The Job Interview

SAM

PLE

Andy Boon

CREATIVE EDUCATIONThe Job Interview

PLE

by Andy Boon

Book 1SAM

Pocket Reader Series

C R E AT I V E E D U C AT I O N1

The Job Interview

Pocket Readers Overview

SAM

PLE

The 10-book business reader series tells
the story of your first year working in
the product marketing department ofABC Convenience Stores. The series
looks at skills and strategies for being
successful in interviews, the first week
on the job, giving presentations, taking
part in meetings, writing emails,
entertaining business clients, goingoverseas on business, dealing with officeconflict, launching new products, andmentoring new staff.

2

The Job Interview...... 4

PLE

1. The Beginning...... 8

3. Successful:- The Successful Interview..... 23

4. Language Focus & Tasks..... 48

SAM

2. Unsuccessful:- The Unsuccessful Interview

3

The Job Interview

1. The Beginning
1.1 Applying

SAM

PLE

The story begins with you. You arelooking for a job. You go to many
career seminars and learn about
many different companies. You also
search online and read many job
advertisements. You apply formany interesting jobs. You send
your resume (or curriculum vitae)
and cover letter to the humanresources departments of manycompanies. Your resume contains
information about your education,
your work experience, yourskills, your abilities, and youraccomplishments. Each cover letter
explains where you saw the job

4

1. The Beginning

SAM

PLE

advertisement. It gives your reasonsfor applying for the job. It gives
information about your skills andexperiences. It also explains how
you would benefit or be importantto the company. At the end of eachcover letter, you write, “I lookforward to the opportunity to speak
to you further about how I cancontribute to your company.” Youwrite, “Best regards,” and sign yourname. You hope you can attend
many interviews and be accepted
for a job. You do not want to be
rejected.

5

The Job Interview

1.2 Getting Short-listed

SAM

PL
EThen, you wait. Every day, youcheck your emails, but you receive no replies. You feel sad. One
morning, you wake up and thesun is shining through the windows. You smile to yourself. “Todaywill be the day I get short-listed.
Today will be the day I get an email
inviting me to an interview,” youthink. You check your smartphone– there are only a few emails. They
are from your friends. “Nooooo!”
you cry. Suddenly, you hear a noisefrom your phone You receive an
email from the human resourcesmanager of PH Health Japan Co.,Ltd:

6

1. The Beginning

PLE

Further to your application for theposition of trainee sales representative, we are happy to announce thatyou have been short-listed. I am
writing to invite you to attend aninterview on...

SAM“Yes!” you shout, “I’ve beenshort-listed. I have an interview.
I have an interview. I have an interview!” You are one of the lucky
candidates to be short-listed for aninterview.

7

The Job Interview

2. The Unsuccessful Interview
2.1 Oversleeping

SAM

PLE

It is the morning of the interview.
You wake up and check the time.
“Oh no! I’m late. I slept through myalarm,” you say. You shower and get
dressed quickly. But, you cannot
find your shoes. “Where are they?”
you think. You take a quick lookaround your apartment. You look inyour shoe box. You look in the storage. They are nowhere to be found.
You do not have time to look again,
so you put on some black sneakers. “These will be fine,” you think.
“Nobody will see them under mysuit.”8

2. Unsuccessful

2.2 Sleeping on the Train

SAM

PL
E

You get to the station. The train ison time. You even get a seat!
“Great!” you think. You close youreyes and go to sleep. You dreamabout the job interview. It is goingwell. The interviewer looks happy.
You are happy. Suddenly, you open
your eyes. You are still on the train.
“Oh no!” you say to yourself, “I’vegone past my stop.” You run outof the train, up the stairs, andacross the train tracks to theopposite platform. There is a train
arriving. You get on it. You look at
your watch, “I still have time before
the interview. Lucky!” you think.
9

The Job Interview

2.3 Getting LostSAM

PLE

You leave the station and start
walking. You use the map on yoursmartphone. It tells you that the office of PH Health Japan Co. Ltd. isabout five minutes away. “Okay, it’s
9:15 a.m.,” you think. “My interviewstarts at 9:30 a.m. I should arrive at
9:20 a.m. No problem.” You walkfor a few minutes down the mainstreet. You look again at the map on
your smartphone. “Oh no!” you cry,“I’ve been walking the wrong way
down the street.” You turn and start
to run. You run back to the station.
You keep running past the station.
You run for a few more minutes. It’s
now 9:25 a.m. You cannot find the10

2. UnsuccessfulSAMPLEoffice. You are worried. You lookat your smartphone again. Youneed to turn right after the convenience store. You turn right but
you still cannot find the office. Yourun back to the convenience store.
“Excuse me, do you know wherePH Health Japan Co. Ltd. is?” youask. “Yes, turn right, and then takethe next left. You will see it on yourleft,” the convenience store worker
answers. “Thanks!”you say as you
run out of the store. You turn rightand left and you see a tall, modernbuilding. There is a large sign, “PHHealth Japan Co. Ltd.” The time isnow 9:34 a.m.

11

The Job Interview

4. Language Focus and Tasks
4.1 Vocabulary #1

PLE

Read the following sentences. Whatdo you think the words in bold mean?

SAM

1. You also search online and readmany job advertisements whenlooking for a job.

2. You send your resume (orcurriculum vitae) with information
about your education, work experience, skills, and abilities to many companies.

48

The Job Interview

4.2 Vocabulary #2
Read the definitions to the words inTask 4.1. Did you guess the meaningsof the words correctly?
(Noun) An announcement bya company online or in a newspaper that a job is available.

Resume /Curriculum Vitae:(Noun) A document which
explains information about aperson’s education, work experience, skills, abilities andaccomplishments. It is usuallysent to a company as part of ajob application.

SAM

PLE

Job
advertisement:

52

Cover letter:(Noun) A letter or electronic
document sent with a resume
as part of a job application.
The letter gives extra information about your skills andexperience.

Human resources:(Noun) Human resources or
HR is responsible for hiring,training, and firing workers orcompany employees.

The Job Interview

4.3 Useful Language:
1. Inviting a Short-listed Candidate to an Interview.

SAM

PLE

Further to your application for theposition of trainee sales representative, we are happy to announce
that you have been short-listed. I
am writing to invite you to attend
an interview at our head office inShibuya on Tuesday March 15th at
9:00 a.m.

54

The Job Interview

4.4 Reflection Questions

MPLE

1. Why do you think the interview
with PH Health Japan Co., Ltd. wasunsuccessful? What mistakes didthe candidate make?

SA

2. Why do you think the interview
with ABC Convenience Stores wassuccessful? What did the candidate
do better in this interview?

60PLEThe Job Interview

Pocket Readers - Business Series------------------------------------------------------2018年5月1日 初版発行

著者： アンディ・ブーン

M

発行者：ハリディ・ダーレン

SA

発行所：HALICO株式会社〒103-0027 東京都中央区日本橋3-4-15
八重洲通ビル5階
電話：03-6870-3512
ホームページ: https://www.halico.jp------------------------------------------------------Copyright © Andy Boon
ISBN 978-4-909730-00-8

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by anymeans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places,events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’simagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

64