Manuals > Business English > Daijob Interview Course - Lesson 3
The following 4 lesson plan is intended for use during the winter of 2014/5. It is aimed at students who are planning or hoping to interview at an overseas company.
Each class introduces some key phrases, however, these are not the focus of the lesson. The main objective is to give the student practice and experience interacting in a job interview like situation in English. Each class also offers some interview tips. These are based on western business practises, so may differ from the student’s own culture. It’s also great if teachers can bring their own experiences to the lesson. Also included is a lesson flow for each class. Every lesson follows a basic TTT cycle (Test, Teach, Test) to maximise student talking time. Each lesson has its own worksheet. You can find a copy of this in the school where you work. The teacher and student should share a copy, then the student can take it home after the lesson. The instructions on the sheet are intended to help both teacher and student.
Before the lesson you should;
Read the appropriate lesson plan below - paying close attention to the objective of the class
Prepare a copy of the worksheet to use in your class
Check the student’s profile for useful information. (If they have already taken at least one lesson)
During the lesson you should;
Focus on getting the student to speak as much as possible
Try to stick to the objective of the lesson
Give the student feedback about the language they use and the chance to demonstrate their understanding of the feedback.
Take notes, if possible, to use to update the student profile further.
After the lesson you should;
Give the student the worksheet that you used, along with their notes.
Confirm when their next class is and that they have understood their homework.
Update the student profile if necessary
If the student is very high level
Some students who register for this course may already be very comfortable communicating in English.
If this is the case, then the teacher should focus on the interview aspects of the preparation course.
Try to make the class as similar to an interview as you can, have the student standing up and sitting down as they would in a real interview.
Give advice on interview skills, rather than on English ability.
If the student is low level
Some students who register for this course may be of a low level. They may have trouble simply understanding the phrases presented and formulating answers correctly.
If this is the case, the teacher should focus on the English aspects of the course.
Rather than talking about interview skills, the teacher can help the student to make answers to common interview questions, then practise delivering them.
Give advice on language skills, rather than focussing on the interview.
Objective(s):
Introduce and practise phrases for talking about skills and strengths
Introduce and practise phrases for asking and answering questions in an interview
Lesson Flow:
0-5 min: Introduction and review
Review the student’s homework and some vocabulary from the last lesson. Introduce the learning objective of this lesson.
5-10 min: Test
Introduce the topic of the day, and do an introductory role-play with the teacher in the role of interviewer. Ask the student some questions about their skills and strengths, as well as some other common interview questions.
10-25 min: Teach
Give feedback on the student’s performance from the initial role-play. Use the role-play on the sheet to introduce some more useful phrases, then review the others from the boxes. Practise asking and answering with your own information or imagination.
25-35 min: Test
Role-play the situation from the beginning once more, then reverse the roles and repeat. Role-play one final time, after giving the student some more feedback on their performance.
35-40 min: Wrap-up and homework
Summarise the learning objectives from the lesson and give the student some final feedback. Confirm the homework from the sheet.
Homework
Think of 2-3 questions that you can ask the interviewer for your own situation. Show these to your teacher in the next lesson.
Copy-paste content
Feel free to copy and paste this text into your notes as appropriate
Key Phrases:
Interviewer questions
- What are your greatest strengths?
- Why do you think you would be suited to this position?
- Why do you want to work here?
- What attracted you to this position?
- Do you have any questions for me?
Strengths
- My greatest strength is ...
- My (time management) skills are excellent, ...
- I pride myself on my ...
- The skills this position requires are ..., I think I can meet these because ...
Why?
- This is an excellent opportunity because ...
- This job seems tailor made for my competencies since ...
- This is a project I’d love to be involved in due to ...
- This job would be a perfect fit for me as ...
Interview Tips:
When talking about your strengths it’s a good idea to link them to the requirements of the position you are applying for.
Answering the questions “Why do you want to work here?” or “Do you have any questions for me?” can be a good way to show that you have done your research on the company you are applying to.
It’s best to avoid discussion of salary here, as this can give a negative impression to the interviewer.
Role-Play:
Interviewer: What would you say is your greatest strength.
Interviewee: I pride myself on my time management skills. In 5 years at Systech, my team never missed a deadline.
Interviewer: And why do you think you would be suited to this position?
Interviewee: Well, the skills this position requires are time management and attention to detail. I think I can meet these because, as I already mentioned, my time management skills are good and also I have an eye for detail.
Interviewer: What attracted you to this position?
Interviewee: Your company has been making headlines recently with its innovative approach to systems integration. This is an excellent opportunity because I have a deep interest in this subject.
Interviewer: Do you have any questions for me?
Interviewee: Yes, in a recent article in the New York Times, your CEO was quoted as saying that “Customer Second” is a key strategy for you. Could you explain what he meant by that?