How to pass any job interview in English

If you are googling the question “How to pass any job interview? ”, it means that soon you will have to go through a very stressful and exhausting ordeal. Clearly, you want the interview to end successfully, because the refusal to accept a job is frustrating, hits the self-esteem, and some people are forced to put their hands down and leave all hopes for success. Too much is at stake, so people are afraid of such events.

What makes a job interview even more intimidating is the company’s request to conduct it in English. For some reason, the word “English” scares many people who enter the IT or outsourcing field. Although almost always the requirement to know this international language is on par with professional skills. It is English, or rather its low level, that becomes one of the most frequent reasons for rejection. However, in this article we will prove that it is possible to pass any interview in English!

How to pass any job interview

It is very important to approach a job interview sensibly and without excitement. That’s why we suggest you put aside unnecessary thoughts and focus on just three aspects: your personal characteristics, your professional qualities and your English skills. You don’t need anything else.

Psychological aspect

1. Show your confidence

If after reading this advice, the question in your mind is : “How can I do it if I’m really nervous?”, then we answer “Fake it till you make it!”. You are the one who decides how others see you. It’s scientifically proven, that, for example, straight posture makes people feel better, more confident, more courageous. Thus, not only our thoughts influence our body, but also our body influences our thoughts. So in an interview, sit comfortably, straighten your back, raise your head, don’t cross your arms and legs, look into your interviewer’s eyes, and don’t be afraid to show your palms. These are all signs of a “strong or open posture”, not a “victim posture” that the interviewer wants to bite and bombard with questions.

Another interesting fact is that stress can play right into your hands. Think of what happens to you when you are stressed: intense adrenaline production, increased heart rate, stimulation of all systems, increased brain activity. Your body is preparing to take on the challenge and fight back. In these moments, your head works much better. In situations where you are excited and anxious, you are more productive than someone who doesn’t care. So take advantage of it, don’t be afraid of stress, take it for granted, focusing not on the excitement but on the positive outcome, on what will happen when it’s over, and your body will do its own thing to perform better.

2. Be able to adjust to the person you’re talking to

Pay attention to your interviewer’s age, gender, standout features and tweak yourself to match them. Applicants of different ages will view your professional qualities differently. For example, people from Generation X, born in 1965-1980, will appreciate your ability to work in a team, so emphasize this; Millennials (1981-1996) will look for multitasking in you because they are inclined to it and consider it an important quality in work; and boomers (1946 to 1964) will pay attention to your leadership skills and ability to cope with difficulties (due to their own life experience). Also think about how the boomer will perceive your tattoos on the open areas of the body, bright hair color or colorful outfit. So it’s best to look neutral and reserved at interviews, without emphasizing your personality with your appearance.

Also, in the course of communication, it is worth finding something in common. Agree, we all like people with whom we have common traits, views or interests. We do not naturally seek confrontation. If you notice an interviewer’s optimistic, active outlook on life, emphasize that you, too, always believe in the best. But if your interlocutor is a skeptic to the core – it is worthwhile to hold back your optimism and show a more reserved view of life, talk about critical thinking and avoid exclamations about how beautiful this world is, because skepticism and optimism are like two sides of the same coin. These facts have long been studied and compiled in studies on the nature of human understanding.

Finally, it’s important to say that knowing how to construct a report plays a huge role in establishing rapport. It is also a demonstration of your Soft Skills. More often than not, people forget to evaluate the situation from the other person’s perspective and this becomes the cause of misunderstanding. In one of his speeches Adam Galinsky, a social psychologist, asked people in the audience to draw the letter E on their foreheads with the finger of their right hand for him very quickly. People drew the E in two different ways: from their own perspective and from Adam’s perspective (so that it would be easier for him to read):

People also act with this orientation in more significant life situations. The psychologist emphasized that this difference of perspectives is most acute during crisis and stressful situations (just at a job interview). Therefore, he urged the participants of the mini-experiment to look at the other person’s perspective more often in order to achieve greater success in mutual understanding.

3. Speak intelligently about yourself

Forget about rehashing your resume, because the person sitting in front of you can obviously read. Your task is not to list your qualities in commas, not to reiterate the list of places where you worked or studied, but to show a competent speech and support the written in the resume with convincing examples – so says a public speaker and author of books on the art of charisma Charlie Hupert. If you just tell a potential boss that you can handle difficulties at work, will they believe you? But if you add an example from your life, tell more about why this is true – this will dramatically change the course of communication, it will convince the interviewer that you are telling the truth.

It is also very important to have a dialog, not a monologue. It really happens that because of stress a person starts talking without ceasing. But remember that no one is interested in stories from your childhood or details about traveling. Answer only to the questions asked, detailed, but do not go into detail.

Finally, your questioning skills are another part of your self-presentation. Be sure to ask the potential boss something at the end of the conversation, thus showing interest. There’s a good trick for final questions – start the sentence with “Let’s assume I’m a good fit for you…”. For example: “Assuming I’ve matched you, how is your training process going?” This wording forces the interviewer to visualize you in the position. This will play a big role in the decision to hire you, because the person has already seen you mentally, even once, in the vacant position.

