Do you feel bittersweet when an opportunity for you to apply your dream job comes up with a small phrase stating that the job interview will be in English? Is English not your native tongue? Do you feel unconfident about your English abilities to go through with the job interview successfully? If your answer is yes to these questions, then you’ve come to the right place!
Going for an interview for a job is always tough and stressful, but it’s going to be more so when the interview is carried out in a language other than your native tongue - in this case an English job interview. However, before you start applying for an English course, just try out these 10 hacks that we’ve prepared for you first and see if it helps you ace your job interview!
1) Keep it short and simple If your English is not that hot, do keep your sentences brief, simple, and straight to the point. This is because the shorter your sentences are, the more unlikely you’ll blab out sentences that are ungrammatical. In addition, short sentences are clearer and more concise, hence your potential employer may be able to understand you better. This will then increase your chances of success in the job interview.
2) Avoid slang Are you well-versed in slang words? Do you tend to pepper your English conversations with Malaysian slang words? If you do, you have to try to avoid using slang when you’re going for an English job interview. Just consciously control the slang words that you’re using in your daily lives weeks before the interview so that you can gradually wean yourself off them and successfully get the job. Even though you can’t sound as professional as native English speakers can, however your potential employers will appreciate the absence of slangy vocabulary, so it won’t hurt, will it?
3) Brush up on some technical terms For an extra boost towards success, you can do a bit of research on the company and the position that you’re applying for before interviewing for the job. If you are applying for an IT-related job, try and study some technical terms related to the field. Although this may not help you grammatically, at least you will convey to your potential employers that you know your stuff! If you succeed in doing this, you might potentially pass the job interview with flying colours.
4) Take note of the pronunciation Sometimes potential employers will look for the ability to pronounce certain terms correctly during an interview, so what can you do to ace this? Keep calm and do a crash course on pronunciation. How so? First of all, you have to make sure that you pronounce the company’s name correctly. Secondly, make sure that you pronounce your potential employer’s name accurately. Other than that, do a bit of research on the company and make sure that you can pronounce the words written in the company’s aims and goals. After that, ensure that the pronunciation of some basic words and phrases such as “Good morning”, “I am pleased to meet you”, and any other job-related utterances and greetings are pronounced correctly.
5) Prepare some basic go-to words and phrases It’s normal to be nervous during a job interview. However, it is always best to prepare some words and or phrases that you can utter when you’re experiencing a block in your flow of thought. “What do you mean?” you ask. Well, we meant that the word “pardon”, and the phrase “I’m sorry, I couldn’t quite catch that, could you repeat?” can be your besties! Don’t be embarrassed to ask for clarification from your interviewer if you can’t really understand what he or she was saying! Asking them to repeat is better than answering their question with something wrong!
6) Rehearse your answers to some common interview questions Job interviews normally tend to follow a similar pattern, so you can actually prepare your answers to these basic questions below beforehand to ensure that you can ace this interview:
Please tell me a little bit about yourself (Introduce yourself) What are your personality traits? Can you list out your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Why do you think that you’re suitable for this company? Why do you want to work here? Have you ever faced any major challenges? If so, what were they? What is your biggest accomplishment? What are your salary requirements? Do you have any questions for me?
7) Remember your P’s and Q’s Although this is common sense, you’ll be surprised at how many people forget to thank their interviewers after and be courteous during the interview. This may not be their fault as interviewing for a job is generally nerve-racking! However, please remember to be as polite as you can so that you can leave a good impression in your potential employer’s mind.
8) Slow down To succeed in a job interview, one of the important things is that your potential employer can understand what you’re trying to say, so try your best to not mumble and jumble up all the words. Remember, “fools rush in”, so try to speak slowly. It’s an added bonus as you can buy some time to actually think of the content and it’s a great hack to ace the interview.
9) Learn from the best Movies are actually a great model for you to take inspiration from. You may stumble upon awkward pauses in an interview, so if you’re confronted with this situation, think back to all the awkward moments that movie characters often find themselves in and improvise from there. Additionally, you could pick up a book or surf some content written by experts and learn how to manipulate an awkward pause to your advantage!
10) Ask your friends and family for help Everyone needs a helping hand now and then! You can ask your friends and family to enact an interview scene in which they are the interviewers and you’re the interviewee. Rehearse as much as possible with them and listen to their advice (providing that it’s decent)!
We hope that we’ve helped you lighten your load by providing you with these hacks! Best of luck to you and hope that you can ace that interview!
REFERENCES
|