Episode 0235

Music

Hello everyone and welcome to English Pod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today we have a very special lesson for you. This is actually the first in a series of lessons about interview skills.

That's right, for 10 lessons that you will hear once a week for the next 10 weeks, we're going to take a look at an interview, a job interview and we're going to take you step by step throughout the whole interview process, as well as teaching you some useful words and phrases that you can use next time you're at a job interview in English.

Exactly. So pay attention. Today is the first day. We're going to be entering the office and we're going to learn some things that are important for talking to your future employer or meeting people in an interview.

Okay.

Music

Come in.

Mr. Parsons?

Ah, you must be Rebecca. Please do come in.

The pleasure's all mine, Rebecca. Have a seat, please.

Now, would you like any refreshments, tea or coffee?

A coffee would be lovely, thank you. Black, no sugar.

No problem.

Sally, can we have two coffees, please? One, no milk or sugar.

Certainly, Mr. Parsons.

So, Rebecca, I understand you had a first interview with Miss Childs last week?

Yes, that's correct. She filled me in on the details of the job on the telephone.

Yes, of course.

Music

All right, we're back. So now let's take a look at language takeaway.

Language Takeaway

So one of the first things that you're offered when you go to interview at a company is refreshments.

Right. Would you like any refreshments?

This sounds complicated, but it's actually a very simple word for beverages or drinks.

Right. So that's why he offered her tea or coffee.

Right. So refreshments are cola, coffee, tea. But how do you answer this? If I say, would you like any refreshments, Marco?

Uh, you can say, yes, water would be fine, thank you.

Okay, a water would be fine, or I'd like a Coke.

Or I'd like a cup of coffee.

A cup of coffee. Great. Refreshments are drinks. And after that, the characters are talking about the details of the job. So, um, what are these details? How are they different from the job itself?

Well, the details of the job are the specific points about the job. So, for example, if she applied for a job as a receptionist, the details of the job would be answering the phones, taking messages, receiving people at the office. Those are the base or the main details of the job.

Also, we need someone who works from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., someone who is uh going to come five days a week. So the details are basically more information about something.

Right, the specific information about a general topic. And it's not only related to work, the details can be of many, many things.

Right. So if I ask you about your details, Marco, you could maybe tell me your phone number, your address, your full name or birthday. So these are details.

Okay.

And uh well, after they talked about the details of the job, after she explained that she received the details of the job by phone, um, Mr. Parsons says that Mr. Parsons said that, uh, she was recommended for a second interview.

So Rebecca is coming to the office for a second time. She already had one interview, and the woman she talked to the first time recommended her for a second interview. So the verb here is to recommend.

Right. And you can recommend a person, an object, a movie, and that's basically you are saying that this is good and that it's worth seeing, it's worth buying, it's worth interviewing.

Okay, or I can say Catherine recommended the movie Avatar.

Okay. So Catherine liked it. Catherine decided, Catherine suggested or told Marco, it would be good.

That's right. So to recommend.

And then Mr. Parsons said that they're going to start discussing her background.

Well, background, think of the word back that means behind. This usually means a person's history at a job or at many jobs or even their educational background, information about where they studied.

That's right. So the background, maybe a person's background is, as you said, all their history, work, study, many, many different things, even maybe seminars or courses that they assisted.

Or even just their personal history. For example, Marco, you speak English like an American. What's your background? Because I know you're not American.

Right, I'm from Ecuador.

Okay. Background. So that means someone's personal history.

That's right. And hand in hand with background, we have a piece of paper that usually you send in to an employer to apply for a job. This is the famous resume.

Resume. So, you're right, Marco, resume is a document. In this case, it is a document that lists your work history, your working background.

And it's a very important part of applying for a job and usually you send your resume before you go for the interview so that, um, the employer can look and see, is this person qualified? Um, how old are they? What's their work history?

And, well, very similar to a resume, you may have heard a CV.

That's right. A CV is a lot like a resume. It stands for curriculum C, V V, CV, and it's more detailed. It has more details about a person's academic or study history.

Exactly. So a resume, I guess it's very similar to a summary, a summary of your work background, whereas a CV will have more details about your education, maybe more details about your work background, what did you do, objectives, etc.

