Skills The importance of voice tones used in the English language. page 2
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The initial meet and greet and how it can effect the outcome. page 3
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Learn more about how your introduction plays a key part in this process. page 3
Tradition Vs modern interview formats. Know more about these styles. page 4
Lesson Plan This course of lesson plans have a real focus on key questions asked at an interview. It will help you to relate your experience and background to English as a second language and help you to build the confidence required.
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Voice Tones These are essential in the English language as they can often change the very meaning of a sentence. The display of emotional traits such as eagerness, surprise and confidence depend on your ability to express how you feel about a subject, topic or response to a question. To understand how an interview works, we need to look at the construction of questions after all that is essentially what an interview structure is based on. The first part of this course will look at this structure and help you to understand both from the perspective of intonation and from the understanding of question structure. There are two levels involved in this process and you will have to successfully complete these tasks before you move on to the next level. From both the perspective of the applicant and the interviewer, empathetic voice tones help us to relate to communication. This course will look at how these tones effect your interview.
What Makes You So Special? the interviewer remember you as opposed to anyone else. Delivering a strong introduction is critical. This task is some what lexical in approach and your teacher will assist you with not only delivering a presentation Like anything there is a format but also help you high level of competition, to eliminate any trace of your task is to successfully sounding monotone. demonstrate answers that will stand out and help I spent 5 years in London working as a recruitment consultant, so I am no stranger to this topic. “You have to eliminate the competition!”.
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Your voice tones must convey confidence and eagerness, your personality accounts for 50% of the interview as you will probably be working within a team environment. This ability to demonstrate that you have a personality should be reflected in your voice tones.
The following page will indicate the format for an introduction and help you to structure your response. Audio support is supplied, so you can practice outside of a classroom environment. Learning about the way you sound to others is essential to this process.
“Voice tones are essential” My name is…………, I have been working as a……. for the last…… years. My background is in the….. sector and my last is or has been working for ……….. as a …………… .
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The Beginning First impressions real count, I have been teaching HR managers for just under 3 years and I know first hand that they establish whether you will fit into a company when they greet you. When you are waiting to be seen, try to relax, when you see the interviewer approaching make eye contact and smile. The interviewer will probably say; “Hi you must be ………… pleased to meet you”. At this point you need to smile and return the greeting by saying “ Yes pleased to meet you to”. Interviewers often use ice breakers such as “ did you have any problem finding us today?”. This is deliberate so you must prepare alternative responses such as “ no, it was really easy to find”. You will then be asked if you would like a tea coffee or refreshment, possible responses to this would be:” No thank you I am fine or yes please that would be great”. You should know how you take your coffee for example; “ White one sugar or black please”. It’s important you don’t fall at the first hurdle.
Role Play task Your Task is to role play this scenario and focusing on the use of empathetic voice tones. This task will be recorded for you so you don’t have to write anything down.
Please follow me….. The golden mile is the anxiety of knowing that your interview is about to commence. Try to remain calm and focus on the task. Remember to say thank you at this point, it’s essential that you do not display any trace of arrogance or a feeling of over confidence. As you enter the room you will be asked to take a seat. Don’t fumble or make any mistakes, take your time to place your
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jacket down and keep good posture when your in a seated position. At this point It is very important to mention that your CV forms the basis for your interview, it is the template that will be used to ask you questions. Make sure that you are using a modern template that is easy to read. The easier you make it the better it will be for you as the questions asked will conform to some structure.
The warm up question The preferred question will be be the one demonstrated in section 1 of this lesson plan and that is; So …….. tell me a little about yourself”. It’s very important that you answer this question more in line with a summary of you and not a long story. The objective of this answer is not to give too much away, by doing so you will change the course of questions that you will be asked.
Give enough to get the interviewer interested in you. Your teacher will help you to understand this summary process and the voice tones used.
Role Play You will now be asked to role play task one and two until you can demonstrate understanding. This is important before we progress to the next level.
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Tradition Vs Modern There are two types of interviews. CBI which is otherwise known as Competency Based Interviews and traditional Interviews. More and more interviewers are using the first of these formats. CBI asks you a question and follows by a request to demonstrate your answer by relating it to your previous position. An example here would be; “ Tell me how you cope under pressure”. The answer could be that you are used to working in a stressful working environment and that in a recent project that you have been working on you found that your time management skills and planning skills were put to the test as deadlines and expenditure kept changing on a day to day basis. There are occasions where an Interviewer may use a combination of the
two styles of interviewing techniques so be careful how you select your answers. You must learn how to distinguish between the two styles of questions.
base to English as a second language.
The questions that will follow have been carefully selected to help you understand more about how your current role translates in terms of Skill
Finally remember that interviewers can change At the end of this course from formal to informal you will be presented with structures so you need to a mock interview, this will adapt to different styles. be a simulation of a real
This course depends on how much practice you put in so use the recordings to help you to understand more about how you sound to others.
interview. You will be scored on your performance in terms of grammar structure, voice tones and the ability to answer questions accurately.
“ Work smarter not harder!.”
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What are your skills? Everybody has skills but specifically those that relate to our work environment. The following skills have been listed as a guide or reference point.!
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In your spare time it would be a good idea to think of your individual skills and list them so that you can become proficient when you talk about them.!
