The job interview

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Useful phrases for interviewsVocabulary
7. 7Check the interviewListening comprehension
8. 8Listen: a voicemail from HRListening comprehension
9. 9Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
10. 10What does it mean?Grammar exercise
11. 11Keiko's notesGrammar exercise
12. 12Present perfect or past simple?Grammar rule
13. 13Choose the right formGrammar exercise
14. 14A STAR answerGrammar exercise
15. 15Interview questionsGrammar exercise
16. 16Say it naturallySpeaking practice
17. 17Mock interviewSpeaking practice
18. 18Let's discussDiscussion
19. 19Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: find the mistakeGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: a thank-you emailDiscussion

Words

• responsibilities/rɪˌspɑːnsəˈbɪlətiz/

  the tasks and duties that are part of your job (a responsibility: one of them)

• supervise/ˈsuːpərvaɪz/

  to be in charge of people or work and check that it is done well (a supervisor: the person)

• proficient/prəˈfɪʃnt/

  good at something because of training and practice (proficient in / at…)

• deal with/ˈdiːl wɪð/

  to take action to solve a problem, or to handle a difficult person or situation (dealt with: the past)

• qualifications/ˌkwɑːlɪfɪˈkeɪʃnz/

  the skills, experience, education and certificates that make you right for a job

• offer letter/ˈɔːfər letər/

  a letter or an email from an employer that offers you a job and gives the details, like the pay and the start date

• salary range/ˈsæləri reɪndʒ/

  the lowest and the highest pay that a company offers for a job

• perk/pɜːrk/

  something extra that you get from your job, in addition to your pay, like free lunches or a gym

• shortlist/ˈʃɔːrtlɪst/

  a short list of the best candidates, chosen from everyone who applied (also a verb: to shortlist someone)

• background check/ˈbækɡraʊnd tʃek/

  when an employer checks facts about a person (past jobs, education, sometimes a criminal record) before hiring them

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about job interviews.

1. What was the best job interview you have ever had? What made it go well?
2. Have you ever interviewed someone for a job? What did you look for?
3. Would you rather have a job interview on video or in person? Why?

Grammar rule

Present perfect or past simple?

	Present perfect	Past simple
Form	have / has + past participle	the past form (-ed, or an irregular form)
Use it for	an experience at some time up to now, when you don't say when	a finished time or a finished job, and the details of an experience
Time words	ever, never, before, so far, already, just, yet	yesterday, last year, in 2022, two months ago, at my last job, when I was at…
Questions	Have you ever taught a class?	When did you teach it? Where was it?
Examples	I've written two grant proposals. She has never lived abroad.	I wrote the first one in 2023. She lived with her parents until she was 25.

In an interview: the experience first, then the details

Have you ever + past participle…? → Yes, I have. / No, I haven't. → then the details in the past simple: what happened, when, what you did and the result. Interviewers call this a STAR answer: Situation, Task, Action, Result.

"Have you ever trained new staff?" "Yes, I have. Last year, we hired six new cashiers, so I wrote a short guide and trained them in two weeks."

In American English, the past simple is also common in experience questions (Did you ever work abroad?) and with just, already and yet (I just sent it. Did you sign it yet?). But with a finished time, or with When…?, use only the past simple: not We have met last Tuesday, not When have you met her? For something that started in the past and is still true (I have worked here since 2022), see unit 4. Learn the irregular participles: lead – led – led, speak – spoke – spoken, write – wrote – written, deal – dealt – dealt, be – was / were – been.