So maybe we should listen to today's dialogue one more time and when we come back, we'll be talking about some of the interesting phrases we heard in today's dialogue.

Mhm.

Music

Come in.

Mr. Parsons?

Ah, you must be Rebecca. Please do come in.

The pleasure's all mine, Rebecca. Have a seat, please.

Now, would you like any refreshments, tea or coffee?

A coffee would be lovely, thank you. Black, no sugar.

No problem.

Sally, can we have two coffees, please? One, no milk or sugar.

Certainly, Mr. Parsons.

So, Rebecca, I understand you had a first interview with Miss Childs last week?

Yes, that's correct. She filled me in on the details of the job on the telephone.

Yes, of course.

Music

All right, so now we have three phrases that we're going to take a look at on fluency builder.

Fluency builder

All right, so when Rebecca arrived, Mr. Parsons said, ah, you must be Rebecca. Please do come in.

Okay, so you could say please come in. This means please come into my office or come on in.

But here the interesting thing about this is the word do.

Right. He's using the verb do and it may sound wrong. It may sound like it's unnecessary because you do have a phrasal verb there already, come in. So you can just say please come in. But when he says, please do come in,

He is emphasizing on her to come in.

That's right. So this is a very polite way to invite someone inside. You can also say, please do have a seat.

All right. So again, you are emphasizing in a very polite way to please sit down.

That's right. Please do come in.

So there are many other ways that you can use it. So, for example, if you really want your friend to call you sometime, next time you're in town, you say, please do call me next time you're in town.

Please do.

You could even say it afterwards, simply please do for emphasis.

Right. So if I say, hey Catherine, I'm going to call you next time I'm in Shanghai.

Please do.

There you go.

So that means please do call.

All right. So, please do come in. Please do call.

After that, Rebecca says, thank you for making some time to see me, Mr. Parsons. So she's happy that Mr. Parsons is available and wants to talk to her. This is a very common phrase that means, thank you so much for interviewing me.

Right. So I guess it's kind of a way of saying, look, I know that you're a busy person and that you don't have very much time, so thank you for making some time to see me.

Right. So this isn't just about interviews. You could say this phrase for meeting with a client or meeting with even a friend. You could say, hey Marco, I know you were really busy last week, but thank you so much for making some time to see me.

Right. So it just basically saying, I understand that you're very busy, but I appreciate that you made some time to see me.

Mhm.

All right. And well, uh she said, you know what, it's a pleasure to meet you, but Mr. Parsons replied by saying, the pleasure's all mine.

All right. Another very, very polite phrase that you hear a lot. Maybe some of you have heard the phrase it's a pleasure to meet you before, but the response, the answer is very interesting. The pleasure's all mine.

So this stands for the pleasure is all mine.

Right. And uh, I guess it's the most appropriate response if somebody says that it's a pleasure to meet you. Because if you don't say this, I think you may sound a little bit arrogant.

Well, you could say it's a pleasure to meet you too.

Right.

But this is a, it's another way to answer the person because you don't always want to say it's a pleasure to meet you. It's a pleasure to meet you too. This is a way to to to say something different and to say, well, the pleasure's all mine.

Right, but it's very important to answer something, right? Because if I say it's a pleasure to meet you and you say, thank you. It's like,

No, that is a little bit arrogant. So you have to say something. And we recommend that you say this or you just say the same thing back. So it's nice to meet you. Oh, it's nice to meet you too.

Right.

Okay. And our last phrase is actually when they were talking about, again, the details of the job and she said that Miss Childs, uh, filled her in on the details. She said, she filled me in on the details of the job on the telephone.

Okay. So this is an interesting verb to fill in, or in this case, to fill someone in, to fill me in, to fill you in. This basically means to tell someone about something. Or if I know a little bit of information, but not a lot of information about something, this way you're telling me more so I understand it better.

Right. I'm giving you all the information. So maybe there is somebody is uh talking about a rumor in the office, and you go and you say, hey, fill me in on the gossip.

All right. So you want to know all about it? Or for example, Marco, we're having a party next Sunday, but I'll have to fill you in on the details around Friday.

