A Winning Job Interview Webquest
Donna Price-Machado

Level: Intermediate-Advanced ESL and ABE

Language Objectives:
Students will be able to:

identify ways to make a good impression at an interview.
identify their personal qualities and how they fit with the job they are seeking.
answer basic interview questions

Computer Objectives:
Students will be able to:

access information about a job they are seeking
practice vocabulary doing interactive activities on the internet

Part I: A Job Interview
An interview is a face-to-face conversation between a job applicant and a manager (interviewer). There are certain things to remember if you want to make a good impression at a job interview:

Be confident.
Don’t speak very softly.
Don’t act nervous, even if you are! Be friendly and enthusiastic.
Smile and make eye contact.
Be an active listener. Show that you understand by nodding your head or saying, “I see,” or, “Uh-huh.”
Wear professional clothes.
Shake hands firmly.

During the interview, think about what you need to do: you need to sell yourself. Be positive. Say good things about your experience, skills and qualities. Give examples about your past work or life experience.

Part II: Sell Yourself
What kinds of things should you say about yourself? What makes you a good worker?
It is important to know your strengths (qualities) because this will help you when an interviewer says, “Tell me about yourself.” It is also important to understand that certain strengths are more important for some jobs than others.

For example:

If you want to work with children, you must be patient and enthusiastic.
If you want to work as a nursing assistant, you need to be compassionate.

Think about the job you want and the strengths you have.

Part III: Personal Strength Words, Internet Exercise #1
With a partner, talk about the following list of personal strength words. If you don’t know the definition of any of the words, look in your dictionary.
1. reliable
2. trustworthy
3. personable
4. punctual
5. cheerful
6. loyal
7. flexible
8. productive
9. enthusiastic
10. compassionate
11. patient
12. organized
13. a team player
14. ambitious
15. hardworking

When you are finished, go to http://www.quia.com/cm/14034.html and do the vocabulary exercise using the personal strength words.

First, view the list of terms.
Then do the Column activity.

Part IV: Find the Job You Want, Internet Exercise #2
Think of a job you would like to have. Go to http://www.aol.com/webcenters/workplace/jobs.adp.
Select the location where you would like to work and the profession you are seeking. Answer the following questions if the information is given:

What is the job you are seeking? ______________________________________
Where is the job? ___________________________________________
How much experience do you need? _________________________________
What is the salary? ______________________________________
What personal quality do you have best fits this profession? __________________________________________

Share your answer with two other students. Ask them about the information they found and write down their answers:

Student #1

My classmate’s name is _________________________________
What is the job? ______________________________________
Where is the job? ___________________________________________
How much experience do you need? _________________________________
What is the salary? ______________________________________
What personal quality do you have best fits this profession? ____________________________________________

Student #2

Part V: Practice the Interview, Internet Exercise #3
Now it’s time to read some actual interview questions and practice answering them.
Go to http://www.meetit.com/intvques/qcand01.html.
Read the ten Questions about Candidate. Think about how you would answer the questions. Be sure to base your answers on what you just read in the Questions about Candidate article.
Sit with a two people. One student will be the applicant, one student will be the interviewer and the other student will be the observer. The interviewer and observer both need to read the Questions about Candidate article before doing this exercise.
The observer will check to be sure the applicant answers the questions with the information from the article.

Applicant’s Name __________________
Interviewer’s Name __________________
Observer’s Name _________________
Applicant: I am applying for the position of _____________
At the Interview
Interviewer: Good morning. How are you today?
Applicant: Fine, thank you, and you?
Interviewer: Just fine. Let’s get started. Tell me, why did you choose this profession?
Applicant: ______________________________________________________________
Interviewer: What can you tell me about yourself?
Applicant: ______________________________________________________________
Interviewer: That’s interesting. What are some of your strong points?
Applicant: ______________________________________________________________
Interviewer: Good. That’s important in this job. Why do you think I should hire you for this position?
Applicant: ______________________________________________________________
Interviewer: Tell me about a problem you have solved.
Applicant: ______________________________________________________________
Interviewer: It certainly was a pleasure to meet you. We will get in touch with you in a few weeks.

Observer's Evaluation

Observer's Name __________________ Applicant's Name _________________

Circle the answer.

Interviewer's Question

Observer's Question

Observer's Remarks
(based on the article)

1. Why did you choose this profession?

Did the applicant give an example of why he chose this profession?

What was his reason?

YES NO

2. What can you tell me about yourself?

Did the applicant talk about his background, education, skills

and accomplishments?

YES NO

3. What are some of your strong points?

Did the applicant talk about his strong points related to this job?

Give an example of what the applicant said.

YES NO

4. Why do you think I should hire you for this position?

Did the applicant talk about his education, skills and experience

related to this job?

YES NO

5. Tell me about a problem you have solved?

Did the applicant describe a problem he solved that is related to the companyÕs work?

YES NO

Observer: Discuss your observations with the applicant. Share any suggestions you have

Part VI: More examples of good answers at the job interview, Internet Exercise #4
Go to http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/advice/vi0000.htm
You will read many examples of interview questions and possible answers. Think about how you would answer each question and see if it matches the answer the computer provides.
Read the ten Questions about Candidate. Think about how you would answer the questions. Be sure to base your answers on what you just read in the Questions about Candidate article.
Sit with a partner. One student will be the interviewer; the other student will be the applicant.

Applicant: I am applying for the position of _____________
At the Interview
Interviewer: Good morning. How are you today?
Applicant: Fine, thank you, and you?
Interviewer: Just fine. Let’s get started. Tell me, why did you choose this profession?
Applicant: ______________________________________________________________
Interviewer: What can you tell me about yourself?
Applicant: ______________________________________________________________
Interviewer: That’s interesting. What are some of your strong points?
Applicant: ______________________________________________________________
Interviewer: Good. That’s important in this job. Why do you think I should hire you for this position?
Applicant: ______________________________________________________________
Interviewer: Tell me about a problem you have solved.
Applicant: ______________________________________________________________
Interviewer: It certainly was a pleasure to meet you. We will get in touch with you in a few weeks.

What do you think, interviewer? Should the applicant you practiced with get the job? Why or why not?