Lesson 3

The lesson plan

1. Lead-in (15 min)

2. Active vocabulary (10 min)

3. Listening text (35 min)

4. Listening comprehension (15 min)

5. Speaking practice (15-20 min)

6. Homework (3 min)

LEAD-IN

Interviews can be nerve-wracking and preparation is very important. You will be better equipped to answer questions and you will walk in to the interview feeling more confident.

Here are some tips for preparing for an interview. Ask student to read the text below and select the best option from the drop-down menu of words.

If you have reached the interview stage, your CV and letter of application must have been impressive! The company now wants to know more about you. But there is still more work to do if you want to get that job! Make sure you have researched the company as thoroughly as possible – use the Internet, company reports, recruitment literature etc. Remind yourself of why you applied to this company. Make a list of the skills, experience, and interests you can offer the organisation. Finally, try to predict the questions you will be expected to answer – imagine you are the interviewer!

BBC Learning English

http://www.bbc.co.uk

How you get look and behave at an interview can sometimes be even more important than what you say! There are lots of things you can do to make a good impression on interviewers. Here are some tips relating to your appearance and body language. Ask students to fill in gaps with suitable words.

1. Make sure your clothes are clean, but don’t wear obvious logos or designer names.

• you should not wear obvious logos or designer names at job interviews

2. Don’t use too much deodorant or perfume!

• you should always spell “too” with two “o”s when using the phrase “too much”

3. Don’t wear too much jewelry. Interviewers don’t usually like nose rings.

• they don’t “usually” like nose rings. The other two points are not grammatically correct

4. Wear clothes that are smart, but comfortable.

• we wear “clothes”, not “cloths” or “covers”

5. Arrive well before interview time.

• you want to arrive before the interview starts, not after!

6. Make eye contact with the interviewer when you are introduces.

• make eye contact. The other two words do not exist.

7. Give a firm handshake, and make sure you smile!

• it’s not very friendly to snarl or snigger at someone – make sure you smile instead

8. Don’t fidget. This will distract the interviewer from what you’re saying.

• Don’t fidget! You want the interviewer to listen to you a saying. The “d” in fidget is silent

9. Don’t appear over-confident, for example by leaning too far back in your chair, but do try to relax.

• to “collapse” is to fall. To “relapse” is to become ill again after you seemed to have improved

BBC Learning English

http://www.bbc.co.uk

Ask students to discuss the following questions:

1. Have you ever been interviewed? Were you nervous?

2. What problems can you face during your interview?

ACTIVE VOCABULARY

Ask students to give if possible definitions of the following words and word combinations and to pronounce them correctly:

interview – a formal discussion, esp one in which an employer assesses an applicant for a job

appointment– an arrangement to meet a person or be at a place at a certain time

to head– to go or cause to go (towards)

nervous– apprehensive or worried

elevator – chiefly USA and Canadian a platform, compartment, or cage raised or lowered in a vertical shaft to transport persons or goods in a building

to turn– to change or cause to change in course, direction, etc

freeway– another name for expressway, that is motorway

LISTENING TEXT

Ask students to listen the text “JOB INTREVIEW. NERVOUS AT AN INTERVIEW” paying attention to pronunciation and to the discussed words and word combinations. Ask students to write down all explained in audio file words and word combinations and their descriptions.

I was on my way to an interview and there was a lot of traffic on the road. I got to the office in the nick of time for my appointment. I walked into the lobby of the building and looked at the directory. I saw that Casey Enterprises was on the penthouse floor and headed to the elevator. The door was just closing.

David: Could you hold the elevator, please? Thanks a lot.

Woman: No problem. What floor?

David: I'm headed to the 18th floor, the top floor.

Woman: Oh, so am I.

David: Do you work there? I have an interview today with Dale Mendoza. Do you know her?

Woman: Yeah, I know her pretty well.

David: To tell you the truth, I'm really nervous. I had a dream last night that I was being interviewed by a three- headed monster that kept trying to bite my head off. Oh, wow, my palms are sweaty just thinking about it. I just hope Ms. Mendoza won't be able to hear my teeth chattering. I just hope I get through this in one piece.

The elevator doors opened just then and we both walked out. I don't know why I poured my heart out to a perfect stranger, but it actually seemed to help me chill out a bit. I didn't feel quite as nervous.

We were in the reception area and I headed to the reception desk. The woman started walking in the other direction. She turned and called back, "Good luck" with a smile.

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

ESL Podcast http://www.eslpod.com

Terms explanation

• to be on your way means that you are travelling towards, you are moving in a direction.

I am on my way to the store.

means

I am going, perhaps in my car, to the store.

• there was a lot of traffic on the road meaning a lot of cars in the street or on the freeway.

• to get somewhere in the nick of time means that you get there just before it’s too late. You get there right at or just before the time you are supposed to be there. So, if your appointment is at 9 o’clock and you arrive at 8:57, you got there in the nick if time.

• the lobby is when you are first walking to a building, before you get to the offices there is usually an area like a welcoming area which we would call the lobby.

• directory for the building is the list of the offices, who is in what office, in what floor they are run or which company is on which floor if it’s a tall building.

