Interview

The objective

To formulate and answer job interview questions

The language

Direct question forms: Why do you want this job?

Indirect question forms: Could you tell me why you want this job?

Modals: could/would/should/can/etc.

Personality adjectives: out-going, motivated, interested, experienced

Past tenses: While working for Microsoft, I developed many new projects

Present perfect: I´ve worked for many different companies.

Conditionals: If I were chosen, I would change the structure of the company.

The set-up

If you like, you can do a few minutes of research on typical job interview questions.

The low-down

Tell students that today they´ve got a big job interview. As Human Resource Directors they´re going to interview several candidates for the job of General Manager of (a) the company they work for. (If they don´t work together or don´t work at all, invent a general dream job position like CEO of Ferrari). Ask students to brainstorm (in pairs) a list of qualities they would look for in this type of position. Examples include leadership skills, experience in a similar position, vision for the future, etc. Get feedback from pairs in open class and put key words on the board. Next ask them to write down as many questions as they can in a set time limit (make sure each person has his/her own copy of the questions). When they´re done, spend a few minutes getting some questions on the board and correcting if necessary in order to get examples and make students feel that they´re generally on the same page. Next, put students into new pairs (A´s and B´s) and ask A´s to interview the B´s. Give a 5 minute time-limit. Quickly change pairs so each has a new partner but maintains their roles as interviewer and interviewee. Repeat this until A´s have interviewed at least three candidates. Change pairs again and now B´s interview A´s. Repeat this three times. With a class of a minimum of 12 students, no one should have to repeat partners.

A1---A1      A2---A2  etc...(A´s stay seated)

B1---B2      B2---B3  etc... (B´s move one seat over to change partners)

Now what?

Ask students to choose their candidates and give as detailed an explanation as to why. If you have too many students in class to do this, you can ask them to quickly get up and write the name of their choice on the board, then just call on a few students to give their reasons. As it´s for a GM or CEO position, those not chosen shouldn´t feel offended. Sum up by asking what they found most difficult about the interview process they just did.

Time to teach

There´s no shortage of language to choose from above. Listen to students and address what´s most important towards completing the task correctly, before looking next at how to be more accurate or improve performance. Further activities for precision could include asking pairs to demonstrate a couple of questions and asking others to correct or, to listen and write down Q/A as if it were a dictation--then focus on what´s good and what could be improved. You could also ask students to write down a report regarding their choice of candidate.

More talk-time

Do you interview well? Why or why not?

What´s the worst interview question you ever heard?

What are some important keys to doing well in an interview, in your opinion?