Hello! Hello! Hello everybody and welcome to your TOEFL Podcast. My name is Steve Ford and I am happy to tell you since our last TOEFL podcast, I have had many students who have all passed their TOEFL exams with flying colors. Why is that? What makes the TOEFL raters tick?
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Hello! Hello! Hello all of my online English students! Welcome to your first Business English Podcast! Yes, as many of my students have pointed out to me, there are many Steves here to teach you English. That could be Regular English,TOEFL/IELTS,Business or Travel. I am happy to be all of those Steve’s in order to help give you some golden tips about how to be successful in your next job interview.
To start off, I’d like to stress the importance of Job interview preparation as I have started to notice an increase in the number of people who urgently need to prepare for job interviews. As globalization picks up speed, you – as a job interviewee – need to be up to speed on how the global market is changing.
Mergers, Takeovers, Joint Ventures
There are many companies which have legally merged into a 50/50 shareholder marriage. Meanwhile, some companies are taking over other ones by purchasing at least 51% of that company’s shares. Certain countries have gone from being a team player in the global economy to becoming a team leader. As a result, many companies worldwide are in the process of trying to close some joint venture deals with foreign manufacturers. In comparison to a merger or takeover, a joint venture means business activities in which two or more companies have invested. When we contrast a joint venture to a merger, the former would be more like dating someone to see how things go. Just a trial run! 30 days or your money back!
The trend for going global in one of the three ways I have just mentioned is leading many companies to restructure themselves accordingly and as a direct result, many multinational companies are hiring. So how can you be prepared for the big job interview? Here are some tips I can give you from the job interview coaching I have been giving students over these past few years.
Know the Level of Expectation of the Potential Employer
In my experience coaching business professionals for their next big job interview, I have noticed that the level of English required by companies they are applying to may vary. If you are new to the job market – and are in doubt about what level of English is required of you – I have a few tips for you.
Applying Directly
Some people may apply directly to a company and this may be your best bet if you have enough job experience and if the kind of work you do is in high demand. A case in point is IT professionals who have a greater chance to use their job experience and qualifications to speak more loudly for them than their level of English. Potential employers in fields where demand is high may be more than happy to turn a blind eye to a potential employee’s level of English.The potential employer will quite often overlook: a foreign accent, random mistakes with prepositions, articles and the odd verb tense. Such mistakes will be forgiven because that potential employee is in demand.
For those of you who just have a few years of experience in any given field with an intermediate to advanced level of English, I can tell you right now that most job applicants freak out before their interview because they think their English needs to be at an almost-native level. This idea is like a firewall which separates potential employees from potential employers. Maybe you got this idea from an English course that told you that you needed to study English for months or years before you would be ready. Maybe this idea of having to be a near-native speaker was reinforced by a bad experience with a job placement test you failed. Maybe you saw a TV program or movie that gave you the impression that everybody who works for a multinational company speaks English like a native speaker. So what is Steve Ford’s advice? You could:
1. Apply directly with the help of someone to coach you for the big day. 90% of your job interview is about self-confidence. An experienced private or group instructor can give you the confidence you need for the big day through language practice and tips. If you find a qualified and honest instructor, you’ll go far.
2. Take a preparation course at a college or university in an English speaking country so that you may gain entrance into an internship related to your field. This costs money and time, but it is money well spent to get around the firewall within your own country to apply directly in the future. Whichever option you end up taking, keep in mind that a job interview can come down to winning over your interviewer in the first 5 minutes of the interview. By choosing the right words at the right time, you can make a good impression on your potential employer to get the job you want. In a short period of time, you can learn common buzz words used in many professions which will already make you sound like a winning team player as you hear: “Congratulations, you’ve got the job!”
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If you have been working at a company for many years, you most likely have moved your way up the ladder to some managerial and/or senior executive position in the company. Congratulations! You have made it this far and one of your rewards may be that potential employers who are interested in hiring may use a head hunter to retain your services. It is easier for job candidates as they are dealing with people within a corporate community where everybody knows other. For this reason, they might send out a head hunter to try and make you an offer you can’t refuse. A word of caution of course would be in regard to head hunters who may promise you the job, but end up making you wait for weeks as they interview other candidates. You could hear something like:
We don’t have the final decision on hiring you.
We do have a final decision, but we need to make sure we can’t find someone better than you and for less money
Usually this is not a problem as you can return the favour by interviewing with several other companies. Be prepared!
Applying via Job Placement Agency……..
Buy the full 18 minute podcast for download + interactive 25 question quiz with Steve’s voice here
Buy the full 18 minute podcast for download + interactive 25 question quiz with Steve’s voice here