Professional aspect

Your Hard Skills mean a lot to an employer. That’s why it’s important to present your skills correctly and hide your shortcomings.

1. Prepare yourself

As cliché as it may sound, but simple preparation saves lives (professional of course). Under no circumstances should you go to an interview without knowing anything about the company and without studying the requirements for the vacancy. This will show that you are a disinterested person. Go through the job requirements, read the material on your field of activity, understand the terms, updates. Maybe while you were working on Waterfall methodology for 5 years, everyone switched to Agile? Understand not only professional terminology, but also project terminology. After all, it may come in handy when communicating with business clients or partners. If you took a technical test before the interview, great. Go over it again, make sure you really understand the tasks, that you haven’t forgotten the terms, and that you are oriented in your answers.

2. If you can’t do something, your prospects are your best friends

It is impossible to know and be able to do everything in the world. But you must admit, the phrase “I can’t do this” sounds simply disgusting. Therefore, forget this phrase and use “I am indirectly familiar with this, and I was just planning to master this material in more detail.” This will demonstrate your determination and also the ability to get out of awkward situations (flexibility of mind). In general, it is always important to talk about development prospects, and not just concentrate on the experience gained. You can even find out whether the company allocates a budget for training. Usually, large IT companies welcome the professional development of employees within their borders in this way.

3. Facts and figures as a seasoning for the main dish

People with an analytical and technical mindset love numbers and facts. Humanitarians are also delighted with them. Facts and statistics sound convincing and will simply make your interlocutor believe in your knowledge of the given area. When giving examples from professional activity, illustrate them: instead of “I worked in a large company,” say “I worked in a company with 400 employees.” But remember, if you are interviewing in English, it is important to understand how to describe a numerical value, because mistakes are often made in such things:

Language aspect

It is unlikely that you can learn a language to an advanced level overnight, as any student hopes before an exam. But you can easily learn a couple of phrases that will make your speech more sophisticated and professional.

1. Don’t talk like a first grader

🚫 Avoid hackneyed phrases

In English, you often hear phrases with very, but they sound boring and impoverish speech. Instead of reinforcing words with “very”, use precise and vivid adjectives:

💬 Talk like a confident speaker

A too simple “Yes” or “No” often sounds boring or even aloof. Add nuance and your answer will become more lively and expressive.

🗣️ Use linking words to make your speech sound more lively:

📣 When someone asks you “How are you doing?”, don’t rush into the cliché “Good” —you have cooler options!

2. Baby steps are your everything

It often happens that people who are in the process of learning English, for some reason try to beat Leo Tolstoy’s record with his longest sentence (229 words, mind you!) and start building towers of long language constructions. Such towers often fall with a crash right on the interviewer’s head. Therefore, it is very important to lay out your thoughts in portions, in short phrases, but correctly. As they say, baby steps.

Also, if you are not confident in your knowledge of tenses or their agreement, focus on basic tenses such as Present Simple, Past Simple, Present Perfect, Future Simple. Think through your answers in short phrases in these tenses.

3. Demonstrate knowledge of vocabulary

Below you will find some good words that are definitely worth learning or adding to your self-talk points.

🎯 What may be asked at a job interview and how to answer correctly

Forewarned is forearmed! Since it is important for the employer to find out what kind of employee you are and what kind of person you are, it is easy to guess what kind of questions he may ask. Be sure to think in advance, or, better yet, write down the answers to these questions so that you don’t get confused at the interview and don’t have to dig through your head looking for the right vocabulary.

❓ Tell me about yourself

What they want to hear: a short story about you as a professional.

❓ Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses

Question objective: to check self-esteem and honesty.

❓ Why did you decide to quit your job?

Question objective: to understand the motivation for changing jobs.

❓ Why are you interested in this position?

What they want to hear: company and role related motivation.

❓ How do you see yourself in 10 years / in the future?

What they want to hear: ambitions and goals related not only to the profession but also to the company.

❓ Tell me about the most challenging situation at work

What they want to hear: the ability to resolve conflicts and maintain composure.

❓ Tell me about your most outstanding accomplishment

Question objective: to understand what you’re proud of and how you can benefit the team.

But what if…

But what if successfully passing an interview and getting the desired job are not the same thing? This article described selected proven ways to present yourself as an ideal candidate.

However, there is always a risk of rejection. Even if the interviewer liked you, there are certain external factors, and we want to honestly prepare you for them. Personal experience, a million blogs read and conversations with recruiters have shown that sometimes the reasons for rejection are the incompetence of the company’s CEO (who simply did not see in advance that you have 3 years of experience instead of the desired 5 and did not send approval), the mistakes of the recruiter (who simply shoved you into an interview with the thought “What if it works?”), and in general a sudden reduction in the budget for the vacancy. Such factors occur extremely rarely, as exceptions to the rule. However, you must understand that rejection is not always your fault. Be sure to find out the exact reason for the rejection, if this happened and do not give up under any circumstances.

Continue learning English, develop, gain experience to impress interviewers with your professional qualities. On our course Interview Preparation We will help you confidently pass the interview, practice your answers to key questions and prepare everything you need for a successful outcome.

Interview Preparation | StopFail

Preparing for an interview

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