Interview Skills 9 - Asking For Information About The Position

Hello everyone and welcome to EnglishPod.

My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and you've been with us for a little while.

You've probably heard some of our interview series already.

Well this is one of the later episodes in that series.

That's right.

We're at part number nine.

We're reaching the end of our interview and on this occasion we're going to ask our employer

a little bit of more information about the company and more importantly about the job.

Well this is a very important step.

Like you say, it's at the end of the interview so we're going to find out more details about

the job.

Let's take a listen to today's dialogue.

We'll be back in a moment to talk more about it.

Could you tell me a little about the organization?

For example, how big is your office here?

Well in total we have around 150 employees based in Hong Kong with another 400 in our

head office in Beijing.

The news desk staff in Hong Kong has around 80 staff.

I see.

And how about the working hours?

Well as you know Rebecca, in journalism work hours are not exactly nine to five.

You could be on call at any time but we do have to work very unsociable hours at times.

Well I'm used to that Mr Parsons.

So that's not really a shock for me.

Good.

As long as you understand that.

And when do you need to fill the vacancy Mr Parsons?

Yesterday but no.

We're hoping to start from the beginning of next month.

That sounds like deal.

Alright we're back.

So it's obviously a very difficult job and she asked some very key questions.

So why don't we take a look at a couple of the words and phrases used there on Language

Takeaway.

Language Takeaway.

The first word that we have here for Language Takeaway is workforce.

That's right a workforce.

The company's workforce.

And that basically means all the employees that we have working for us.

That might not be in one office.

Many companies have two, three, even a hundred offices.

So the workforce means all the people who work for the company combined.

That's right.

So a workforce.

And well she asked about the workforce and well it's obviously a pretty big company.

150 employees.

But he also mentioned that the news desk staff in Hong Kong comprises around 80 people or

80 staff.

So this verb to comprise or in this case it comprises means to make up or to account for.

It's a very nice word to say it accounts for, it makes up, it's the total.

It's the total right.

So in this case the news desk staff has 80 people.

That's a very easy way to say it.

But we could say it comprises 80 people.

It sounds a bit better.

That's right.

Very good.

So now obviously she's going to be a reporter or a journalist and he said that she should

be on call at any time.

Okay.

On call is a phrase that we often hear with jobs like journalism but also medicine.

So doctors have to be on call very often.

This means that you don't have to be in the office but you have to be available to come

into the office.

So when someone calls you and they say we have an emergency you have to be available.

That's right.

And you see it in movies all the time.

You know doctors are on call and maybe they're already sleeping or maybe they're out I don't

know playing soccer with their kids and they receive a phone call and they have to go to

the hospital in that moment.

It's because they're on call.

That's because they're on call.

Very good.

And so obviously this is a very difficult thing for someone.

And he explains that the work has very unsociable hours at times.

Okay so you can say that the hours are unsociable.

You can also say that a person is unsociable.

It basically means that it's not very convenient for being a social person or for going out

with friends and having many events to go to or fun things to do in your personal life.

That's right.

So if a person is unsociable it means that maybe that person is not very outgoing or

maybe is always angry or grumpy so that person doesn't get along well with others.

Right.

So in this case it doesn't mean that it's a grumpy job.

It just means that because she might have to work at night very often or on the weekends

it's very hard to have a social life.

That's right.

Okay so obviously this job is very difficult but in the end she was really happy with it

and she said that sounds ideal, her starting time.

So something is ideal if it's perfect or great or the top.

That's right.

Many people talk about the ideal job, right?

The perfect job.

So that's the job that you have in your mind when you think of what is the best.

That's right.

So maybe my ideal job is different from your ideal job.

That's right.

So you have ideal jobs or your ideal house or your dream house.

Your ideal husband.

That's right.

So ideal, idealism.

So why don't we listen to the dialogue again.

Let's review what Rebecca and Mr. Parsons talked about and we'll be back in a little

bit with Fluency Builder.

Could you tell me a little about the organization?

For example, how big is your office here?

Well, in total we have around 150 employees based in Hong Kong with another 400 in our

head office in Beijing.

The news desk staff in Hong Kong has around 80 staff.

I see.

And how about the working hours?

Well, as you know Rebecca, in journalism work hours are not exactly 9 to 5.

You could be on call at any time, but we do have to work very unsociable hours at times.

Well, I'm used to that Mr. Parsons.

So that's not really a shock for me.

Good.

As long as you understand that.

And when do you need to fill the vacancy Mr. Parsons?

Yesterday, but no.

We're hoping to start from the beginning of next month.

That sounds ideal.

All right, we're back.

So now we have four phrases for you prepared on Fluency Builder.

Fluency Builder.

This first phrase is something that we say all the time in English, but I think a lot

of learners make mistakes when they use it.

The phrase is how about.

That's right.

So you see that Rebecca was listening to what Mr. Parsons said and she said, and how about

the working hours?

So this is a way to say, and what are the working hours?

But basically it's a way to continue the conversation.

You can say this in many different ways, but it basically means, and what about?

Or, please tell me about.

That's right.

Now remember that many English learners mistake the phrase how about as if they were saying,

how are you?

Or how is it?

