kind of qualification that is connected with a position
maybe you are applying for a management position so working in a group handling taking care
managing multiple projects will be useful okay next one I can speak English and Spanish well
people are usually very attached to the idea I’m intermediate I’m advanced I’m fluent so I can
easily say that I have no problems because I back it up but in your case you have to be honest with
this I can speak English and Spanish well that's not my case I speak English and Italian well and
I feel comfortable do you feel comfortable I feel comfortable having meetings and presentations in
both languages do you feel comfortable if not then you can change this I can understand English well
I can write in English you have to be honest it's your interview okay outside of the office
here I added a little touch of personal information I like reading which means I like
studying which means I may be a good candidate I like working on myself right I’m i'm an avid
reader and I love spending time with my family loving spending loving to spend time with family
was just something personal that I added but I didn't continue well I have a husband I have four
kids I have a dog and a bird and a no they don't need to know that only if they ask okay now you
will finish I believe this position seems like a great opportunity for me too this opportunity is
good for you to what people usually give general answers to advance my project management skills
and continue building continue building my career and challenging myself you can use this okay this
is pretty much a standard why do you want to go to the next company you want a new challenge you want
to learn more about something okay it's not I know some people go just because of the money but it's
never about the money the the the satisfaction of having more money goes fast at the end of the day
we work for someone because we have a purpose we want to do something more you want more challenge
you want to improve your career you want to learn with the best okay so these are some ideas
now let me give you my example okay of how I would answer this question well I’m Priscila I’m from a
a small town in the state of Sao Paulo but I have been living here in Sao Paulo for the past 11
years I have a bachelor's degree in international relations in my latest job I assisted my manager
in the product development department of Bank of America and I was able to learn a lot about
product implementation flows how to deal with different managers and different departments I had
a lot of meetings and presentations in English and my knowledge in international financial products
grew I’m very organized and I’ve got great analytical skills I can speak and write in English
fluently and well outside of the office I’m very keen on learning more about the financial market
the latest news and spending time with my family all in all I believe this position seems
like a great opportunity for me to enhance my management skills and contribute to this company
with the knowledge I have gained from my previous job experiences thank you and then you finish okay
because as I said before they may interrupt you okay here didn't even mention I went to Harvard
they may see my resume and ask oh so you've been to Harvard yes twice I took two different
specializations there okay so this is the thing and I kept the organization who I am
well I’m from a small city in the state of Sao Paulo but I’ve been living here for the past 11
years I have a bachelor's degree in international relations I don't have an MBA I am working on my
post-graduation in my latest job or in my last job I assisted my manager I helped I assisted
my manager in the product development department of Bank of America and I was able to learn a lot
about product implementation flows how to deal with different departments different managers
I had a lot of meetings and presentations in English and my knowledge and financial products
grew I’m very organized and have great analytical skills I can speak and understand English fluently
if you don't want to mention outside of the office no problems you don't need to you can
go straight to I believe this position seems like a great opportunity for me to enhance
my management skills improve my management skills and contribute to this company with the knowledge
I have gained from my previous job experiences excellent now guys if you see the organization
that are seven points hi who I am where I’m from I have a bachelor's degree in whatever
okay or an MBA in whatever you name it in my last job in my latest job
highlights highlights okay nowadays I’m looking for an opportunity to what it's general again
you wanna you wanna challenge yourself you wanna enhance your blah blah blah skills there's always
something we want to improve okay and then you can describe something you're good at I’m very
organized so these are some general things you can say I can speak blah blah blah blah blah blah well
I can understand English well I feel comfortable making presentations in English
outside of the office I love traveling I spend a lot of time with my family I go to the countryside
to visit my parents or I take different courses to improve my professional skills I believe this
position seems like a great opportunity for me to and when you finish thank you
or you can show with your your face that you're finished well I believe this position will be
a great opportunity for me to enhance my management skills
and contribute to this company with the knowledge I have gained from my previous job experiences
and then you give a brief smile okay communication doesn't always have to be verbal
you're not gonna be like oh I finished that that's it no it's a job interview you can't do that
okay now guys there are two things for you I want to continue this job interview series but you have
a job okay you need to do something for me if I get 50 comments 50 different people different
comments here with job 2 I will bring video number 2 with another question from a job interview and
how to prepare yourself in English the second thing you're going to do is you're going to follow
the guidelines the recommendation that I gave and you're going to answer this question about you
okay you are going to prepare yourself all in all guys the key to interview success is just not what
to say it's how you say be careful when you're answering questions in English apologizing too
much oh I’m so sorry oh I made a pronunciation mistake I’m so sorry or are you speaking too
quickly too quickly and people cannot understand you or are you mumbling uh I... in the job
stop, breathe and speak okay connect the ideas
go and stop if they stop you if they stop you they will ask a question and then you
answer their question and get back to your description introductions there's some key points
the questions will continue they will ask you for more information that's when you are going
to give them what they want this is just an icebreaker and to finish this video if you
want to pass a job interview you have to practice every single day if you're looking for a job and
you know there will be an interview in English you have to practice this in front of a mirror
every single day answer a question interview questions every day so there you have it my
friends if you enjoyed this video share it with your friends other than that
job 2 and I will come back for more thank you guys bye bye