This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 51, One Smart Formula to Get Your Dream Job in English.
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Hey guys, welcome to All Ears English. Thanks so much for listening today.
Today we have Kieran on the show who is an interview prep expert.
Kieran, welcome. How are you today? I'm good.
How are you? We are excited to have you.
We love having specialists on this show and we know that one of the highest stakes situations is interviews for our listeners.
Isn't that right? Right. Of course. Of course.
Absolutely. So I hear that your students tend to get really good results when you prepare them for interviews.
Is that true? Can you give us some details on that, Kieran?
Right. So, I mean, I've been doing this for a few months now, but pretty much all my students who have taken my course, I'm afraid to say this, but pretty much all my students who have taken my course have got the jobs they've been applying for.
Wow. That's incredible. That's awesome. So you have some kind of magic formula or strategy that you're going to teach us today or maybe give us a couple of hints on that today so maybe our listeners can get a sense of how to prepare?
Right. I'm going to tell you. I mean, it's mostly just preparation and thinking ahead of time.
But yeah, I'll give you a few good tips today for sure.
Awesome. So just a quick question. What kind of industries are your students going into?
The people that you've coached and prepared for these interviews, where are they applying for jobs?
Are these competitive companies? They're international companies.
They're Fortune 500 companies. They're world-renowned hospitals.
So, I mean, there's a variety of them, but they're all great jobs to get.
And I'm proud that my students have been doing well on their interviews.
Yeah, that's phenomenal. And how did you come up with your framework here?
Did you do this as a trial and error through your own experiences?
Or how did you come up with your strategies?
I mean, I've always loved interviews. I've done a lot of work.
I've started my own company with my wife a few years ago.
You have to interview people when they're working.
You have to choose the right people. If you choose the wrong person, it's dangerous for your business.
That's right. And I did a few call center jobs, which are basically just one-on-one interviews with high profile people.
So, you know, I think doing that, I learned to have fun with the interviews and not get worried about it.
And that's an attitude that's important to have when you're in the interview because you can't go in scared, you know, you have to go in prepared and confident and Sure.
Sure. Absolutely. Well, we're grateful that you're here today.
So Karen, what can you help our listeners with here?
Could you give us your top three tips that our listeners can try to implement when they go into their interviews?
What can they do as your first tip? Right.
So I think one thing to remember is whenever you're going in for a job, you're not the only one who's going in.
So you need to stand out. Yes. And there's two ways to get a job mainly.
You either know someone who works at the place already and you're a shoo-in or you have to go in the interview door.
You're a shoo-in. I like that expression.
What does that mean just for our listeners?
That might be a new one, a shoo-in. Right.
So it means that you're pretty much going to get the job just because you have a contact in the company or in that institute.
Okay. But if you don't have that, then you got to do the interview.
And I always tell the people I'm helping, research the company, know the institution.
Because if that interview interviews 10 people and you're the only person who knew the history of the company, the founder, the year it was started...
You're already standing out right from the beginning.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. And people want to know that you've taken the time and taken the initiative to go and learn a few things about the company.
They want to know that you care about the company, right?
Interviewers, this is important to them.
If their company matters to them, they want to know that it matters to you.
Right. And you want to fit in with that company.
Maybe that company is not a good fit. And if you don't do the research, you're wasting your own time.
Absolutely. I mean, I've done a few interviews myself to interview members of our team and I always like it when someone has gone to our website and they've actually taken it one additional step further and they've figured out a way that they can help us, right?
They've come to us and they said, oh, I see some gaps in your business model.
I see some gaps on your website. I have a few ideas.
That gets me interested, right? Yeah, exactly.
Hmm. Very cool. So research the company, go on the website, and just know the company before you go in.
Is that your first tip, Kieran? That is it.
And it's very simple and anyone can do it.
Awesome. I love it. How about number two?
It looks like you have a little bit of a framework here that we are excited to hear about.
Right. So, I mean, I found this online, but I have always used it myself in interviews before I found it.
But basically, what you want to do when you're answering the interviewer's questions is be concise and give a powerful answer.
And the way to do that is to think of most of the questions beforehand and just have examples ready.
So when I was interviewing for schools, I worked in Korea.
Then I came back here. I had to get into language school at home.
They said, Kieran, you know, tell us why we should hire you as a teacher.
And it's a vague question, you know, but what I do is I always set up a scenario.
I say, look, when I was in Korea, I was working at this school, the first school I worked at.
And they had a pretty good attendance. They weren't full, you know.
But after one year of working there, they had a waiting list.
And you just go on to talk about what you did to help the school.
How did I chip in? How did I make the students happier?
Why were all these students suddenly coming to the school?
Then I discuss the actions I took to do that.
And then you just tell the results. And the funny thing is when I left the school, I kept sending that.
That was my favorite job I've ever had. And every year I send them Christmas cookies from Canada.
And I called my boss one day and I said, how's it going?
And she said, Kieran. Some of your students left.
They did not like the new teacher. So to me, it was like a great compliment because the students were coming to that school because they the parents were talking about how much their child loved me, you know.
Okay. Yeah. No, I think that's great. So what you're doing here is you're literally painting a picture with details and specific scenarios and explanations and situations.
I mean, it's very easy to go into an interview and be vague and say, oh, I'm detail oriented or I'm motivated.
But that doesn't impress the interviewer unless you can give an example.
Right, Kieran? Right. And I mean, the example doesn't have to be super relevant to the job you're applying for.
But if it can be, that's always the best, you know, because this was a school.
So I talked about working in a school. I love it.
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Terms and conditions apply. I love it. So can you walk us through this little framework that you have that you call STAR, just to make it more concrete for our listeners?
Sure. So you set up the situation. That's the S, right?
