Job Interview Speaking

Practice your speaking with the discussion topic below. For an explanation of what this is all about, listen to:

You can also read an explanation here in Spanish: Aprender Inglés.

  

Open speaking practice:

In this section you may speak about anything in any way you like.

Here are some questions, activities, articles, etc. that may inspire some thought:

Listen to the text at: About William Christison and be inspired by it.

Summarize your work history and education - Speaking practice:

More topics to talk about:

Answer any of these questions: (These questions were originally found on other websites and subsequently modified.)

Why should anyone hire you?
Why do you want to work where you want to work?
What are your goals?
What can you do for your employer that other candidates can't?
What are your weaknesses?
What are three positive things your last boss would say about you?
What salary are you seeking? Why? Why do you deserve that much?
Why did you leave (or why are you leaving) your job?
When were you most satisfied in your job? Why?
What made you apply for the position you're applying for?
How did you hear about this job opening?
Talk about a point in your childhood when you made a decision that changed your life.
Describe one or two of your most important accomplishments?
What special aspects of your work experience have prepared you for the job you are applying for or that you have?
Describe one or two of the biggest disappointments in your career?
What is important to you in a company?
What things do you look for in an organization?
Why are you leaving your present job? (Why did you leave your last job?)
Everyone has strengths & weaknesses as workers. What are your strong points for your current job or the job you are applying for? What are your weak points?
What are some of the things on your job you feel you have done particularly well or in which you have achieved the greatest success? Why do you feel this way?
What are areas that you need to improve?
How much supervision have you typically received in your previous job?
How did your supervisor on your most recent job evaluate your job performance? What were some of the good points & bad points of that rating?
When you have been told, or discovered for yourself, a problem in your job performance, what have you typically done? Give examples.
Starting with your last job, talk about any of your achievements that were recognized by your superiors.
Do you prefer to work alone or in groups?
Are you a good team worker?
What type of people do you find it most difficult to work with? Why?
Give examples of your ability to manage or supervise others.
What are some things you would like to avoid in a job? Why?
In your last job what kind of pressures did you encounter?
What would you say is the most important thing you are looking for in a job?
What were some of the things about your last job that you found most difficult to do?
What are some of the problems you encounter in doing your job? Which one frustrates you the most? What do you usually do about it?
What are some things you particularly liked about your last job?
Do you consider your progress on the job representative of your ability? Why?
How do you feel about the way you & others in the department were managed by your boss and/or supervisor?
If I were to ask your present (most recent) employer about your ability as a ____________________, what would he/she say?
What special aspects of your education or training have prepared you for your current job or the job you are applying for?
What courses have been of most help in doing your job?
What is your long-term employment or career objective?
What kind of job do you see yourself holding five years from now?
What do you feel you need to develop in terms of skill & knowledge in order to be ready for that opportunity?
Why might you be successful in such a job?
How does this job fit in with your overall career goals?
Who and/or what in your life would you say influenced you most with your career objectives?
Can you pinpoint any specific things in your past experience that affected your present career objectives?
What would you most like to accomplish if you had this job?
What might make you leave this job?
What kind of things do you feel most confident in doing?
Can you describe for me a difficult obstacle you have had to overcome? How did you handle it? How do you feel this experience affected your personality or ability?
How would you describe yourself as a person?
How would you describe your own personality?
What do you think are the most important characteristics & abilities a person must possess to become a successful? How do you rate yourself in these areas?
Do you consider yourself a self-starter? If so, explain why (and give examples)
Do you generally speak to people before they speak to you?
What do you consider to be your greatest achievements to date? Why?
What things give you the greatest satisfaction at work?
What things frustrate you the most? How do you usually cope with them?
In your work experience, what have you done that you consider truly creative?
Can you think of a problem you have encountered when the old solutions didn't work & when you came up with new solutions?
Of your creative accomplishments big or small, at work or home, what gave you the most satisfaction?
What kind of problems have people recently called on you to solve? Talk about what you have devised.
Do you consider yourself to be thoughtful, analytical or do you usually make up your mind fast? Give examples.
What was your most difficult decision in the last six months? What made it difficult?
The last time you did not know what decision to make, what did you do?
How do you go about making an important decision affecting your career?
What was the last major problem that you were confronted with? What action did you take on it?
What civic organizations do you belong to?
Talk specifically about what you do in the civic activities in which you participate.
How do you keep up with what's going on in your company / your industry / your profession / your country / the world?
What is your professional goal?
Can you give me examples of experience on the job that you felt were satisfying?
Do you have a long & short-term plan for your department? Is it realistic? Did you achieve it last year?
Describe how you determine what constitutes top priorities in the performance of your job.
What are your standards of success in your job?
In your position, how would you define doing a good job? On what basis was your definition determined?
When judging the performance of your subordinate, what factors or characteristics are most important to you?
In your present job what approach do you take to get your people together to establish a common approach to a problem?
What approach do you take in getting your people to accept your ideas or department goals?
What specifically do you do to set an example for your employees?
How frequently do you meet with your immediate subordinates as a group?
What sort of leader do your people feel you are? Are you satisfied?
How do you get people who do not want to work together to establish a common approach to a problem?
If you do not have much time & they hold seriously differing views, what would be your approach?
How would you describe your basic leadership style? Give specific examples of how you practice this?
Do you feel you work more effectively on a one to one basis or in a group situation?
Have you ever led a task force or committee or any group who doesn't report to you, but from whom you have to get work? How did you do it? What were the satisfactions & disappointments? How would you handle the job differently?
Have you ever done any public or group speaking? Recently? Why? How did it go?
Have you made any individual presentations recently? How did you prepare?
Would you rather write a report or give a verbal report? Why?
What kind of writing have you done? For a group? For an individual?
What is the extent of your participation in major reports that have to be written?
What was the most important idea or suggestion you received recently from your employees? What happened as a result?
What do you think about the continuous changes in company operating policies & procedures?
How effective has your company been in adapting its policies to fit a changing environment?
What was the most significant change made in your company in the last six months which directly affected you, & how successfully do you think you implemented this change?
Do you feel pressure in your job? Talk about it.
What has been the highest pressure situation you have been under in recent years? How did you cope with it?
Describe your most significant success & failure in the last two years.
What do you like to do best?
What do you like to do least?
What in your last review did your supervisor suggest needed improvement?
What have you done about it?
What has been the most important person or event in your own self development?
How much of your education did you earn?
What kind of books & other publications do you read?
Have you taken a management development course?
How are you helping your subordinates develop themselves? What was the last book you read? Movie you saw? Sporting event you attended?

Less typical questions:

If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?

More Questions:

Jobs Questions on ITESLJ.org, Self Employment Questions on ITESLJ, Discrimination Questions on ITESLJ, Retirement Questions on ITESLJ, Have you ever. . . ? Questions on ITESLJ.

More speaking activities:

Aprender Inglés

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