Careers
Senior 3 · English
Careers
5 lessons
Lesson 2 of 5
Career Corner: a Radio Phone-In, a Job Interview Role-Play and Sounds That Must Not Blur
25 min
Let's begin
"We'll call you" can be the best or the worst sentence in an interview. In this lesson you listen to a recruiter explain what she looks for in a young applicant, then you sit on both sides of the interview table. Because an interviewer who mishears vet as bet or work as walk may misjudge you, the lesson ends with three pairs of English sounds that Rwandan speakers need to keep apart.
Before you listen
- When a manager reads a pile of applications, what do you think she checks first?
- List three ways a student can gain experience before ever being paid for a job.
Important
Listening script: Career Corner, for three readers
Only the three readers open the script; everyone else keeps it closed until the tasks are done. About three minutes. A radio programme; the station, speakers and factory are imagined.
Open the script (readers only)Open the script (readers only)
PRESENTER (Kalisa): Good evening, and welcome to Career Corner. Tonight's guest is Mrs Nyiraneza Josiane, who recruits staff for a fruit-juice factory in Rwamagana. Welcome.
MRS NYIRANEZA: Thank you, Kalisa. It's a pleasure.
PRESENTER: Let's start with the question every young listener asks. When a CV lands on your desk, what do you look at first?
MRS NYIRANEZA: Honestly? The qualification. If the job is for a laboratory assistant and the applicant has no certificate in food science or chemistry, I can't shortlist them, however charming the letter is. That's my first filter.
PRESENTER: And the second?
MRS NYIRANEZA: Experience. Not necessarily paid experience. Last year I hired a young man who had never had a formal job, but he had been keeping the accounts of his mother's shop for three years. He brought the notebooks to the interview. That told me he was careful with numbers.
PRESENTER: And the third filter?
MRS NYIRANEZA: The person. In the interview I'm listening for honesty. I would rather hire someone who says "I don't know, but I can find out" than someone who pretends.
PRESENTER: We have a caller. Olivier, you're on Career Corner.
OLIVIER: Good evening. I'm in S3. My problem is this: every advertisement asks for experience, but how can I get experience if nobody gives me a job?
MRS NYIRANEZA: Olivier, that's the oldest question in the world, and there is an answer. Experience doesn't only come from employers. Volunteer at your health centre or in community work. Join a club at school and take responsibility: be the treasurer, organise an event. Help in a family business and keep a record of what you do. And in the long holiday, ask local businesses whether they take interns.
OLIVIER: But does an employer count those things?
MRS NYIRANEZA: I do, if you describe them properly. Don't write "I helped at the cooperative." Write "I recorded the milk deliveries of forty farmers every morning for two months." Numbers, dates, results. Then I can see what you did.
PRESENTER: Practical advice. A last word, Mrs Nyiraneza?
MRS NYIRANEZA: Whatever you do, do it well, because the person watching you today may be your referee tomorrow.
PRESENTER: Thank you. That's all from Career Corner tonight.
First listening: the gist
- What is Mrs Nyiraneza's job?
- What does she look at first in a CV?
- What is Olivier's problem?
Second listening: the details
Copy and complete the table.
| Filter | What she checks | Example or detail she gives |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | … | a laboratory assistant needs a certificate in … or … |
| 2 | … | a young man kept his mother's shop accounts for … years |
| 3 | … | she listens for … |
4. Name the four ways she suggests to gain experience without a paid job.
Third listening: reading between the lines
5. Why does she prefer a candidate who says "I don't know, but I can find out"?
6. What does she mean by "the person watching you today may be your referee tomorrow"?
Show answersHide answers
- She recruits staff for a fruit-juice factory in Rwamagana.
- The qualification.
- Every advertisement asks for experience, but he cannot get experience without a job.
- Table: (1) qualification; food science or chemistry. (2) experience, not necessarily paid; three years. (3) the person; honesty.