No.

You have to be following someone else in the conversation.

So for example, I could say, you know what?

I'm going to have a hamburger with bacon.

How about you Marco?

What are you going to eat?

How about you buy me a cheeseburger?

Okay, so this is basically a way of saying, okay, well maybe I'll have a cheeseburger

or what are you going to have?

So now it's important to say, don't ever make this question.

Don't ever ask, how about your weekend?

No, no, no, no, no.

How was your weekend?

That's right.

My weekend was great.

How about yours?

How about yours?

That's continuing the conversation saying, mine was good.

How was yours?

Yeah.

Okay.

So what did he say?

He said that when they were talking about the work hours, he said that the work hours

are not exactly nine to five.

Okay, so this is a kind of a set phrase we use often in English because a lot of people

traditionally have worked from 9am to 5pm.

They have a break at lunch, then they go home.

That's right.

So this is a kind of measure for, this is a way to describe traditional working hours

or traditional jobs.

So you can say, yeah, I have a really nice nine to five job.

You could say, I really don't want to work a nine to five job.

That's right.

So you don't want a traditional job where you're working from nine to five.

Right.

Most people I think work a little bit longer than that, but this is just a way of saying

a traditional job.

That's right.

Okay.

Nine to five job.

Now, why don't we move on to Rebecca saying that she is used to working long hours or

being on call.

Right.

So this construction, to be used to, I'm used to doing this, is a way to say that I already

do this.

This is my experience or I have the habit of working unusual hours.

That's right.

So maybe for example, you live in a very noisy area in your neighborhood and somebody comes

and visits you and they can't sleep because it's so noisy.

You are used to it.

Oh, you say, Oh, I don't mind.

I'm used to the noise.

But your friend who's visiting is not used to it.

Right.

They don't have this noise at home.

So that's what happens and it can't sleep.

So when you are used to something, you have the habit or you're accustomed to it.

That's right.

Okay.

And what about our last phrase?

Our last phrase comes at the end and Rebecca is talking about the start date for this job.

She wants to know, when do you need to fill the vacancy?

Okay.

To fill the vacancy.

Now, we have this word vacancy and that means that it's available, right?

That's right.

So vacancy is an available thing.

It could be a vacant place.

Like an apartment?

Like an apartment.

In this case, a vacancy in a company.

That means a job that is available.

That's right.

So she is asking when she can fill the vacancy.

So we use the verb fill, to fill a vacancy.

And this sounds a lot better than saying, Hey, when do I start working here?

This is a polite way to say, when is the job going to begin?

When do you need to fill the vacancy by?

I guess another way of saying it would be, when is the starting date?

Yes.

So as we say, also fill the vacancy is a very good option.

But don't say, when do I start working?

Or when do we start?

Yeah, no, we can talk about that in a minute.

Let's listen first to our dialogue one more time.

We'll be back shortly.

Could you tell me a little about the organization?

For example, how big is your office here?

Well, in total we have around 150 employees based in Hong Kong, with another 400 in our

head office in Beijing.

The news desk staff in Hong Kong has around 80 staff.

I see.

And how about the working hours?

Well, as you know, Rebecca, in journalism, work hours are not exactly nine to five.

You could be on call at any time.

But we do have to work very unsociable hours at times.

Well, I'm used to that, Mr. Parsons.

So that's not really a shock for me.

Good, as long as you understand that.

And when do you need to fill the vacancy, Mr. Parsons?

Yesterday, but no, we are hoping to start from the beginning of next month.

That sounds ideal.

So talking about working hours, being on call or unsociable working hours, have you ever

had a job where you've had to work maybe through the night?

Yes, I used to work in a movie theater when I was in college.

I had a day job too, so it was kind of a mess.

I was very unsociable.

But I worked at a movie theater and I would start working at 6 p.m. or 5 p.m. and I would

work until 2 or 3 a.m.

And so it was always busiest on Friday and Saturday.

And so I could never go out with my friends.

So while everyone was partying, you were at the movie theater.

Exactly.

Or they would come to the movies and I would sneak in and bring them popcorn.

So these unusual working hours, it's very interesting because usually, although it is

a little bit more of a sacrifice, they usually pay a little bit better, right?

They do and there are some advantages.

It means that you get to sleep in really late.

You don't have to wake up early.

And you have the day off, like the entire day to do something.

Exactly.

What about you?

Have you ever worked unusual hours?

Yes, yes.

I used to work for a newspaper and obviously people like their newspaper in the mornings.

So bright and early.

Bright and early.

We're talking about 6 a.m.

So obviously, we would deliver the newspapers around 1 a.m., 2 a.m.

From 1 a.m. to about 6 a.m.

Wow.

So yeah, pretty unusual and very difficult because, for example, some people, for them,

it's great to see the sunrise.

I've seen so many sunrises and it's not really romantic for me anymore.

We would call you a night owl.

Yeah.

Someone who's more awake at night.

That's right and I still am.

So we're really interested to know maybe if you had any unusual working hours.

Or do you work a 9 to 5?

Yeah, do you have a 9 to 5 job?

So come to our website EnglishPod.com, let us know and we'll see everyone there.

Bye.

Got it.