Hello, everyone, and welcome to EnglishPod.
My name is Marco. My name is Catherine, and today we're going to continue in our series about job interviews.
That's right. And on this occasion, we're taking a look at part five of our interview series where we explain why we left our previous job.
Okay, and so in an interview, this is a very popular question.
Why did you leave your last job? Learn some tools for answering this question in today's dialogue.
We're going to take a listen to it first. and we'll be back in a moment.
Now I'd like to find out more about your last job.
I see you spent almost four years at the London Weekly.
Is that right? Yes, that's right. To be honest, the first year was quite tough for me.
I was really just treated more like an intern.
I didn't have many responsibilities and I found it quite frustrating.
So what changed? Well, slowly but surely, I proved myself, and the new editor liked me, so he promoted me to Features Writer.
Wow, a real step up. Yes, I was responsible for restaurant and food reviews mostly.
I spent three years in that position. But to be honest, it wasn't an area of journalism I wanted to stay in long term.
I see. So why did you decide to leave finally?
I just felt that the paper couldn't offer me any new opportunities.
I really needed a more challenging role, to be honest.
Alright we're back and as we saw Rebecca handled it quite well explaining why you left your last job because obviously you don't want to say something like I just really didn't like my company or the boss was a really bad guy.
Or I was fired for being lazy. Exactly. So why don't we take a look at a couple of different words on Language Takeaway.
Okay, so we've got some great descriptive words here.
These are some adjectives. The first one is tough.
So Rebecca said, to be honest, the first year was quite tough for me.
Alright, so she's describing that her first year at that company where she was working, it was tough and that means hard, difficult.
That's right. So you could say, this is a really tough situation.
I mean, it's a difficult situation. It's hard because there's no easy answer.
Exactly. So if you describe something as tough, it means that it's very difficult.
Now, there is another meaning to this where it can be that you are a strong person.
Right. So that's different because we're talking about a person, not a situation.
But if you're talking about a job or an experience. or even homework, like this homework is really tough, it means that it's very hard.
Well, apart from her job of being a little bit tough, she said that it was also a little bit frustrating.
Okay, so usually these things go together.
If something is tough, like it's difficult, it's usually frustrating too.
And so in this case, something is frustrating, When it makes you unhappy or, for example, it makes you feel stressed.
So something that's frustrating is not a good thing.
Exactly. So as you gave the example with the homework assignment, if you have...
It's maybe a math assignment that's very difficult and you can't solve it.
You don't find the solution. then you get frustrated.
You get maybe angry at yourself or you get very angry for not being able to solve it.
So that's when something is frustrating.
I hate being frustrated. Exactly. Well, it's not a nice feeling.
She said that, well, it was frustrating, it was tough, but after a while, I proved myself.
Okay, so that means that she was able to show someone that she can handle difficult things, difficult work, difficult situations.
She said, I proved myself and the new editor liked me.
So basically, she did a really good job.
Exactly. So if you prove yourself, you're showing someone that you have great ability or capabilities of solving a problem or being able to handle a difficult job.
That's right. For example, I could say, you know, last year Bob didn't do very well at school, but this year he really proved himself.
He studied hard and he got really good grades.
Exactly. And Rebecca, what she got in exchange for proving herself, she got promoted.
This is great. So promotions are good things.
The verb here is to promote or to be promoted.
So in this case, she was promoted. You could say last year I was promoted or he will be promoted next week.
He doesn't know yet. Exactly. Now remember that to be promoted means to get a better position in your job.
Now as we mentioned, the verb is to promote.
And you may be asking yourself why we are using the verb to be in the past was promoted.
And this is because it's an "-ed adjective.
It's an adjective that ends in "-ed, so you may think it's a verb. but it's not it's actually an adjective the verb here is to be exactly so I was promoted was is obviously our verb here the verb to be but Promoted is an adjective that ends in E-D.
Okay, and so if I'm the boss, the action I do, the verb I do is I promote someone.