- Volunteer (at a health centre or in community work); take responsibility in a school club; help in a family business and keep a record; ask local businesses for an internship in the holiday.
- Honesty matters more to her than appearing to know everything; a person who pretends may make costly mistakes, while one who admits a gap and finds out can be trusted.
- Someone who sees your work now, such as a club patron or a shop owner, may later be asked to describe you to an employer, so your everyday work builds your reputation.
Definition
recruit (v): to find and take on new people for a job or organisation. The person who does it is a recruiter.
filter (n): here, a test that removes the applications that do not meet a requirement, so that only some go forward. The qualification is her first filter.
role-play (n and v): acting out a real situation, such as an interview, to practise the language you will need.
Speaking: the job interview role-play
An interview has a shape. Learn the stages and the language for each side of the table.
| Stage | The interviewer might say | The candidate might say |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Welcome | Good morning. Please have a seat. Did you find us easily? | Good morning. Thank you; yes, the directions were clear. |
| 2. Qualifications | What are you studying? Which subjects do you do best in? | I'm in S3. My strongest subjects are mathematics and English. |
| 3. Experience | Have you done any work like this before? What exactly did you do? | For two months I recorded the sales in my aunt's shop every evening. |
| 4. Qualities | What are your strengths? How would your teachers describe you? | I'm reliable: I haven't missed a club meeting this year. |
| 5. A situation | What would you do if a customer shouted at you? | I would stay calm, listen, and then call the manager. |
| 6. Your questions | Do you have any questions for us? | Could you tell me what the working hours are? |
| 7. Closing | Thank you. We'll let you know by Friday. | Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you. |
Role cards. Work in pairs. One of you interviews; the other applies. Then swap with a new card.
- A. Assistant at a phone-repair kiosk for four weeks of the holiday. The owner wants someone careful with small parts and honest with money.
- B. Helper at a cooperative's milk collection centre. Work starts at 6 a.m.; the helper records each farmer's delivery and keeps the cans clean.
- C. Shop assistant at a craft cooperative that sells baskets to visitors. Some customers speak only English or French.
- D. Assistant at a holiday reading club for primary pupils. The assistant reads aloud and helps slow readers.
Interviewer: prepare five questions, at least one from each of stages 2 to 5. Candidate: prepare one true or invented example of experience, with a number and a time, and one question to ask.
Worked example
Answering "Why do you want this job?" (role card B)
Weak answer: "Because I need money." It is honest, but it tells the interviewer nothing about why you fit this job.
- Link to the job: "I know the milk collection centre well; my family has delivered milk there since I was small."
- Add a skill with evidence: "I'm careful with records: I keep the attendance register for my class."
- Add a goal: "I'd like to study agriculture, so I want to understand how a cooperative works."
Strong answer: the three sentences together, spoken in about twenty seconds.
Worked example
Asking the interviewer a polite question
Direct questions such as "What are the working hours?" can sound abrupt to an employer. An indirect question is more polite. Change "When does the job start?":
- Choose an opening: Could you tell me …, I'd like to know …, Do you know …
- Put the subject before the verb, as in a statement: the job starts.
- Drop do, does or did, and move any -s back to the verb: does … start becomes starts.
- Result: Could you tell me when the job starts? For a yes/no question use if or whether: "Is there a uniform?" becomes "Could you tell me if there is a uniform?"
Warning
- Wrong: Could you tell me what are the hours? Right: Could you tell me what the hours are? After the opening, the word order is a statement's.
- Don't invent qualifications or experience. Interviewers ask follow-up questions, and a lie that is found out ends the interview, or the job.
- Answer the question you were asked. "Tell me about yourself" means your studies, experience and goals, not your whole family history.
