7 Most Common Interview Questions Answers Business English Course Lesson 4

hello everyone and welcome back to

english with lucy today I’m going to be

talking to you about job interview

questions and how to answer them let’s

get started in this lesson we’re going

to discuss seven of the most commonly

used interview questions how to answer

them correctly and how to tailor the

answers to your personal skills and

experience this particular lesson is

going to cover seven of the questions

which are easier to answer absolutely

everyone who is preparing for a job

interview

must have their answers prepared and

perfected in the following lesson part

two we’ll be discussing some of the most

complex questions I highly recommend

that you follow both lessons carefully

it’s tempting to skip to the advanced

lesson but if you don’t know the basics

you’ll fall at the first hurdle please

take the opportunity to write out model

answers in the comments down below and

use each other for inspiration if you

would like to offer someone else the

opportunity to correct your English or

give constructive criticism on your

answers you can start off by saying that

feedback is welcomed the first interview

question is can you tell me about

yourself

this question seems so simple but

frequently candidates fail to prepare

for it you don’t want to say too much

but you don’t want to say too little

either what you should prepare is a

clear and concise answer that builds a

connection between you and the

interviewer and shows why you are the

perfect person for the job

the formula for answering this question

is easy start with the present follow

with the past and finish with the future

the present is where you are right now

for the past touch on where you were

before and the skills and experience you

gained for the future show how excited

and eager you are for this new

opportunity for example I’m currently a

sales intern at the coffee bean Co where

I’m being mentored by the head of sales

before that I was studying for a

business degree at the University of

Chelsea and working at a shoe shop

franchise where I developed my sales

skills I really enjoyed the sales

aspects of the retail position and now I

would love to work in a corporate sales

position and take on more responsibility

which is why I am so excited about this

Sales Manager position you don’t need to

tell them your name or your age or where

you’re from they’ll be able to work that

out from your CV don’t waste time

telling them irrelevant information that

they already know question number two is

how did you hear about this position

when I was first asked this question I

thought it was just used for feedback to

the company they just want to know which

job advertising platform is working best

for them right

well actually this question can offer

you a real foot in the door but if you

mess it up it can seem like you are

mindlessly applying for millions of

positions if you found out about the job

from a professional contact or a friend

in the company you can name drop them

especially if you think that they would

be a good reference for you just don’t

go overboard as it may seem like you are

using them say something like I was

excited to find out about the job from

my friend who works in the accounting

department here if you search for the

company specifically emphasize that it

will show how keen you are to work at

this specific company if you discovered

the company through an event or an

article you can also share that and if

you found the job advert on social media

or in a job board share what caught your

eye about the role and made it stand out

amongst the rest for example I was

browsing the indeed platform and when I

saw the offer from this company I was

really keen to apply the job description

and requirements matched my profile

perfectly

forgetting where you found the job is

the mother of all mistakes you should

keep a document detailing the jobs that

you’ve applied for and where you found

each job question number three is why do

you want to work here this is your

chance to show the interviewer how

passionate you are about the company and

the position you need to show how much

you know about the company so for this

question research is key spend time

searching the company how it started its

morals its clients its projects how it

works

everything for example if you’re

applying at an educational charity you

could say I’ve always been passionate

about education and I’ve seen firsthand

the work that you do I have always

wanted to be a part of it I was

especially impressed when I found out

that your teams are so small I

originally thought that you would have

so many employees due to the sheer

amount of work you do I love working as

part of a small team and seeing my work

make a real impact is so rewarding

you should also align your skills and

experience with the role you should take

key parts of the job description and the

job requirements and add them to your

personal profile for example the part

that really got me excited was the

opportunity to present on a regular

basis I had to present in front of an

audience at my previous role and this

position would give me a chance to

present about something I am incredibly

passionate about

question number four is what are your

strengths with this question it’s easy

to say a load of positive adjectives and

we’ll talk about those later but

interviews will have heard them all

before the big part of this question is

justification you need to justify each

strength you give and apply it to the

job role for example I’m very logical

and in my previous position I managed to

rethink an entire delivery process

reducing each delivery time by four

minutes I communicated it to my boss and

after a successful implementation they

still use my process today

question number five is how would your

boss describe you first of all the most

important thing is be honest if they

really consider you for the job the

hiring manager will be calling your

former bosses and co-workers the easiest

way to answer this question is to

paraphrase a recent positive performance

review you should specifically reference

where you’re getting this information

from this makes it easier to describe

yourself as trustworthy dedicated and

creative without feeling like you’re

boasting you’ll also want to give some

big-picture context about your role and

responsibilities to fill in the gaps

around your answer another way to do

this is to start off with a positive

story about something that you’ve done

and conclude it with how your boss or

coworkers would describe you since this

question is pretty open-ended it’s a

really good opportunity for you to share

something that you really want to

mention in the interview but you haven’t

had a chance to yet if you simply can’t

think of anything here is another

approach you could try think about three

positive traits that you bring to your

workplace then have a short example

after each

for example I’m a good negotiator I

managed to negotiate a better price on

our stationery last year

question number six what is your dream

job career advisors think of good jobs

as an intersection of your skills

interests and values that’s a really

good way for you to approach this

question talking about your skills will

give you an opportunity to sell yourself

which we’ll talk about later your

interests will show your passions and

your investment and your values can help

illustrate your fit within the company

an example would be I’ve mentioned my

experience with programming so my dream

job would definitely have to relate to

that in terms of the industry while I’m

really interested in sports so something

related to that would be good in my

career I really value having a good

relationship with my co-workers that’s

the reason why I’m so excited to be

interviewing for this position the vibe

in the office is amazing

question number seven is where do you

see yourself in five years time this can

feel like a bit of a trick question

because sometimes what you want to say

is not here or in your job or something

like at a bigger better opportunity

realistically those aren’t going to be

good answers think about where this

position could take you and consider how

that aligns with some of your broader

professional goals for example you could

say I’d like to be seen as someone with

expertise in the energy sector which is

something that I know I’ll have an

opportunity to do here I’m also really

excited to take on more managerial

responsibilities in the next few years

and potentially even take the lead on

some projects

right those were seven of the slightly

easier interview questions and how to

answer them

in the next lesson we’ll be discussing

the more complex ones don’t forget to

share your model answers in the comments

down below and give people feedback if

they want it that’s it for this lesson I

hope you enjoyed it and I hope you

learned something don’t forget to

connect with me on all of my social

media I’ve got my facebook my Instagram

and my Twitter and I shall see you soon

for another lesson nuts

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