Упражнения по теме CV. Job interview / Резюме. Собеседование

1. Read the text and do some exercises below.

Applying for a job

Apply for a job / position or complete an application form – submit, post a resume for a vacant position. Usually the package of necessary documents includes resume or CV and cover (or covering) letter. Some companies ask for a personal statement (motivation letter or essay about you) and reference letters (letters of recommendation). All documents submitted by an applicant are called applicant files.

There are two concepts in English: resume and CV. Many people mistakenly think that they are the same, but in fact, they are different documents.

Let’s compare them according to the main parameters:

Lately, the conceptual difference between resume and CV has become fuzzy. In our country, few people know about this difference, and in the west, resumes are getting shorter. A candidate for a vacancy is considered primarily, not as a person, but as part of a group called “personnel”. Personnel recruiting is mainly done by recruiters who search the Internet for resumes by keywords, and do not pay attention to secondary details.

Russian employers sometimes require a “detailed resume”. By this, they mean “CV” and expect a detailed description of your life path from you. Another employer, on the other hand, expects to get a succinct resume and immediately puts aside something that contains a lot of text and takes more than one page.

If you are applying for a vacancy in a Russian or foreign company, it is better to clarify what exactly your potential employer expects to see: resume or CV, no matter what he calls it.

1. Work in pairs or in small groups and read the following CV.

- Can you spot anything strange about it? What is it?

- Answer the questions alongside the CV, they will help you to understand what’s wrong

2. Create your own CV for a part-time job using the add below and this site https://resume.io/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAk53-BRD0ARIsAJuNhpuG1gH3YRkdAMO7BK-sWfwM3heMpha6v6DnIPZXcTCz0h8af9izpQYaAjXTEALw_wcB.

3. Read the text and do some exercises below.

Selection Process

The selection process is structured differently in different companies and includes several selection procedures.

Recruiters examine resumes taking into account background, experience, educational qualifications and employment history (information about which companies and how long an applicant has worked for). It may turn out that the applicant worked in many places, but did not stay anywhere for long. Such candidates are called job hoppers.

Not all applicants reach the job interview stage. All applicants who have submitted a resume (applicant pool) go through a selection process, filtering.

At an early stage of the selection process, after the candidates have been screened out on the resume, the so-called phone screening can be carried out – a short telephone interview, as a result of which a decision is made on the invitation to interview.

The interviewer can ask knock-out questions – questions that allow them to exclude, “knock out” candidates who do not meet the necessary requirements at the first stage of communication.

Job Interview

There are several types of interviews depending on the company, sphere and specifics of the vacancy:

On-the-spot interview – the interview takes place immediately (straight away) as soon as the candidate sends a resume.

Panel interview – an interview conducted by two or more interviewers who talk with the candidate.

A mock interview is a “rehearsal” that a candidate conducts before the actual interview, answering questions to get ready.

Group interview – an interview that multiple potential candidates go through at the same time.

Behavioral-based interview is an interview that discusses the behavior and actions of the candidate in situations related to work. This helps the employer determine how the candidate will react to similar situations in the future.

You may be asked to complete the questionnaire [ˌkwesʧə'neə], a test that the candidate completes before and after the interview.

Testing

The selection process for many positions includes testing.

Ability test is a test of abilities. It tests the candidate’s general abilities: logic, critical thinking, causation, reasoning, and other skills required for the job.

Aptitude testing – this testing is similar to the previous one and tests the candidate’s ability to perform specific tasks and behave in a certain way in different situations.

Personality tests / psychometric testing – tests that identify personality traits and personality traits.

Performance testing is a test aimed at how quickly and accurately a candidate copes with the tasks and functions that the position for which he is applying for assumes.

Cognitive ability testing is a test of cognitive abilities that tests the intellectual potential of the candidate: verbal and mathematical memory (verbal and numerical memory), spatial awareness (orientation in space), perception (perception) and other indicators.

If the position involves the active use of English, many companies also include a test in the selection process that determines the level of development of various language competencies.

Studying the resume and other documents, interviewing and testing allows the future employer to identify the core competencies of the applicant, which, along with qualifications, forms his skill set, which includes skills, abilities, qualifications and work experience.

At this stage, it is important to determine the skills gap – the difference, the discrepancy between the skills and qualifications required for the position, and the skills and qualifications that the applicant has.

Shortlisting the candidates

After successfully passing the job interview and the test stage, the employer shortens the list of candidates (shortlist), selects several and conducts the final selection (pre-employment screening).

It may include the following procedures:

References check – check letters of recommendation. The recruiter contacts the candidates’ referees to find out more about the candidate’s achievements and reputation in the previous place of work.

Background check – the study of a candidate’s past, for example, whether they were prosecuted (a criminal record). In recent years, companies necessarily include social media background screening in the selection process – the study of the candidate’s profiles on social networks, which makes it possible to identify problems and inconsistencies of the candidate with the stated requirements or company values.

4. Watch some BBC Learning English videos about job interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj-EnsvU5Q0&feature=emb_logo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN2jyw6D1ak&feature=emb_logo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj-dX3fZmq0&feature=emb_logo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zyca6fGo4A&feature=emb_logo

Consider all the information from the videos and make a list of tips on how to prepare for a job interview and how to pass it successfully.

5. Study the information from this site https://skyeng.ru/articles/gotovimsya-k-sobesedovaniyu-na-anglijskom-yazyke-top-50-voprosov-soiskatelyu and:

- Choose the best variants of candidates’ answers

1. Tell me about yourself

a) Well, I was born on the 21^st of August in 1988 in Arkhangelsk. My parents were young Soviet forest managers. I had a big family: a great-grandmother, a grandmother, a father, a mother, a brother…

b) I’d describe myself as a goal-oriented and hardworking person with good organizational skills and strategic thinking. These qualities will help me achieve all goals you have set for this position.

2. What are your strengths?

a) Oh, that’s a long story to tell. Firstly, I am responsible, secondly, I am hard-working, thirdly, I am … and so on.

b) My strengths are excellent written and verbal communication skills. I can usually win people over to my point of view. Also, I’m competitive and like to excel at everything I do.

3. What are your weaknesses?

a) I don’t have weaknesses at all. I’m an ideal worker.

b) I admit being a bit of a perfectionist. Sometimes when I’m working on a big project, I focus too much on the details. But I’ve learned that it’s not always possible or even practical to try to perfect your work.

4. Why should we hire you?

a) My years of experience in this industry make me sure I can do this job and bring added value.

b) Well, errr, I really don’t know. Maybe – I’m not really sure that’s the right answer – you should hire me because I am a good worker.

5. Why have you left your job?

a) I wanted a new challenge. There wasn’t room for growth with my previous employer.

b) My previous job wasn’t interesting at all. And people I worked with were disgusting.

- Change the answers to the questions below so that they sound more positive:

Why did you deside to change your job? – My colleagues were really nasty people and my boss was badass.

What do you dislike doing? – I can’t stand doing monotonous jobs.

Give me two reasons why I should not hire you. – Because I’m not good at English and I don’t like being a part of a team.

6. Look through the list of questions you could expect during a first job interview. Work in pairs or small groups and put the questions into three groups:

- the ones which you find easy to answer

- which you find OK

- and which you find difficult to answer.

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