240916_preparing_for_an__interview_transcript

BBC LEARNING ENGLISH
Job Applications
Preparing for an interview
This is a transcript of a spoken conversation and is not a word-for-word script.
Phil
From BBC Learning English, this is learning English for work and welcome to our
special series all about job applications. I'm Phil.
Pippa
And I'm Pippa. In this series, we're talking about applying for a new job in English.
Listen to the series so far to learn about every step of the journey.
Phil
Today we're talking about researching and preparing for a job interview and what
you can do to get ready. You can find a transcript for this episode to read along
with on our website. That's bbclearningenglish.com.
Pippa
So, it's a great feeling to be invited for a job interview, but it can also be really
stressful, especially if you're going to have to do the interview in your second
language. But it's also stressful for native speakers right, Phil?
Phil
Oh, yes, definitely. There's always this feeling of pressure that you might say the
wrong thing and ruin your chances. It's probably very unlikely that that will
happen, but it can be in the back of your mind as you're getting ready.
Pippa
Yeah, it's an intense situation and people usually aren't used to that kind of
situation. So, I think everybody gets nervous. There's lots of focus on the
interview itself, but there's lots that you can do to prepare and we’re gonna be
talking about preparing for an interview today. Do you have any rituals for
preparing for an interview, Phil?
Phil
I always try to work out what questions they could ask me and try and come up
with like answers that I can have ready in my mind to come up with. So I do a lot
Job Applications ©British Broadcasting Corporation 2024

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of practise with that. And then the other thing is, I just get there really, really
early, but that probably doesn't help with nerves.
Pippa
Yes, it’s sitting there for an hour waiting, getting more and more stressed. But
yeah, getting there early is a good idea.
Phil
Throughout this series, we're speaking to Amy Evans, who works in recruitment
for the BBC World Service about how to approach each stage of a job application.
And Amy says you should start your preparations by getting as much information
as possible about the interview.
Amy Evans
It's always helpful to look up who's on the panel so you can have an idea of what
they do in the company and just so that you feel familiar with who you're going to
be meeting on the day. I think you can ask about the format of the interview as
well and check what sort of interview they're gonna be doing, if there's anything
that you need to prepare in advance.
Pippa
It can be reassuring to know a bit more about who you'll be speaking to and what
kind of questions might be asked. And if you can't find out this information as you
said, Phil, you can think about what questions are likely to come up.
Phil
Yes. And then you can think ahead of the interview about some examples to
speak about.
And Amy says, don't just practise on paper or in your head, practise speaking.
Amy Evans
Either, you know, if you’ve got a friend or family member or colleague that could,
you could practise and roleplay with. Or if you don't have that even just, sort of,
standing in front of a mirror and just practise saying them. So that when you
come to the interview and you're asked a question, even if it's not the exact
question you were thinking of, if it's something quite similar, in your head, you're
gonna know with confidence that you can answer that. And you can go, yep I've
got an example for that, and you can sort of go into it with ease and not having to
panic too much in the situation.

Pippa
Now, Phil, I'm often quite worried about practising too much for an interview or
sounding like a robot, like I've memorised an answer. What do you think about
that?
Phil
Well, yeah, that is important. It's a tricky balance. You need to sound natural, I
think.
Amy Evans
You want to practise enough so that you feel confident knowing your skills and
experience to talk about in the interview. You don't want to, sort of, practise so
much that you almost fill your head with too many examples, so that you get a bit
confused on the day. And you want to, as much as possible, kind of try and come
across as sort of relaxed and confident rather than giving quite sort of rigid over-
rehearsed answers.
Pippa
OK, so practise is important, but you shouldn't write a script.
Phil
Yeah, and perhaps a good tip here is to talk about the examples, so that you're
confident and then you can pick the right example in the interview and then it
should sound more natural.
Pippa
Yeah. So, I guess, don't practise a full answer with exact sentences, but practise
talking about a time that you did something. And then you'll be ready to kind of
fit that to whatever question they ask.
Phil
Yeah, and you can bring notes to an interview, but just don't read off them like a
script.
Pippa
Yeah, I guess the most important thing is to feel comfortable and confident and
that could also just mean researching the journey and logistics. I sometimes
actually go to the place just to test that I know the way and I’m not going to get
confused on the day. So, a little bit like your turning up early. I like to kind of
practise to make sure that I'm not stressed about the journey as well as the
interview.

Phil
OK, that's it for this episode. Remember, you can find more programmes to
improve your business English on our website, like Office English where we talk
about using English in everyday situations at work.
Pippa
Next time, it's interview time and we'll talk about the best way to talk about
yourself and your experience.
Phil
See you then. Bye.
Pippa
Bye.


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BBC LEARNING ENGLISH

Job Applications ©British Broadcasting Corporation 2024

Job Applications ©British Broadcasting Corporation 2024

Job Applications ©British Broadcasting Corporation 2024

Job Applications ©British Broadcasting Corporation 2024

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