词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Getting a Job, Part 2: The Intervie

Broadcast on Coast to Coast: July 18, 2002
Re-broadcast on VOA News Now: July 21, 2002

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- surviving a job interview!

RS: Here's the first bit of advice from human resources consultant¹ Sharon Armstrong: It's not just words you have to think about, but also how you express them. Avoid, she says, a flat monotone voice that people sometimes get when they are nervous.

ARMSTRONG: "It loses something. And I think that it can add so much if you show your excitement and your eagerness to work for that company."

AA: Next: Be prepared for a common approach known as behavioral-based interviewing.

ARMSTRONG: "And that is where past performance will indicate future performance. So good interviewers will ask you very detailed² questions where they'll put you on the spot and they'll want to know specifically your role in what you did for a particular project.

"And so the key to giving a good answer to a behavioral interview question is to do what I call a STAR, S-T-A-R. The S and the T stand for explaining a situation or a task that you were given, the A is the action you took and the R is the results."

RS: "So what you're saying is that you need to be prepared before you walk in the door."

ARMSTRONG: "Go through some mock³ interviews, if you can have friends ask you questions. Practice in the mirror, answering questions. Go in with three or four things you really want to stress about yourself. And then you can bring those out no matter what the question is asked."

RS: "How do you follow up after the interview?"

ARMSTRONG: "Please send a thank you letter. I'm begging you. And you can do it by e-mail. And in that thank you letter you do a couple of things. You make sure that you express sincere appreciation⁴ for the time that they spent interviewing you. You have an opportunity to re-emphasize some of your strongest qualities. You have another chance to make that case as to how your skills match their needs.

"If there was something that you wish you had said a little more about, again an opportunity to do it here. Now that sounds like a lot to cover, but you do it very briefly⁵, in a short couple of paragraphs and get it out right away."

RS: "Keep it short, keep it simple?"

ARMSTRONG: "Absolutely. Again, they're business people; they don't have a lot of time. Just getting it is going to make a big difference. I talk to recruiters all the time. They never get thank you letters. It's such a simple business etiquette⁶ that people just don't take the time to do it."

AA: These days, Sharon Armstrong says interviewers ask tougher questions than they used to.

ARMSTRONG: "It's no longer 'what do you see yourself doing in five years?' Those are old questions. They're asking questions that are going to get at more specific things. For example: 'Give me a specific example of a time when a co-worker criticized your work in front of others. How did you respond? How has that event shaped the way you communicate with others?' They're trying to get at your communication skills.

"'Give me a specific example of a time when you sold your supervisor⁷ on an idea or concept. How did you proceed? What was the result?' That's your assertiveness⁸. So be ready for these kinds of questions, and if you have this experience in your background, just be able to communicate it effectively. You don't have to use the proper language all the time, just get across your results and your accomplishments⁹."

RS: "And you probably shouldn't be afraid to say 'well, I don't understand that question.'"

ARMSTRONG: "Absolutely. And don't feel like you have to answer immediately. Take a moment. Pausing is a comfortable -- if you're comfortable with it, it will seem comfortable. But if you sometimes launch into an answer right away, you might head down a road you don't want to go. Say 'what an interesting question. May I think about that for a moment?' No one would say 'no, you can't.'

AA: "What kind of answer would you give to that first one?"

ARMSTRONG: "'Give me a specific example of a time when a co-worker criticized your work in front others? How did you respond? How has that event shaped the way you communicate with others?' I think it's a hard question and you've got to be careful that you're answering it honestly but effectively. They don't want to know that you flew off the handle and you have a very negative response.

"They're going to want to know that you have some teamwork skills and you tried to engage that person and question them a little more about what they found negative perhaps about your idea, and how they might add to it and make it more workable."

AA: "What if that's not the truth. What if the last time someone criticized you, you -- as you say -- flew off the handle, got angry?"

ARMSTRONG: "I would say that honestly, say that 'I've learned from that and I don't do it anymore.' The secret is to take a weakness and make it into a positive. So say 'I used to have a very bad habit of not being able to handle that well, but I recognized that that wasn't getting me anywhere in the business world.'"

RS: And finally, at the end, Sharon Armstrong says be sure to ask some of your own questions, questions like: "What are some of the objectives¹⁰ you would like accomplished¹¹ in this job?" "What would you like to have done within the next two or three months?"

ARMSTRONG: "Remember that you are assessing the company as much as they are assessing you, and if you fail to ask questions at the end of the interview, they might interpret¹² that as you not being interested."

AA: Sharon Armstrong runs a consulting business in Washington called Human Resources 9-1-1, a name that plays off the emergency telephone number in America.

RS: You can find today's program at our Web site -- voanews.com/wordmaster. And our e-mail address is。。。。。。With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

MUSIC: "Get a Job"/The Silhouettes

 

1 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

2 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

3 mock   

n.嘲笑，戏弄，模仿；adj.假的，伪造的；vt.嘲弄，模仿，轻视；vi.嘲弄

参考例句：

• Those who mock history will be mocked by history.嘲弄历史的人必将被历史所嘲弄。
• The students have done mock A levels at school.学生们在学校参加过模拟高级考试。

4 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

5 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

6 etiquette   

n.礼仪，礼节；规矩

参考例句：

• The rules of etiquette are not so strict nowadays.如今的礼仪规则已不那么严格了。
• According to etiquette,you should stand up to meet a guest.按照礼节你应该站起来接待客人。

7 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

8 assertiveness   

n.过分自信

参考例句：

• Her assertiveness was starting to be seen as arrogance. 她的自信已开始被认为是自负了。
• Role playing is an important element in assertiveness training. 在果敢自信训练班上，角色扮演是个重要内容。

9 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 objectives   

n.目标( objective的名词复数 )；[光学]（望远镜、显微镜、照相机及其他光学仪器上的）物镜；[语法学]1)。 宾语 2)。 宾格；[军事]出击目标

参考例句：

• Our objectives need to be precisely delineated. 我们的目标需详细解释清楚。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives. 要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

12 interpret   

vt.解释，说明，理解；vi.作口译

参考例句：

• We have to interpret his words in a modern light.我们不得不用现代观点来解释他的话。
• Please interpret the comments of our foreign guest.请把外宾的话翻译一下。