Vocabulary. TST Systems was looking for candidates for the position of Commercial Director

TST Systems was looking for candidates for the position of Commercial Director. Here is the interview with Mr Klimenko.

- Good morning, sir.

- Good morning. Come in. Mr Klimenko, isn’t it? Please take a seat. You will have to excuse me a moment while I finish signing these letters. Meanwhile please fill in the application form…. There, that’ll do. Now I can concentrate on you, Mr Klimenko. Tell me, how long were you in your last job with Alpha?

- Five years. I am only leaving because the firm is moving to Sevastopol, but I think a change will do me good.

- What do you know about our company? Have you got any questions for me?

- I know that this is a very promising company, so I’d like you to inform me what will be the major focus of efforts in the next few years?

- We plan to expand our activities with English-speaking countries, mainly England, to buy equipment and technologies from there and run training programs here. We need a team of creative people to make our company competitive in the world market.

- What will my responsibilities and obligations be during the first year?

- Well, first of all to be responsible for our contacts with English partners. You will need to skillfully negotiate for and buy equipment. The job will involve much travelling. There is likely to be a trade fair in London soon, which we hope you will be able to go to.

- Yes, I see.

- So tell me what are your three main strengths?

- I think they are: reliability, loyalty, and energy.

- OK. Do you work well under pressure?

- Yes. I am accustomed to working under pressure.

- Are you a leader, an entrepreneur by nature?

- Yes, I think so.

- All right. Now, Mr Klimenko, I am quite prepared to offer you a job with us. You have excellent references from your previous job. You will start on $450 and if you do well we’ll review it after three months. The hours are from nine to five thirty, with an hour for lunch and a fortnight’s holiday. Does that suit you? Any questions?

- What about travel? Where will I go and for what length of time?

- Mostly to England for not longer than a month.

- All right. When do you want me to start, sir?

- In a week, if possible.

- I am afraid I can’t start working till the 10^th October.

- No problem. We’ll be seeing you on the 10^th then?

- Yes, certainly. Thank you very much. Goodbye.

- Goodbye.

Position должность, opening position – вакансия

application 1) заявление, заявка, обращение, просьба; written application – письменное заявление;

application for the position– заявление о зачислении на должность; application to smb.– заявление на чье-то имя;

applicant – претендент, заявитель. 2) применение; to apply – 1) заявлять, обращаться; 2) применять

promising перспективный, многообещающий

effort усилие, попытка; to make an effort – сделать попытку

creative творческий, созидательный

competitive конкурентноспособный, конкурирующий

responsibility 1) ответственность; to take responsibility – взять на себя ответственность; to decline all responsibility for smth – снять с себя всякую ответственность за что-то; 2) обязанность

obligation 1) обязательство; contractual (treaty) obligations – договорные обязательства; under (an) obligation to smb – обязанный кому-либо; 2) обязанность

skillful умелый, искусный, опытный

negotiation(s) переговоры, обсуждение условий; to conduct (to carry out, to hold) negotiations – вести переговоры

entrepreneur предприниматель, владелец предприятия

fair 1) честный, справедливый; 2) ярмарка

strength 1) сила; 2) достоинство

reliability надежность; to rely on (upon) smb. – полагаться на кого-либо, надеяться

tension напряжение

reference 1) ссылка; 2) рекомендация, отзыв

environment окружающая обстановка, окружение, среда

Work in pairs: Some interviewers give candidates a hard time by asking them difficult questions – like the 16 questions below. Can you think of three more questions you might be asked at an interview? Add them to the list. What would your own answers to each of the questions be?

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. What do you think are your strengths and weaknesses?

3. We have a lot of applicants for this job, why should we appoint you?

4. Which is more important to you: status or money?

5. How long do you think you’d stay with us if you were appointed?

6. Why do you want to leave your present job?

7. Why do you want to work for our company?

8. What would you like to be doing ten years from now?

9. What are you most proud of having done recently?

10. What is you worst fault and what is your best quality?

11. Don’t you think you’re a little young/old for this job?

12. Are you a team player?

13. What are you long-range goals?

14. What excites you about the job you’re doing now?

15. How would you rate your present boss?

16. Tell me about your past employers. (Try not to be negative)

DOs and DON’Ts for job seekers

Do learn ahead of time about the company and its product. Do your homework.

