BEP 167 Interviewing for your First Job (Part 1)

This Business English Pod lesson is the first in a three-part series on first job interviews.

Job interviews can make anyone nervous. After all, you want to make the best impression you can. But as a new graduate, you have an added challenge: little formal job experience. You need to prove to the employer that your studies and university experiences relate to the job you’re seeking.

Today, we’ll cover some ways to help you connect your college experiences to an employer’s job requirements. We’ll look at making introductions and explaining ground rules and interview format¹. We’ll also look at two types of common questions – “tell me about yourself?” and discussing your education.
We’ll meet Owen, who just got his master’s in electrical engineering. He’s originally from Chengdu, China, a city 2,000 kilometers west of Shanghai. But he moved to Shanghai for graduate school and has decided² to stay here for work. He’s interviewing for a test engineer position at IBH, an electronics company.

Today’s meeting is a panel interview. This means a group of people will be asking the questions. So we’ll also meet Erica, who’s in charge of recruiting for IBH, and two of her colleagues: George, an engineering manager, and Cindy, a new HR manager.

Listening Questions

1. Why do you think George is handling the technical aspects of the interview?
2. What are two qualities or transferable skills that Owen mentions?
3. What does Owen say about his university’s approach to learning?

1 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。