Ready for the 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: strengths, skills and availabilityVocabulary
7. 7Check your understandingReading comprehension
8. 8Strength or skill?Vocabulary exercise
9. 9Listen: the coach's notesListening comprehension
10. 10Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
11. 11What does it mean?Grammar exercise
12. 12Andres's answerGrammar exercise
13. 13Can, could and be able toGrammar rule
14. 14Choose the right formGrammar exercise
15. 15Interview answersGrammar exercise
16. 16Interview questionsGrammar exercise
17. 17Say it naturallySpeaking practice
18. 18Practice interviewSpeaking practice
19. 19Let's discussDiscussion
20. 20Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: Emily's replyGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: an email to a recruiterDiscussion

Words

• strength/streŋθ/

  a good personal quality that helps you do something well (the opposite: a weakness)

• weakness/ˈwiːknəs/

  a quality that is not good, or something that you are not good at

• skill/skɪl/

  an ability to do something well, which you learn through training or experience

• reliable/rɪˈlaɪəbl/

  that you can trust to do what is needed, every time

• detail-oriented/ˌdiːteɪl ˈɔːrientɪd/

  careful to notice the small things and get them right

• self-motivated/ˌself ˈmoʊtɪveɪtɪd/

  able to work hard without someone telling you what to do

• tech-savvy/ˈtek sævi/

  good at understanding and using new technology

• availability/əˌveɪləˈbɪləti/

  when you are free: when you can start a job, or the days and hours you can work

• give notice/ˌɡɪv ˈnoʊtɪs/

  to tell your employer that you are going to leave your job, some time before you leave (two weeks' notice)

• back up/ˌbæk ˈʌp/

  to show that what you say is true, with an example, facts or numbers

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about getting ready.

1. How do you usually get ready for something important at work, like a big meeting or a presentation?
2. How do you feel before a job interview: calm, excited or nervous?
3. Is there an interview question that you always find hard to answer? Which one?

Grammar rule

Can, could and be able to

Time	Use	Example
Now	can / can't + verb (or am / is / are able to, more formal)	She can read Japanese. I'm not able to travel this month.
The future	will be able to / won't be able to + verb	When the new system is ready, we'll be able to track every order.
	can for something you decide or arrange now	I can see you on Thursday at ten.
The past, in general	could / couldn't, or was / were able to	At sixteen, he could drive a tractor.
The past: one success	was / were able to (or managed to), not could (but could is fine with see, hear and understand: I could see the problem right away)	The pilot was able to land the plane safely.
The past: one failure	couldn't or wasn't / weren't able to	We couldn't get a table.

After another verb or a modal, use be able to: We hope to be able to hire two more people. You might be able to get a refund. I haven't been able to call her yet.

Form: can and could take the base verb, with no to, no -s and no -ing: She can drive (not cans drive, can to drive). Questions: Can you…? Were you able to…? Will you be able to…?

could has other meanings too: a possibility (That could be a problem.) and a polite request (Could you send me the file?). And can has no future or perfect form: not will can or have could.