BEP86 Job Interviews: Talking about Accomplishments Part1

This is the first in a two-part Business English Podcast series on talking about your accomplishments². It is one of an ongoing³ sequence of podcasts that focus on the job interview process.

Along with your previous experience, your greatest accomplishment¹ is one of the topics that is sure to come up in almost any job interview. This question appears in a variety of forms: What was your proudest achievement? What was your most significant accomplishment? What do you consider to be your greatest success?

No matter how it’s asked, you should be ready with a reply. Interviewers want to hear about something important that you handled. Pick an achievement that is significant to you and that is rich in detail. These two qualities will make it easy to provide examples, which is the main theme of this series.

In this episode, we’ll be listening to a bad and good version of a recent graduate discussing his greatest accomplishment. We’ll focus on language for providing examples of the positive personal characteristics that our previous success demonstrates. Then, in Part 2 of this series, we’ll hear another good example of someone with more job experience, and we’ll examine a four-part structure for telling our success stories.

First, let’s quickly review the bad example. We’ll go back to Alexander’s interview with Michael in the electronics store. As you listen, consider the following questions. Then we’ll examine the answers in the debrief⁴.

Listening Questions: (Bad Example)
1) Does Alex put his success into an organized, articulate story?
2) Does he present his accomplishment in a way that provides examples of skills and qualities that will be useful at his new job?

1 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

2 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 debrief   

v.向…询问情况，听取汇报

参考例句：

• The men have been debriefed by British and Saudi officials.英国和沙特阿拉伯的官员听取了他们的情况汇报。
• He went to Rio after the CIA had debriefed him.他向中央情报局汇报完任务执行情况后就去了里约热内卢。