Do let as many people as possible know you are “job hunting”.

Do stress your qualification for the job opening.

Do mention any experience you have which is relevant to the job.

Do talk and think as far as possible about the future rather than the past.

Do assume an air of confidence.

Do try to be optimistic in your attitude.

Do try to overcome nervousness and shortness of breath.

Do answer questions honestly.

Do have a good resume.

Do recognize your limitations.

Do make plenty of applications.

Do indicate your flexibility and readiness to learn.

Do be well-groomed and appropriately dressed.

Do shake hand firmly.

Do arrive prepared. (Don’t forget your resume, pen, references, and portfolio.)

Do express yourself clearly.

Do be positive and tactful when disagreeing.

Do make eye contact with the person(s) interviewing you.

Don’t keep stressing your need for a job.

Don’t discuss past experience which has no application to the job situation.

Don’t be untidy in appearance.

Don’t mumble or speak with a muffled voice.

Don’t hesitate to fill out applications, give references, take physical examinations

or tests on request.

Don’t arrive late and breathless for an interview.

Don’t write incorrect information on your CV to make it look better.

Don’t slouch. Sit straight in the chair, and maintain good posture. You should feel comfortable, but not too comfortable!

Don’t interrupt.

Fit for hiring? It’s mind over matter

A growing number of companies, from General Motors Corp to American Express Co., are no longer satisfied with traditional job interviews. Instead, they are requiring applicants for many white-collar jobs – from job executives down – to submit to a series of paper-and-pencil tests, role-playing exercises, simulated decision-making exercises and brainteasers*. Others put candidates through a long series of interviews by psychologists or trained interviewers.

The tests are not about mathematics or grammar, nor about any of the basic technical skills for which many production, sales and clerical workers have long been tested. Rather, employers want to evaluate on intangible* qualities: Is she creative and entrepreneurial? Can he lead and coach? Is he flexible and capable of learning? How will he function under pressure? Most important, will the potential recruit fit the corporate culture?

Ten years ago, candidates can win a top job with the right look and right answers to questions such as: “Why do you want this job?” Now, many are having to face questions and exercises intended to learn how they get things done.

They may, for example, have to describe in great detail not one career accomplishment but many – so that patterns of behavior emerge.

They may face questions such as: ”Who is the best manager you ever worked for and why?” or “What is your best friend like?”. The answers, psychologists say, reveal much about a candidate’s management style and about himself and herself.

The reason for the interrogations is clear: many hires* work out badly. About 35 per cent of recently hired senior executives are judged failures, according to the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina, which surveyed nearly 500 chief executives.

The cost of bringing a wrong person on board is sometimes huge. Searching and training can cost from $5000 for a lower-level manager to $250, 000 for a top executive. With the pace of change accelerating in markets and technology, companies want to know how an executive will perform, not just how he or she performed. “Years ago, employers looked for experience – has a candidate done this before?” said Harold P. Weinstein, executive vice-president of Caliper, a personnel testing and consulting firm in Princeton, New Jersey. “But having experience in a job does not guarantee that you can do it in a different environment.”

At this point, most companies have not shifted to this practice. But human-resource specialists say that white-collar testing is growing in popularity. What has brought so many employers around to testing is a sense of the limitations in the usual job interview. With so little information on which to base a decision, “most people hire people they like, rather than the most competent person,” said Orv Owens, a psychologist in Washington, who sizes up executive candidate. Research has shown, he said, that “most decision makers make their hiring decisions in the first five minutes of an interview and spend the rest of the time rationalizing their choice.”

Besides, with advice on how to land a better job about as common as a ten-dollar bill, many people are learning to play the interview game.

*a brainteaser: a problem which is fun to solve.

*intangible: smth. That can not be felt or described.

*a hire (US); a recruit (GB): someone who starts to work for a company.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-27