“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill
Job interviews are daunting and stressful. There is no doubt about it. Now if you have to do the job interview in another language then your stress levels have just doubled.
Here at Intrepid English we understand how difficult it can be to showcase yourself in English. We have updated our Job Interview course to help you get your future dream job.
It is September and it is typically the time of year when we look for new jobs or employers start to hire again. That is why this month we are going to be focusing on job interview skills to help you succeed.
In this podcast I’m going to share with you 8 common red flags or errors that English learners often make while doing a job interview in English. I’m also going to give you 8 simple fixes to ensure that you get bonus points in an interview rather than losing points due to communication or language errors.
1. Speaking too fast (or too quietly)
This may seem obvious but when we’re nervous we tend to speed up and certainly when speaking English, it is important to be clear and not rush or whisper your answers. You might be speaking perfect English but if the interviewer can’t understand you then it is pointless.
What can you do?
BREATHE!
Deliberately speak slower than normal and be sure to annunciate each sound properly so that those little but important sounds can be understood. The difference between a regular verb in the present simple or the past simple is often one little ‘t’, ‘d’ or ‘id’ sound and it is crucial for your interviewer to understand you.
2. Overusing filler words like “uhm”, “like” or “you know”
If you need to pause to collect your thoughts, then take a deep breath rather than using a filler word as unfortunately the filler words make you look less confident and less professional.
What can you do?
Use these phrases instead: That is an excellent question. Let me think for a second. What an interesting question.
3. Only giving one-word answers
Of course you don’t want to give long-winded answers but one word is really not enough when answering a job interview question.
If the interviewer asks you: “What are your strengths?”
A really bad answer would be: “Teamwork.”
A positive answer would be: ” One of my biggest strengths would be having excellent interpersonal skills. A colleague recently remarked to me how much she appreciated my teamwork and she had found it really useful working with me.”
Interviewers want examples and so where possible use the STAR method when answering a question: situation (what was happening?), task (what needed to be done), action (what did you do that helped the situation), result (what was the positive outcome.) Check out our job interview course to have more help and examples on how to give answers using the STAR method.
4. Incorrectly using the English tenses, especially the difference between the past simple and the present perfect.
“I worked for the company for 5 years.” – This means you no longer work for the company and are giving it as a reference to a past experience.
“I’ve worked for the company for 5 years.” – This means you started working for the company 5 years ago and you are still working for them.
When talking about your work experience, you need to be as clear as possible and using the right tense will ensure there are no misunderstandings.
Check out my Ask Us Anything video to understand and use these two important tenses correctly:
5. Avoid negatively talking about previous employers and past jobs
This is a huge red flag for all employers. Avoid saying you hated the job or your boss was demanding.
Instead turn it around and use polite language:
“I wanted to look for new challenges.”
“I learnt a lot from my previous boss but it is now time to start afresh in another company.”
6. Try not to use the words ‘nice‘ and ‘good‘
These adjectives are too common and too overused. English is a rich and varied language with many better and more interesting adjectives.
What can you use instead?
I did a video on this too as ‘nice’ is one of my pet hates so check it out and improve your vocabulary at the same time.
7. Forgetting to ask questions at the end
To show the interviewer that you are interested in the position and the company, it is always best to have some questions for them at the end. Prepare as many as possible and if they have already answered some of your questions in the interview then you will have others to ask at the end.
What useful questions can you have to hand?
” How is success measured in this team?”
“What skills would you say are crucial for this job?”
8. Avoid having a weak closing
It is true that first impressions are very important and that we attach a lot of meaning to the handshake at the beginning of the interview. However, finishing the interview is just as important as it is the final impression you will give and you want to leave the interviewer wanting to see you again. With more and more interviews being done online it is no longer always possible to give a firm handshake at the end. However, you should still close the online call with a strong impression.
Finish the interview by saying, “Thank you very much for your time. I am very enthusiastic about this position and I hope to be able to contribute to your company.”
You can then also email them thanking them for the interview and again reiterating your interest in the company and the job position.
If you would like more help on job interviews, be sure to check out our other blogs, podcasts and Ask Us Anything videos on our YouTube channel this month.
If you’re an Intrepid English Member you can check out the Job Interviews course in the Intrepid English Academy right now and get started with getting yourself ready to smash your next job interview!