You’re listening to the second in a two-part Business English Podcast series on talking about accomplishments. This is one of an ongoing sequence of podcasts on job interviews in English.

The theme for this episode and the last is provide examples. In the first part, we looked at a bad and good version of a recent university graduate talking about his academic successes. We studied how to use our accomplishments to demonstrate skills and characteristics that will be attractive to our potential employer.

In this lesson, we examine another good response to the question about previous experience and describing your accomplishments. We’ll be looking at someone with a little more job experience: Yala Santos is an HR specialist who is working in a manufacturing company. She now has an opportunity to interview for an HR manager position in a business unit of a fast moving consumer goods company, Fun Beverages International. Let’s listen to how Yala deals with talking about her greatest achievement.

Ordinarily, when responding the question about your most significant accomplishment, it’s very important that you prepare to tell a story that is organized and articulate. That means the story should be well structured and flow smoothly. Though there are many ways to make your presentation, Yala uses the same general format that I like to follow.

Listening Questions

1. You will probably need to set up the story by providing some context. Where were you? What was the situation? What was at stake, that is, what did you stand to lose or gain?
2. Recount your role in the situation. How were you involved?
3. Next, discuss what you did, including any analysis or problem solving, any process you set up, and any obstacles you had to overcome.
4. Reveal the outcome and what made you proud.

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This is the first in a two-part Business English Podcast series on talking about your accomplishments. It is one of an ongoing sequence of podcasts that focus on the job interview process.

Along with your previous experience, your greatest accomplishment is one of the topics that is sure to come up in almost any job interview. This question appears in a variety of forms: What was your proudest achievement? What was your most significant accomplishment? What do you consider to be your greatest success?

No matter how it’s asked, you should be ready with a reply. Interviewers want to hear about something important that you handled. Pick an achievement that is significant to you and that is rich in detail. These two qualities will make it easy to provide examples, which is the main theme of this series.

In this lesson, we’ll be listening to a bad and good version of a recent graduate discussing his greatest accomplishment. We’ll focus on language for providing examples of the positive personal characteristics that our previous success demonstrates. Then, in Part 2 of this series, we’ll hear another good example of someone with more job experience, and we’ll examine a four-part structure for telling our success stories.

First, let’s quickly review the bad example. We’ll go back to Alexander’s interview with Michael in the electronics store. As you listen, consider the following questions. Then we’ll examine the answers in the debrief.

Listening Questions

1. Does Alex put his success into an organized, articulate story?
2. Does he present his accomplishment in a way that provides examples of skills and qualities that will be useful at his new job?

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Download: Podcast MP3[/tp]