STIC - Accounting: Work Search (Module 3)
 Employment Interviews (Topic 4)
Content
Facilitator should be aware of typical employment interview questions
and employer expectations.
Delivery
As many copies as necessary should be made of the following handouts
 :
- Handout 1 Job Ad
- Handout 2 Kumar Somasundram's Résumé
- Handout 3 Interview Questions
- Handout 4 Vocabulary Matching Activity
- Handout 5 Functional Language
- Handout 6 More Clarification Language
- Handout 7 Strategies for a Persuasive Interview (two
pages)
- Handout 8 Employment Interview (three pages)
- Terminology List (optional)
Materials needed: access to an overhead projector,
OHT 1, 2 .
Prepare questions for pre-task 11 on chart paper.
Methodology
Introduction
(10 minutes) 1.
Elicit from participants:
- What is an interview?
- Have you had job interviews in your country?
- What questions did they ask you?
- How did you prepare for such interviews?
- How would you prepare for an accounting job interview
in Canada / Ontario?
Ask participants to interview their partners (or discuss the above questions
in groups of three). Discuss by having volunteers report the answers.
Pre-Tasks
1. (20 minutes) (Optional)
Ask participants to write
their own "Top
Ten Rules for an Employment Interview in Canada." Let them work in
groups of four, choosing one participant to be secretary.
Review, having volunteers read the rules to class (or write them on the board),
and verify with OHT 1. Elicit vocabulary explanation from class.
Ask the class if these "rules" are the same or different in their country.
2. (20 minutes)
Elicit from participants what they know about
typical interviews for an accounting management position. Ask participants
to discuss in groups the following questions (have them written on the board):
- What type of an interview do you think you might have when
you apply for an accounting/management position?
- Will the interview be formal or relaxed?
- Will there be one interview or several? A written test? A practical test?
- What people will you have an interview with?
- Notes for facilitator:
- If the position entails dealing with the public (customers,
department staff, etc.), one's personality and attitudes will be assessed.
There will likely be an interview with a personnel (human resources) department
representative, department's supervisor/manager, or a VP (vice president),
depending on the seniority of the position for which you are applying.
- If it is a large organization, there might be three or four
interviews before the final hiring decision is reached.
Discuss answers with the class.
3. (25 minutes)
- Ask groups of four participants to write
eight employment interview questions for an individual applying for the
job featured in the classified ad in Handout 1. Assume that the applicant
has the accounting background described on the résumé in Handout
2.
- Instruct participants to include questions asked during the
greeting stage. Have participants discuss the intention of these questions
and how they relate to the purpose of the interview.
- Take up with the class by having volunteers write questions
on the board. Have a class discussion on grammar and appropriateness of phrases/words
being used. Give examples of greeting questions on the board.
Examples of greeting stage questions (i.e., icebreakers):
- Did you have any trouble finding us?
- We hope we didn't keep you waiting too long.
- You haven't been here very long. How do you like Toronto / Ontario / Canada?
4. (15 minutes) (Optional)
Distribute Handout 3 and ask pairs
to select questions that should not be asked by an interviewee
(an applicant) during a job interview. Review orally with the class.
5. (15 minutes) (Optional)
Have groups of three participants match the
terms with their explanations on Handout 4. Take up with the class orally (volunteers
read the answers) and on the board/OHP.
6. (15 minutes) (Optional)
Elicit from groups phrases used to ask for repetition,
clarification, elaboration (i.e., giving more details), and verification.
Give participants about ten minutes and then have volunteers write expressions
on the board (in four columns); class corrects.
Repetition
= |
Clarification
= |
Elaboration
= |
Verification
= |
Also, refer participants back to Module 1, Topic 1 where clarification language
was reviewed.
7. (15 minutes)
Ask pairs to work on Handout 5 selecting
inappropriate phrases and strategies. Review orally with the class or on
OHP (OHT 2). 8. (40 minutes)
Distribute Handouts 6 and 7, which contain
more useful expressions that might be used by an interviewee during a job
interview. Ask groups of three participants to read expressions and negotiate
the meaning of those that are not clear. Have selected participants read
and explain unclear expressions to the class.
9. (10 minutes)
Go back to Handouts 1 and 2. Ask participants
to re-read the résumé and the job ad. 10.
(30 minutes)
Ask participants to listen to the facilitator
reading the script of a portion of a job interview. The script on Handout
8 could be distributed before or after the facilitator reads it to the
class.
Note: (Optional)
The facilitator could prepare a cloze exercise
to accompany the interview script (i.e., class listens a few times to the
interview and fills in the missing words). Participants compare with
partner's work. Review as a class (volunteers read sentences to class).
11.
(30 minutes)
If participants do not have Handout 8, distribute
it now. Ask groups to analyze the interview: underline inappropriate expressions/responses
used, replace them with more appropriate responses/expressions (perhaps from Handout 6). Participants
are guided in their analyses by negotiating the answers to the following questions:
(prepared on chart paper)
- What did Kumar Somasundram do right?
- What did Kumar Somasundram do wrong?
- Did he answer appropriately by providing sufficient information?
- Did he seek clarification when necessary?
- Did he ask appropriate questions?
- Did he show a sincere interest in getting a job?
- If you were Mr. Kowalski, would you offer Kumar the position
of Controller?
Take up the questions with the class (volunteers from each group present some
answers) and show some possible, more appropriate phrases/ expressions/ responses
using the Facilitator's Notes.
Task
1. (45 minutes)
Have participants work in groups of three
and write a script of a job interview, using their résumés and
a job ad from previous lesson handouts. Participants could use parts of Handout
8 (corrected version) as a model. Limit length to one page. Ask participants
to practice reading their scripts in pairs. Participant A - plays an interviewee
Participant B - plays an interviewer
Participant C - plays an evaluator, who evaluates both participant
A and B according to questions used in Pre-Task 1
Then participants switch their roles and practice reading the same interview
again.
Participant C - becomes an interviewee
Participant A - becomes an interviewer
Participant B - becomes an evaluator
Out-of-Class Post-Task
Participants could find a job ad for which they would like
to apply and write a job interview for it (could tape with another classmate
at home). Then bring it to the next class to present.
 Downloads
All downloads are in Adobe Acrobat
PDF.
Download a print version of the above lesson plan and related
materials.
Work
Search: Topic 4 [265 KB, 26 pages]
Download the complete Facilitator's Guide and Participant's Workbook.
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