How to prepare for a job interview in English

Welcome to the Interview Preparation Simplified Com Podcast, a series of five-minute episodes to help you prepare for your interview so you can land your dream job. Now here's your host, Thorston. Hi everyone, and welcome to my podcast. Many candidates I have coached or that have used our digital coaching app say that their biggest challenge is having an interview in English, which is not their first language.

Actually, I've been there myself and I can still remember how nervous I was when, thirteen years ago, I had my first interview in English. So, in today's episode I will share a couple of hands-on tips and tricks to help you prepare for such an interview and calm your nerves. Step one. Choose your perspective.

The recruiter is aware of your background and that you're not the native English speaker. So if you've been invited to interview, they don't consider this a red flag, and you most likely overestimated the importance of the language aspect. To help you put this into perspective, jot down all the skills and qualifications listed in the job description.

It might say something about proficiency in English, but it's most likely only one out of ten plus things mentioned. So don't give this ten percent, ninety percent of your attention. And after all, a job description is like a wish list, and employers know that it's not likely that they will find a candidate that will fit everything they are looking for.

Step 2. Focus on the value you can provide. Employers hire people because they expect them to create value for their business. So, set the language aspect aside for a second and think about what the successful candidate in this role would deliver. Then, prepare a list of your previous achievements that prove that you are the right person for the position. Once you have your list, add a second column and quantify your accomplishments.

For example, suppose you're interviewing for a data analyst role. In that case, you might have analyzed datasets with up to 1 million records in your current job. and your work has helped identify and remove processed bottlenecks which increased efficiency by 15%. Now, the reports you will create in the new role when presenting the findings of your analysis might not be in flawless English.

but that will not change your work's positive impact and value, namely providing insight that can help improve the business.

So, during the interview, focus on the value aspect, not the language aspect, and let your accomplishments speak for themselves. Step 3. Prepare for the interview. We have established that the company has not invited you to an interview to assess your language skills, but rather to determine if you can provide value for them and that you have the skills and experiences to do a great job.

Now, you might still be a bit nervous about the actual conversation with the interviewer. Again, I would not overthink this, but there are a couple of things you can do to prepare. First, review the job description and list all role or industry specific jargon. Next, add all words that are new to you or that you find difficult to pronounce. Then continue by adding the most important words in your native language you use daily at work if you don't know what they are in English.

Once your list is complete, look up the translations and practice the pronunciation. Check out this episode's show notes on my website for a list of free online tools that can help you with this. Step four. Avoid misunderstandings. A common mistake candidates make when being interviewed in a foreign language is trying to answer a question they did not completely understand.

You might think that admitting that you did not understand the interviewer is bad because it shows that your English is not perfect. But on the other hand, you don't want to end up talking about something off point. A strategy to avoid this common pitfall in most cases is to do two things. First, if you realize that the interviewer is talking very fast, ask them politely at the beginning of the interview to speak a bit slower.

Native speakers sometimes unintentionally forget that non-native speakers might otherwise have difficulty following. The second thing you can do is ask the interviewer to confirm that you have understood the question correctly. You might, for example, say, Mike, if I understand you correctly, you want me to summarize the steps I usually take when analysing a large dataset. Is that correct?

And if you did not understand the question at all, ask for clarification by saying, for example, I'm really sorry, Sarah. I did not quite get that. Could you please repeat the question? Step 5. Practice. Practicing is the most important thing you can do to calm your nerves and prepare. Find someone who can do a mock interview with you. Ideally, this is someone who is an experienced interviewer and feels comfortable having the conversation in English.

Answering the questions and simulating the interview situation in a safe environment will make it much easier for you to feel confident and nail the actual interview. These were the five steps. Thank you for listening, and I hope this was helpful to you. This was the Interview Preparation Simplify. Make sure to tune in for the next episode. And if you need help with preparing your interview, then drop a mail to question at interview preparation simplify.com.