成人高等教育英语教材第二册03-成人高教英语

UNIT 3

An Interview

Integrated Skills Development

Dialogues
A. Tang Bin Goes for an Interview

Tang Bin goes for an interview at AM-ADMEL, a foreign company in China and sees Mr. Preston, the Sales Manager.
Preston: Mr. Tang, how do you do? Please take a seat.
Tang: Thank you.
Preston: I have your application letter here. I can see you've had some experience in sales.
Tang: Yes, I was a salesman for BSB before.
Preston: Oh yes. I know the company. Any special reasons for wanting to leave?
Tang: Practical reasons really. The company is based in the city center, and to commute every day is too much for me.
Preston: Yes, I see. So from your point of view, a job in AM-ADMEL would be ideal, I suppose?
Tang: Yes.
Preston: Well, we are looking for someone who is good at dealing with people and who is able to make new contracts faster than our competitors.
Tang: Yes, I understand that.
Preston: Though the hours may not be fixed, you really have to be prepared to work hard, perhaps harder than you imagine.
Tang: Well, I am quite prepared to do that.
Preston: Good.

B. What Are the Hours?

Ma Li has applied for a job as a receptionist in a foreign hotel in China. Now Mr. Waters, the Personnel Manager in the hotel, is giving her some information about the job.
Waters: Do you have any questions?
Ma: Yes, what are the hours?
Waters: 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. One hour for lunch and two 15-minute breaks. If we needed you overtime or Saturdays, would you be willing to come in?
Ma: What special arrangements do you have for overtime?
Waters: The pay is the same, but we bring in meals for you, and you get half a day off for every 40 hours over.
Ma: That sounds okay.
Waters: We're interviewing twenty applicants for this position. Can you think of any special reasons why we should hire you?
Ma: Well, I have been a receptionist before. I enjoyed it, did it well, and have good recommendations.
Waters: We'll contact your references next week, and should make our decision and contact all the applicants by Friday. Do you have any more questions?
Ma: No.
Waters: Thank you for coming in. Nice meeting you.
Ma: Thank you. Nice meeting you.

Passage An Interview

Mr. Raymond Lee, Director of Personnel at the Dallas Electric Company, gives some advice on how to be successful in a job interview:
First, plan well. One type of planning is to list all paid or volunteer work you have done, where you did it, who your boss was, exactly what you did, and what you have learned there, that is, how the experience has helped you grow professionally. You also need to think about what kind of person you are, what you like to do and why. If you haven't thought about that ahead of time, you're asking for trouble.
Second, be yourself. It's really important for the interviewer to like you and want to give you a chance. Show enthusiasm for hard work, talk about how you have handled daily problems well, show that you want to succeed in what you do. This is very important if there is more than one applicant, who has the basic qualifications.