节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-02-26
难易度:Medium
关键字:consultancy, applicant, teamwork, distinguish, competitor, recruiter,
C-level
So far we've learned from Alan Guinn of the Guinn Consultancy Group some
important questions that you might want to ask the employer of the company you
might work for.
You might be an applicant trying to get a job somewhere.
There are some important questions that you should ask.
We've already talked about three important questions.
Now we're going to continue learning some more questions that you could ask.
So pay attention, especially if you might be looking for a job soon.
(Music).
What Questions Do Employers Want to Hear in an Interview?
4. If your son, daughter or a friend were looking for a job, would you recommend
working for this company? Why?
5. What do you think distinguishes this company from its competitors, both from
a public and employee perspective?
6. How often do you speak with your C-level officers?
When you do, what do they normally ask you?
Do they ask for your opinion?
7. How does the company demonstrate a sense of pride in its employees?
(Music).
Again, some excellent questions.
Question number four is:
If your son, daughter or a friend were looking for a job, would you recommend
working for this company, and why?
Nathanael, why might this be a smart question to ask?
Well, it's an interesting question.
You're asking them to be very truthful.
And hopefully, they would tell you the truth when answering this question.
But it would ask for a reason of why this is a good place to work.
What's their opinion?
That's right.
You know if someone is recommending that their loved ones work for the company,
then it's probably a good place.
Well, Carolyn, what is the next question we have here, the next good, important
interview question?
Yes. Question five asks: What do you think distinguishes this company from its
competitors, both from a public and employee perspective?
This is a very complex question and has some very difficult words in it.
And two of those words are actually key words for today from our Word Bank.
The first one is "distinguish." To distinguish something, what does that mean,
Nathanael?
Well, if you're distinguishing something, you're kind of trying to figure
something out and you're often comparing two things.
Dis... distinguishing between two things, I think.
Right. So you want to show the difference between another company, right?
Gabe, how might you use this word "distinguish"?
Well, you could ask what distinguishes you from the others?
I mean I've met many people like you, what distinguishes you from the others?
You can also use this word kind of as an adjective to talk about someone who is
distinguished.
And that just means that they are unique, maybe a little bit different in a good
way.
They're very distinguished.
Nathanael, how else might you use that word?
Well, if you're going in for a job interview, you want to try to distinguish
whether the company's employee policies are suitable for you,
distinguish whether they are good or bad for you personally.
That's right.
And now we have a second key word in that same sentence: competitors.
And a competitor is someone that you compete with.
There is a competition.
Gabe, do you have a competitor?
Do I have a competitor?
Unless... unless you guys are my competitors, unless you're competing with me, I
don't think I have any competitors.
No... We're on the same team.
That's right.
We have teamwork; we are not competitors.
We do not compete against one another.
What is another way you could use this word, Nathanael?
Well, you wouldn't exactly want to say "enemy," but it is someone who's trying
to do the same thing or produce the same thing.
So you do have to kind of work against them in some ways.
So if a company is a competitor, then it's a company that produces or has the
same goals as another company.
They're in the same market.
So why wouldn't you got one to work for their competitor?
Well, now we have a little more time to watch a review skit.
Hi. I'm Ron Smith.
I'm here for the job interview.
Oh, yes.
Hello, Ron. I'm Miss Jones.
Thank you for coming.
You are welcome.
I'm looking forward to this interview.
Great! Well, let's get started.
Oh, wait. I almost forgot.
I brought you flowers.
You brought me flowers?
But this is a job interview!
Well, yes. But in some ways, it's kind of like a first date.
A first date?
I don't think so.
Well, we've exchanged information, and I think there might be a connection.
A connection?
Yes, so I brought flowers.
I want to make a good impression.
Well, yes, I guess that's a good idea.
As an employer, you need to make a good impression, too.
Oh. Right.
Well anyway, let's begin the interview.
I have a lot of questions for you.
Let's see.
Excuse me. But you don't plan to dominate the conversation, do you?
Well, yes.
I'm the one giving the interview.
This should be a balanced dialogue.
I have some questions, too.
You have questions?
Yes.
Let's get to the heart of the matter.
What are you talking about?
Well, who are you?
Why should I work at this company?
Well... uh, let me explain.
I'm listening.
Uh...
(Music).
All right.
Well, question number six is: How often do you speak with your C-level officers?
OK. That's an interesting term, C-level officers.
Carolyn, what does the "C" stand for, and what does that term mean?
Well, the "C" in C-level officers means someone who is at the top of the
corporate ladder, someone who is in charge of a very important part of the
company.
Earlier we saw Alan Guinn is the CEO of a consultancy group.
That means he is a C-level officer.
All right.
So you might see different titles like CEOs, COO, CFO, they're all C-level,
corporate-level officers.
Continue in this question, what does it say next, Gabe?
Well, it says you need to talk to your... or how often do you speak with your
C-level officers,
and when you do, what do they normally ask you and do they ask for your opinion?
This is a good question to ask because you want to make sure that the company
you want to work for has good communication.
You want to make sure that people are willing to talk to other people at the
company.
Often a C-level officer, or maybe not often but sometimes, maybe a C-level
officer is at the top,
and so they don't want to spend time talking to other people.
Maybe they think it's a waste of time.
Of course, that is very important to make sure that it's not a waste of time
that people can talk freely and communicate with each other at a company.
Well, Carolyn, what is our next point, our next question here?
Well, for today, it is our last one, question number seven.
How does the company demonstrate a sense of pride in its employees?
And here we see a very interesting phrase: sense of pride.
And that's something that we want to talk about today as an extra word: sense of
something.
Gabe, can you explain what a sense of something would be?
That's right.
Maybe it's kind of like the feeling that you get.
So a sense of pride among employees is like the feeling.
You can kind of feel it when you walk into a room or maybe when you're doing a
project together or something, you can have a sense of pride.
Nathanael, how else might you use that word?
Well, I think one of the most common ways that we use this phrase is to say a
sense of humor.
What is their sense of humor like?
What do they feel is very funny?
That's right.
Now I want to get a sense of this lesson a little bit better and to see Michelle
in the Language Lab.
OK.
(Chinese).
And let's get back to our teachers.
We've heard some great questions so far, questions that you could ask if you are
going in for a job interview.
I personally like question number one, which says:
What are some of the ways your company encourages teamwork?
I feel like that could have listed a lot of different kinds of answers, maybe
some very interesting ones.
Nathanael, what question did you like the best?
Well, I think number three is really good, asking about the mission and values
of a company day-to-day,
and what kind of examples there are of how the company has achieved those
things.
It's really good.
That's right.
Well, I really like question number five.
What do you think distinguishes this company from its competitors?
So why is this company different, and why should I work here?
These are all excellent questions.
Think about what you want to take into your next job interview, or perhaps your
first job interview.
That can be exciting.
These are great questions to ask.
We have more to learn about tomorrow here at Studio Classroom. See youlater.