Sounds and spelling: keep these sounds apart
In an interview you may say vet, collect or work only once. If the sounds blur, the listener hears a different word. Kinyarwanda does not use the difference between l and r to tell words apart, so that pair needs special care; the other two pairs trouble many learners of English everywhere.
| Contrast | How to make the sounds | Minimal pairs |
|---|---|---|
| /l/ and /r/ | /l/: the tip of the tongue touches the ridge behind the top teeth and air flows round its sides. /r/: the tongue tip curls back and does not touch anything. | light / right · collect / correct · glass / grass · lead / read · fly / fry |
| /b/ and /v/ | /b/: both lips close, then open. /v/: the top teeth rest on the lower lip and the voice buzzes through. | bet / vet · ban / van · best / vest · boat / vote |
| /ɜː/ and /ɔː/ | /ɜː/: lips relaxed, slightly spread, tongue in the middle (work, firm, shirt). /ɔː/: lips rounded and pushed forward (walk, form, short). | work / walk · firm / form · shirt / short · bird / board |
Say it twice, change one sound. Read each pair aloud to a partner, in any order. Your partner points to the word they heard. Then read: "The vet will collect the forms from the firm, and I'll walk to work."
Tip
Use a mirror or your phone camera. For /v/ you must see your top teeth on your lower lip; for /b/ you must not. For /ɔː/ your lips must round; for /ɜː/ they stay flat. If you can't see the difference, the listener can't hear it.
How to prepare for an interview, episode 1 of English at Work, from BBC Learning English (about 5 minutes). Note one piece of advice the characters give and one useful phrase, and use both in your role-play.
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Practice
- Put these interview stages in order: (a) the candidate's questions; (b) welcome; (c) experience; (d) closing; (e) qualifications; (f) a situation question.
- Make each question polite and indirect, starting Could you tell me …: (a) When does the job start? (b) Is there a uniform? (c) How many people work here? (d) Who will train me?
- Rewrite each weak statement so that it shows real experience with a number or a time: (a) I helped at my church. (b) I worked in my uncle's shop.
- Choose the word that fits: (a) Our cow is sick; call the (bet / vet). (b) Please (collect / correct) the mistakes in your letter. (c) Fill in this application (firm / form). (d) I (work / walk) at a hotel on Saturdays.
- Read the sentence aloud, then say which words begin with /l/ and which begin with /r/: "Rose rarely leaves the lab late, and the results are always right."
- For role card B, write five interviewer's questions, one for each of stages 1 to 5.
- Mrs Nyiraneza says she would "rather hire someone who says 'I don't know, but I can find out'". Do you agree that honesty matters more than knowledge in a first job? Write four sentences.
Show answersHide answers
- (b) welcome, (e) qualifications, (c) experience, (f) a situation question, (a) the candidate's questions, (d) closing.
- (a) Could you tell me when the job starts? (b) Could you tell me if (whether) there is a uniform? (c) Could you tell me how many people work here? (d) Could you tell me who will train me?
- Sample answers: (a) I welcomed visitors and kept the attendance book at my church every Sunday for a year. (b) I served customers and counted the cash in my uncle's shop every afternoon during the April holiday.
- (a) vet; (b) correct; (c) form; (d) work.
- /r/: Rose, rarely, results, right. /l/: leaves, lab, late. (Always has an /l/ in the middle.)
- Sample: (1) Good morning, please sit down. How did you travel here? (2) Which subjects are you best at? (3) Have you ever recorded money or goods for someone? (4) Why should we choose you? (5) What would you do if a farmer said his delivery was recorded wrongly?
- Open answer. Look for a clear opinion, a reason, an example and a polite counter-view.
Sources and credits
- Radio script "Career Corner" (imagined station, speakers and factory), listening tasks, interview table, role cards, worked examples, sound table and practice: written by Ganzaa.
- Photo: Cyuzuzo j.d'Arc, Ange Dusabe, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Video: How to prepare for an interview, English at Work episode 1, BBC Learning English, embedded from YouTube, not copied.
Written by Ganzaa, except the photo credited above. This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.