Right. So the situation in my case was I was telling her about my past experience working in a school.
Okay. Then I talked about the task that I was faced with, which was basically in this case was just to help this woman who was running the school get a good reputation, get more students in the door.
And you talk about the actions you took to confront that challenge.
What did you do? How did you make these students happy?
How did you, I mean, whatever your situation is, you're going to have to give concrete details about what you did.
Okay, good. And then you just tell her the results.
And you want to keep that as concise as possible.
You never want to bore the interviewer. You just want to answer the question with an impact and move on to the next one.
Yeah. And the other thing that stands out to me about this situation that you're describing and what you're teaching your students to do is that you're going one step beyond.
Right. In this school, you were a teacher.
Right. You weren't a business manager or marketing.
Right. So most schools don't expect a teacher to care about the student enrollment.
Right. So you went one step beyond. So if our listeners can really choose situations where they went one step beyond the expectations, I think that would be a really good way to go.
Right. Right. You just got to have a concrete example that's going to show the interviewer that you're the candidate they should hire.
You're going to have an impact on their company or whatever.
I love that. I love that. That's fantastic.
So STAR, right? Set up the scenario, talk about the task, discuss the actions that you took, and then discuss the results.
Very simple. And in your lessons on italki, Karen, do you work with your students on how to run through this, how to present this with the right words and the right expressions?
Yeah, words are key. You know, that's really...
The benefit of role-playing. I role-play with my students and sometimes you hear the wrong word come out.
You'll hear, oh, I think I'm very good at doing this.
Think is a weak word in this situation. You don't want the interviewer to doubt your ability.
Yeah, I agree. I agree. That's a good one.
I think we could do a whole episode on the word think and how it can really make people doubt you and your convictions, right?
Right, right. Okay, excellent. So what would be your third tip?
Thank you for that framework. That's fantastic.
Right. So my third tip is just to remember that the interview is a screening process for both of you.
And they're asking you questions the whole time.
And in a good interview, you're going to be able to interrupt and ask your own questions.
But sometimes they want you to wait till the end.
And my tip is really have your own questions.
You should have questions about this place that you're going to work.
Oh my gosh. I agree. Yeah, go ahead. It's kind of like, it's kind of like a date, right?
Like if you go on a date and the person is just wants to marry you right at the beginning, that's, that's weird.
You know, you guys got to feel each other out and find out if you're a good match for both of you have to be happy with the relationship.
Absolutely. And it'll make the employer want you more, right?
If you are asking those questions, you put yourself in a position of power or at least on the same level and you make it clear that you have other options.
And obviously that's true in the dating world too.
It works the same way. You got to show your value, have your questions prepared and that's going to help the employer see you in a different light, you know?
Yeah. Yeah, I like that. And this is where the language piece comes in too, right?
There are certain ways of formulating our questions, forming those questions so that it doesn't come off as being rude or upfront or too direct.
It's very tactful, but it's also very assertive.
Right, Karen? Right. Exactly. You don't want to lower yourself, but you have to be polite and you have to acknowledge them as a human being.
You're right. Exactly. Yeah. I love it. Wow.
This is fantastic. So, Karen, where can our listeners find you?
I mean, the idea, do you have anyone, any space left in your schedule?
I mean, it sounds like you're getting some real results for your students who come to prepare for interviews.
Do you have any room left in your schedule this fall for any of our listeners who might be preparing for a job?
Yeah, of course. You can just find me on italki.
Just look up my profile and send me a message and we'll set something up and I'll help you as much as I can for that interview.
Very cool. So guys, if you want to work with Kieran, your first step is to register at allearsenglish.com forward slash I-T-A-L-K-I.
And the reason you want to register there is if you do that, you'll get 10 US dollars off your second lesson at italki.
But you can only get that deal if you register at allearsenglish.com forward slash I-T-A-L-K-I and then go over and type Kieran's name into the search bar.
Kieran, how do we spell your name? It's K-E-I-R-A-N.
Okay. And just typing in your first name, will that be enough to find you?
I have no idea. I've never looked myself up on italki.
Well, we hope so. I think so. I don't think there's many.
I don't think there's many Kierans. Yeah, probably not too many.
Well, that's fantastic. So guys, if you have an interview coming up and you really want to get that job, check out Kieran's interview preparation lessons.
It sounds like you really have a good method down here with this STAR framework.
And now that we know the framework, really the key is practicing it, right?
And getting the right words around those concepts.
Right. It's all preparation. Choose your words.
Know the company. And, you know, I just checked, Lindsay, you won't find me if you type my name.
Okay. How can our listeners find you? So you can go to italki.com slash user slash 2450236.
Okay. Okay, guys. So perfect. I'm glad we clarified that.
So guys, your first step, step one is go to allearsenglish.com forward slash I-T-A-L-K-I.
Register there and then go to the link that Kieran just gave you.
That is the way to get 10 US dollars off the second lesson with Kieran.
Kieran, how long do you normally work with students?
Is it a month? Is it eight lessons, 10 lessons?
What is a typical schedule for an interview prep course?
It really varies depending on the level of the student.
I think I've had a few students we've gone four to five classes, but usually it's not that many.
If the student is advanced, it's usually one or two.
Okay. I love that. One or two classes. I love that.
Just a matter of just getting the right phrases down, getting your head in the right place, and walking in there with confidence.
And we know that that's what our listeners want.
Perfect. Right. Wow, Kieran, this is cool.
I'd like to have you back another time to focus in on some key aspects of interviews because we like to talk about this, right?
It's all about our professional future and English is a big piece of it, but also being prepared and being ready.
So thank you so much, Kieran, for coming on.
We appreciate this. Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
Yeah, have a great day. You too. Thank you.
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