成人高等教育英語教材4 03

[00:00.00] UNIT 3
[00:04.00]Job Hunting
[00:07.84]Integrated Skills Development
[00:13.79]Passage Fruitful Interview
[00:20.27]The coming early summer is again the time when college students
[00:27.92]are busy with job interviews
[00:31.69]in the hope that four years high priced education was not in vain.
[00:38.35]A job hunter can have the best credentials in the world
[00:44.51]and still fail the job interview.
[00:48.95]If that happens,his dreams of employment are shattered at least with one employer.
[00:57.00]Some people are naturally better at interviews that other,
[01:02.64]thanks to an outgoing personality.
[01:07.50]But it takes more than smooth talk to a job.
[01:12.86]Personnel experts say that preparation is the thing.
[01:19.39]Learn how to play the game of hard questions,
[01:24.64]which is what a job interview is all about.
[01:29.31]Interviewers may differ in technique,
[01:34.88]but there are some common questions most of them always ask.
[01:41.36]"The first 60 to 80 seconds are the most important part of an interview,
[01:49.09]"Ed Morsier,
[01:52.33]a director of the Graduate School in Carnegie Mellon University,Pittsburgh said.
[02:00.87]"This occurs during the small talk before the hard questions begin.
[02:08.91]If you can relate some unique experience that will make the in terviewer remember you,
[02:15.99]you may clinch a job,"he said.
[02:20.25]But it must be done without appearing to be contrived.
[02:26.42]I remember a girl who mentioned that she did macrame.
[02:32.48]So did the interviewer's wife.
[02:36.73]Some of the questions seem harmless enough.
[02:43.89]Actually,they are tricks designed to bring out your weaknesses and strengths.
[02:51.15]"Tell me about your life"is almost always asked.
[02:57.32]It is a trap for ramblers.
[03:01.79]The interviewer wants to see how quickly you organize your thoughts
[03:08.03]and how well you communicate.
[03:12.29]Someone who rambles a lot is on shaky ground.
[03:17.56]Your answer also provides a glimpse of your character and interest.
[03:24.33]Morsier recalled an episode about a lawyer being interviewed
[03:31.38]for trial work with a large firm.
[03:35.82]"She talked about a skiing medal she had won.
[03:41.88]It showed she liked to win."
[03:46.25]So she was given the position.
[03:50.92]Another question that usually catches people off guard:
[03:57.09]What is your weakness?
[04:01.53]It's a most difficult question.
[04:06.99]One shold always try to present a weakness in a positive light.
[04:12.94]You might say:"One of my problems is that I'm a perfectionist.
[04:19.11]It interferes with my personal life because I'm always taking work home."
[04:26.19]Perhaps the most dangerous boody trap is the inquiry:
[04:32.85]What do you think of your former boss or company?
[04:37.89]"Never-bad-mouth anyone",advises Morsier.
[04:44.45]If you were fired,
[04:48.52]try to owe it to personality conflicts rather than to some other people.
[04:56.18]But always stress that the conflicts didn't prevent you from doing your job well.
[05:03.33]Be more careful about the presentation of your former boss.
[05:10.70]It might be noted that"he helped me learn specific skills"
[05:17.18]or "he was under a lot of pressures".
[05:22.14]You might add,
[05:25.69]"But I would have handled it differently and shown more compassion to the employees."