Okay, because you don't have all the information right now.

Yeah, I don't know yet what time or where.

Okay. So to fill someone in is to give them all the information or to give them more information.

Fill me in! All right. Why don't we take a look at our dialogue for the last time and we'll be back in a little bit.

Music

Come in.

Mr. Parsons?

Ah, you must be Rebecca. Please do come in.

The pleasure's all mine, Rebecca. Have a seat, please.

Now, would you like any refreshments, tea or coffee?

A coffee would be lovely, thank you. Black, no sugar.

No problem.

Sally, can we have two coffees, please? One, no milk or sugar.

Certainly, Mr. Parsons.

So, Rebecca, I understand you had a first interview with Miss Childs last week?

Yes, that's correct. She filled me in on the details of the job on the telephone.

Yes, of course.

Music

All right, so as we mentioned, this is the first part of a 10-part series of the interview series.

And uh this is going to be very, very helpful. As you saw in in this first part, we're just taking a look at some basic vocab and phrases that you can use when you're just introducing yourself, you're just getting started in the interview.

So what we're going to be looking at later on is um talking about yourself, answering questions. But many people don't realize that one of the most important parts of the interview is the very, very beginning. Um because some psychologists say that we make a decision about a person or how we like a person within the first, I think what, 30 seconds of talking to them?

I think so. Yeah.

Uh so it's important that you speak confidently and that you speak some of say some of these English phrases um comfortably. You know, it's a pleasure to meet you. Oh, it's the pleasure's mine. These little things will really help you.

That's right. And I think as talking about introductions and how this woman arrived to the office, I think one of the key things that we would recommend is to look that person in the eye and give a firm handshake, right? I don't know how many people actually realize how important this is. It's very, very important because as an interviewer, the person or the the manager who's interviewing you, um I think you can tell a lot from a person if somebody gives you a very flimsy handshake or doesn't look you in the eye.

That's right. Well, I think in many ways people think, oh, this person is not confident, or this person is uncomfortable, or this person is hiding something. And so it's important really to to be yourself, to smile, to look at a person in the eyes. Uh especially in a lot of like American companies or Canadian companies. I know in other parts of the world, smiling with a stranger is unusual or or maybe unacceptable, but in America it means I'm confident, here I am, here's my name, nice to meet you. Uh it's a very important part of an introduction.

Yes, very true. So we actually want to hear what you think, um how important for you is a handshake, a firm, a firm handshake, looking someone in the eye or how do interviews work in your country?

That's right. So if you have any other questions or doubts, we're at englishpod.com. We'll see everyone there.

Bye.

Music

The English part audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Drinks.

Refreshment.

A meeting at which people talk to each other.

Interview.

A short document describing your education, work history.

Resume.

Suggest.

Recommend.

The experiences, knowledge, education of a person.

Background.

Manage to find time.

Make some time.

It's happy to.

It's a pleasure to.

Give me more information.

Fill me in.

Let's try that faster.

Manage to find time.

Make some time.

Give me more information.

Fill me in.

Drinks.

Refreshment.

The experiences, knowledge, education of a person.

Background.

A meeting at which people talk to each other.

Interview.

Suggest.

Recommend.

It's happy to.

It's a pleasure to.

A short document describing your education, work history.

Resume.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Make some time.

Can you make some time to meet with me this afternoon?

Make some time.

Please make time to finish that product today. It's very important.

Make some time.

I have to make some time to finish that report tomorrow.

It's a pleasure to.

It's a pleasure to.

It's a pleasure to.

Fill me in.

Amanda wasn't at the marketing meeting yesterday. Can you fill her in on what we discussed?

Fill me in.

Fill me in.

I missed what Mr. Wong said about the new system. Would you fill me in, please?

Recommend.

Recommend.

There are many ways we can solve this problem, but I recommend taking a direct approach.

Recommend.

Background.

Jill has a strong background in IT. She studied computer science in university and spent two years working for Microsoft.

Background.

Let's take your picture against a plain white background, so it will be easier to edit the photo.

Background.

President Obama has a varied cultural background. His father is Kenyan, his mother is from Kansas, and he grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii.

The English part audio review.