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The ability to lead or direct a team! The ability to multitask! Good time management skills! The ability to work in both a team or alone.! Trouble shooting! Problem solving! Planning! Organisational! The ability to delegate tasks! Hand on and hands off styles of management! Leadership by example! Attention for detail! Self motivated! Task orientated!
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The ability to motivate others! Creative! Innovative! Focused! A team player! Dedicated! Task ownership!
There are more, the key is to apply these to sentence contractions and apply friendly but firm voice tones.!
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You need to be aware of how to use these words and phrases as use of too many can make you sound as if you have learnt them by heart or reading them from a piece of paper. !
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This will come with practice and guidance, remember that you must be able to talk freely about every skill that you state.
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Page 6!
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The questions indicated on the next page are based on CBI interview questions and are designed to get you to talk freely about your “Skill Base�. !
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Voice tones, grammar structures and and sentence contractions will be monitored and recorded for the purpose of practice.!
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The information provided to this point should be applied as a guide, you can modify and adapt as you se fit.!
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Questions 1. 2. 3. 4.
Describe a situation where you have had to be proactive or reactive.! Do you believe that an effective leader should demonstrate both qualities? Why?! Can you provide an example of where you have had to react to a situation and alter an existing plan.! Do you plan within a work environment or do you plan and create strategy at home in your own time? Please give an example.! 5. Is planning very difficult as a task because you have to manage other peoples time? Describe your approach with this task.! 6. Describe your system for planning.! 7. Do you like change or do you fear it. Please provide an example of how it effects your role at work.! 8. On a scale between 1 and 10, how effective are you at planning? Support your answer.! 9. Describe how you delegate tasks to others. Provide an example of the most recent task that you delegated.! 10. How do you measure the success of your actions?! 11. How do you communicate with your team?! 12. How do you communicate with your line managers.! 13. What is your preferred method of communication and why?! 14. How do you know that you are an effective communicator?! 15. Explain how you prioritise tasks.! 16. Do you allow for change within your planning stage?! 17. Are you hands on or hands off in approach to tasks? Describe an example of your style.! 18. Describe how you define time for yourself outside of work.! 19. Are you good at working under pressure? Explain.! 20. Do you think that change is a good thing for a business model?! 21. Have you ever instigated change at work? Provide an example.! 22. Describe your ability to work alone or as part of a team. What scenario do you prefer the most?!
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There are no right or wrong answers to these questions they are simply designed to test and prove your abilities. The objective of the interviewer is to access whether you will be a good fit for their team and contribute towards output. Personality traits and your approach to problem solving are key here.
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Traditional Questions There are occasions where there is one or more interview involved in the selection process. Sometimes the first interview adopts a more traditional format. In an effort to help answer these questions answers have been provided as a guide for you.!
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1. Why do you want a position with our Company?! Research is key to answering a question like this. Ensure that you have studied relevant information such as whether the company has an expansion program in place. The objective of this question is to find out what you actually know about the Company that you want to work for, whether your skills translate to the position, and how prepared you are for the interview.!
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An example of an answer could be; “ I know that you are expanding into an international market, that you have had great success with a certain product or service and that you a forward thinking organisation, I feel that my working knowledge and experience would contribute to your team and I want to work with a company that will benefit my career�.!
2. What are your career objectives?!
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You should have clearly defined goals and objectives. A possible answer here could be that you hope to reach a more senior position which will give you the opportunity to have more autonomy and responsibility. Try not to make this sound rehearsed relate the answer as to how you progressed in your career. !
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A possible answer here could be that you want to obtain more responsibilities gain experience in another field or diversify into another area of your profession that is related. You could also indicate that you would like to be more involved in the decision making process or get more involved with the management function.!
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Always remember that this type of question helps the interviewer to establish your value for money and demonstrate your longevity with their company.!
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Research is key for example providing an answer similar to the one shown above fits well with a companies expansion program.
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It is an opportunity to demonstrate how your skill base relates to the position that you are applying for.!
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3. Do you enjoy working as part of a team?!
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This question is designed to test your ability to get along with others and work towards a common goal or objective. The interview also presents an opportunity to indicate whether you are a leader or a follower. There is an argument to suggest that you should provide an answer which demonstrates both the ability to work alone or as part of a team.!
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A possible answer to this question could be that in your current position there are opportunities to do both and that you are flexible when it comes to deciding which style to adopt.!
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You should also refer that you relate this to an example if possible so maybe talk about a recent task that you had to do both. !
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Another possible answer is that you enjoy working as part of a team because it helps with the ability to find solutions to problems, or that you have the ability to job share when required.!
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The interviewer is accessing how flexible you are and your approach to working towards a joint agenda rather than just yours. !
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There are many different roles to play in a team, and this is your opportunity to define the part you play within a structure. A possible answer here is based on your ability to collaborate with others and work together to achieve a common goal and objective. You value an opportunity to share your opinions with others and that you can take criticism and recommendations.!
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You have to sound genuine so reflect this in your voice tone. Show that you enjoy the experience and give value to your team members.!
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You can also relate this activity to an task which had involved you reaching a decision with a team. Perhaps there was an occasion where you had to work alone and then collaborate in order to find a suitable solution or outcome to a problem.!
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In the next part of this course we will be looking at more interview questions and possible answers. You will need to practice what you have learnt to this point and focus on the way that you sound. An interview is a life changing event that can effects your future so practice hard and try to hit target sounds. !
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You can visit our store on our website to buy pre recorded interviews which feature our teachers voices if you feel that you need additional support materials. !
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