So this can be a little bit tricky, but we recommend that you check out the website for more details because we have lots of examples of how to use this.
Exactly. Well, she got promoted and she was really happy for a while, but then she said, you know what, I really needed a more challenging role. a more challenging job.
Okay, challenging is a great adjective. It means something is difficult or it gives you a challenge.
So that means it's not easy. So she found that her job was a little bit too easy, so she wanted something a little bit more challenging.
Okay, so this is a really great word for job interviews in particular because you're basically saying, I want hard work.
I want to prove myself. There we go again, prove.
I want to show you that I'm a good employee or a hard worker, and so I want a challenge, something that's hard.
Exactly. So something that is hard is a challenge or you want something challenging.
So why don't we review these words that we've taken a look at now.
Let's go back to the dialogue and listen to it again.
Okay, now I'd like to find out more about your last job.
I see you spent almost four years at the London Weekly.
Is that right? Yes, that's right. To be honest, the first year was quite tough for me.
I was really just treated more like an intern.
I didn't have many responsibilities and I found it quite frustrating.
So what changed? Well, slowly but surely, I proved myself, and the new editor liked me, so he promoted me to Features Writer.
Wow, a real step up. Yes, I was responsible for restaurant and food reviews mostly.
I spent three years in that position. But to be honest, it wasn't an area of journalism I wanted to stay in long term.
I see. So why did you decide to leave finally?
I just felt that the paper couldn't offer me any new opportunities.
I really needed a more challenging role, to be honest.
All right, we're back. So now let's take a look at a couple of phrases we picked out for you on Fluency Builder.
Okay, this first phrase is unusual because it actually happens at the end of sentences.
This is very, very common with people who are making small talk or who are doing interviews.
This is the phrase, is that right? So basically, you saw that in the first line Mr. Parsons was talking to her and said, well...
I see you spent almost four years at the London Weekly.
Is that right? So he's ending the sentence with this phrase.
So he's making the sentence a question. I see that you did this.
Is that right? So he's asking her to confirm the fact that he knows about her.
Because maybe they've never really talked before.
So this is a good way for him to ask her to give more details.
Exactly. So, for example, Marco, I hear that you're from Ecuador.
Is that right? That's right. So apart from ending the sentence like this, if maybe somebody asks you, is that right?
You have to confirm. You have to say, Yes, that's right.
Or yes. it's also good to elaborate to give more details right yes I'm from Ecuador I was born there but I've lived in the United States This is a way to give more information because that's basically what the person's asking.
Yeah, I think it wouldn't be very good if...
You're at a job interview and the person says, is that right?
And you say, yes, that's right. And then you don't say anything else.
So, yeah, basically the point is you have to confirm or deny.
You have to say yes, that's right, or no, that's not right.
And then you have to give some information about the question.
Exactly. All right. Now, moving on, when Rebecca again was talking about her job, she was saying it's tough.
And I didn't have many responsibilities and I found it quite frustrating.
Okay, so this is like lost and found, like I lost my hat and I found it later?
No, no. This is what's interesting about this verb find.
We are not actually looking for something or we didn't actually find something we were looking for.
This is kind of a. realization right that's right it's like a feeling so I find this movie boring that means I think this movie is boring It's the way that you're thinking about something.
That's right. Or you can say, oh, I found Paris to be quite an expensive city.
Yeah, pretty expensive. So this is your impression.
This is the way that you feel about something.
Exactly. So this is another way that you can use this word to find.
Now, again, when Rebecca talked about proving herself, she used a very interesting phrase.
I would say phrase, a very popular, well-known phrase, slowly but surely.
Okay, so slowly but surely is the opposite of right away, right?
So something that happens right away is... is immediate, like I got promoted right away.
But slowly but surely means after lots of time and even hard work, um this good thing happened or it's usually a good thing actually yeah yeah it's um You're basically saying that you didn't do anything very quickly, but you did it very well.