• the penthouse is the top floor of the building, usually a tall building. The penthouse floor is often, for example, if you were in apartment building or a condominium building – a building of different living units when the top floor is often the best floor and it is the most luxurious. But here just means the top of the building, the very top floor.

• the door is just closing meaning it’s just starting to close.

• to hold the elevator means to keep the door open, to stop the door from closing. We use that expression … “Could you hold the door?” means “Could you open the door, could you… make sure the door stays open”.

• “thanks a lot” (informal expression) means “thank you very much”.

• “No problem!” here means “You’re welcome”. But you find it very common in many situations that native speaker of English will respond to someone thanking them by saying “No problem!” instead of “You’re welcome”, but they are the same. “No problem” is a little… a bit more informal.

• “What floor?” meaning “What floor do you want to get off on.”

• the top floor is the same as penthouse floor.

• so am I meaning I am also. An informal way of saying would be “me too” even though it’s grammatically incorrect, it’s very common to hear people say “me too” instead of “so am I”.

• to tell you the truth or to tell the truth before… as a beginning of a sentence, before something else, usually as you are going to say something to a person that you might not tell them in a different situation. That you are going to be very honest and often… it’s often something that’s negative, that you are going to tell that person.

• three-headed monster which would be a monster, of course as a fictional … animal, that is mean, and Frankenstein, for example as a monster. And a three-headed monster would be a monster with three heads which, of course, is ridiculous but that’s the dream that the man has.

• to bite your head off here literally means that the monster puts his head in his mouth and bites it off. But we also use that expression in another situation to mean when you yell at someone, when you are angry with someone, and you say very mean or very strong… with a very strong emotion. You may say “Don’t bite y head off” means “Don’t get very angry with me.” But here it actually means the monster biting his head off.

• palms are sweaty. Your palm is inside of your hand. It’s the central part, not the fingers or the thumb, but the rest of the inside of your hand is your palm. And if your palms are sweaty meaning they are wet. That’s often a sign you are nervous.

• to chatter here means to bite down, up and down very quickly. If your teeth are chattering, you are either very cold or you’re very nervous about something. And here the man is clearly nervous.

• in one piece meaning I hope survive this interview without any problems, without any damage. The expression “I want to get through this in one piece” means without any injury, without any problems taking place.

• to pour your heart out means to tell something to someone else that’s very personal, that’s very often emotional and it’s usually a sad thing, a negative thing.

• a perfect stranger is the same as a complete stranger and the words perfect and complete here are just giving the idea of being a stranger, someone you don’t know, more emphasize. You could just say a “stranger” and when you say a perfect stranger you’re just giving a fact more emphasize. It doesn’t really change the meaning of the word.

• to chill out means to relax, to be calm. It’s an informal expression, probably more common among younger people. Someone tell you to chill out that telling you to relax, to cal down. Don’t get excited. Sometimes we use the verb just “to chill”. “What are you doing?” “I am chilling” meaning I am relaxing, I am taking it easy, I am not working. Again, that’s a very informal use of the word. To chill also means to make cold but here it’s nothing to do with that.

• reception desk or the desk in the front of the office where people first come. Usually there is someone behind the desk that we would call the receptionist. She or he is the person working at the desk.

Ask students to listen to the audio file once more and check their notes.

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

I. Ask students to read aloud explanations of words and word combinations which they have written listening to the audio text.

II. General understanding. Ask students to answer the questions to text.

• Where is the main character going to?

• Who did he meet in the elevator?

• What floor number was he headed on?

• What did he tell to a perfect stranger about?

• How do you think what the end of this story is?

The real end of this story is shown in the following script. You can tell it to your students.

I was just in time for my interview and I was very nervous. I walked up to the receptionist. She was talking into a headset and typing on her keyboard.

David: Good morning. I'm David Laso. I have an appointment with Dale Mendoza at 10 o’clock. Could you please let her know that I'm here?

Receptionist: Please have a seat and I'll tell her.

About three minutes later, a man came out of the office and approached me. He introduced himself as Ben, Ms. Mendoza's administrative assistant. He told me he would show me to her office.

I followed him and we stopped in front of an office door with a placard on the door with the name "Dale Mendoza" and her title "Vice President" written on it. Ben knocked on the door and opened it. By this time, I was feeling more confident and was actually looking forward to the interview.

Then, I saw Dale Mendoza. She was the same woman who was in the elevator on my way up. I had been so nervous that I just couldn't stop talking. I had told her how nervous I was about this interview. I had even told her about my nightmare with a three- headed monster interviewing me for a job. And now, here she was, my potential new boss.

Dale: Hello, you must be David. It's nice to meet you.

There was a frog in my throat. My heart was beating a mile a minute.

David: It's nice to meet you, too.

Dale: Have a seat and make yourself comfortable. You see? I only have one head and I don't even bite.

Needless to say, that was not my best interview. But, you live and learn. I'll know next time to keep my mouth shut!

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

ESL Podcast http://www.eslpod.com

III. Offer your students, working in pairs, to create a dialogue continuing the story they’ve just listened to.

Homework

Ask students to refresh vocabulary from the first two lessons of the section.

Ask students to refresh grammar information about the Future Simple Tense.

Ask students to study this lesson new vocabulary.

Ask students to compose a story about the problems they’ve faced being at an interview. They should use this lesson new vocabulary.