So slowly, but surely, I... finished building my home.
Right, so it didn't happen overnight, but it did happen over time.
You can also say this about studying a language. you know it at the beginning learning English is really hard but slowly but surely I became fluent Exactly.
Okay, so slowly but surely. And the last phrase that we have for you today, you may have seen that Rebecca used...
This phrase to be honest a couple of times before explaining something so why does she say to be honest?
To be honest is sometimes something we say in English to fill some space or some time.
We call it filler. But it's also a way to introduce something that's negative.
So for example, in this dialogue, she's talking about her negative experiences.
You know, my job was tough. My experience was bad.
So she says, to be honest... It wasn't the best experience but I learned from it.
She's saying this to introduce some things that are maybe not positive, not happy things.
That's right. So it's another way of saying, look, I'm going to tell you the truth.
It may not be something positive, but you know, this is what happened.
So to be honest. I didn't really like my last employer or something like that.
Right. Well, you can even talk about this with your friends.
So, hey, Marco, did you like that movie Shutter Island?
To be honest, I didn't really see it. I fell asleep.
Or you could say, to be honest, I didn't love it.
I didn't really like it. Exactly. So it's a very good phrase, but don't overuse it.
I think sometimes... You get into the habit of using it all the time and just like a like.
Well, you know, like I went to the movies like yesterday.
Like to be honest. So try to keep these fillers as you described them. to a minimum, so don't really use them too much.
Yes, say thoughts and ideas, nice action verbs, not too much fillers, because sometimes, especially in an interview, it makes people think that you don't really know much to say.
Yeah, exactly. Okay, so let's listen to the dialogue for the last time and we'll be back to chat a little bit more.
Okay, now I'd like to find out more about your last job.
I see you spent almost four years at the London Weekly.
Is that right? Yes, that's right. To be honest, the first year was quite tough for me.
I was really just treated more like an intern.
I didn't have many responsibilities and I found it quite frustrating.
So what changed? Well, slowly but surely, I proved myself, and the new editor liked me, so he promoted me to Features Writer.
Wow, a real step up. Yes, I was responsible for restaurant and food reviews mostly.
I spent three years in that position. But to be honest, it wasn't an area of journalism I wanted to stay in long term.
I see. So why did you decide to leave finally?
I just felt that the paper couldn't offer me any new opportunities.
I really needed a more challenging role, to be honest.
Alright, so talking about your last employer, this is a pretty ideal thing.
Now, do you have any... advice that you can give our listeners about describing your last job?
Why did you leave your previous employer?
Well, I do have a little bit of basic job advice.
I would say don't complain about your last employer.
Don't say, my boss was mean, my coworkers were lazy.
My company was terrible because usually as a person doing an interview, that makes you think that this person, if they work for you, will complain about you.
And so I think it's important, like what Rebecca does in this dialogue, to keep it positive.
Every negative situation can become a positive experience.
The job was tough, but it was a good challenge.
Right. Or but she learned how to do many new things.
Exactly. I think this is important for anybody in any language, but in English especially, to use some of these phrases and to say, you know...
I really like a challenge or I didn't feel this was challenging enough, things like this, as opposed to.
My old boss is so mean. He made me work on the weekends.
That company is so terrible. I mean, that kind of stuff no one wants to hear.
Yeah, exactly. And I think it's not really useful because even if the company is the competitor.
So you're not really getting the extra points for giving them the dirty secrets of what was going on in the company.
Maybe saying, oh, my co-workers, they were just... so mean to me and stuff like this yeah no it makes you seem like a complainer and no one wants to hire a complainer exactly Alright, so this is an interesting topic we would like to hear from you.
So come to EnglishPod.com and tell us, why did you leave your previous employer?
Or just let us know about some of your interview experiences or some of your interview questions.
We're happy to help you out. We'll hope to see you at the website.
All right. We'll see you there. Bye. Bye.
