An Internship Interview

 A minimum of preparation is required and expected from the candidate’s side. Here are some basic points:

First impression, this where all begins, it has to be put in mind: formal clothes + strong (not too much !) handshake + confident friendly eye contact, these are the basics !
A perfect self presentation, “So can you tell me a little about you?” This is usually the first ice-braking question of the recruiter.Follow the  3 W’s: Who, What, Why.

•             “Who” for telling your complete name, age and your current status (final-year student, graduate, …).

•             “What” is for what have you done in your life: 2 words about education, 1 word about extra-curricular activities and 1 word about your main interests. Don’t talk about your projects and technical background. That will come later.

•             “Why” is of course why did you specifically apply for that company. Some standards always-working arguments are that the company works in a field that you are very interested in, the company has a distinguished learning environment, the company has a good supervision strategy (how did you know that? From an acquaintance working here)… The perfect conclusion is when you end your speech with “and this fits exactly my short-term career objectives”. This small speech shouldn’t exceed 3 minutes !

    Then the recruiter will ask you to talk about the projects that you have done. It’s obvious that you should master what you will be talking about, that you should provide a non-technical, complete, global and short description ! A strategic pedagogic way of explaining will make you distinguished (when you for example link your sentences with: firstly, secondly, that’s why, in order to, finally).    

Later, the recruiter will present you the topic in which you will eventually work on. At this moment you have to be very focused and try to pick up interesting questions for later. If the recruiter finished and you still don’t have any questions, then you are screwed !

Usually, the interview ends here. But some recruiters go further and carry on with some harder parts and questions like: “Tell me a moment in which you had to convince your team (for example which you made the P2M with) with your idea and how it went”. or “Tell me one obstacle that you have encountered during your project and that you succeeded to overcome with another solution”. Those are ones of the hardest questions in an interview. Ideally you should be prepared. But this happens very unlikely in an internship interview.

At the end of the interview, the recruiter will certainly ask you “Do you have any questions?” You must have at least one ! “Try something like how long it takes to process your application”…

I advise you to practise frequently at home. Stay in front of the mirror, turn on the recorder, speak then listen to yourself later, or give a try in front of a friend. It may be stupid, but believe me it really works and it really helps.

Adapted from How a graduation internship interview really goes

                       Posted by Achraf on November 8, 2012

The secret of an excellent Cover Letter

The cover letter is –coupled with the CV– one of the first-contacting and first-impression papers through which an applicant has to get in touch with a recruiter. It’s important because it’s the candidate’s show case. It’s delicate because it’s the candidate-company’s first contact.  

Some of the best practices which a candidate should follow to make his application intrigued:

Structure: 
On the top right of the page:

•  your name and you personal address only, no email no phone, nothing else

On the top left:

• the date. 
• the full name of the company followed by its address 
• mention only the last name of the person to whom you are addressing.

Layout: a cover letter should contain 3 visible, well-separated, main parts

• an introduction
• a body (that could be divided to 3 sub-parts as well)
• conclusion. 
• At the end, your full name (on the left or on the right, it doesn’t matter).

The introduction:

• First thing’s first, a typical good introduction usually begins with how you knew the company and how you found the job position (the company website, through an alumni, during a career related discussion…). 

• Then you should mention why this position is interesting and exciting for you, and what makes you motivated to work for this the company as well. Here comes the part where you should mention some key-details about the company. Numbers are preferred, because they are concrete and easily-memorable. This is a typical good stream of a cover letter introduction.

The Body: the main part of the cover letter.

• The first part is useful for a brief introduction of the applicant (newly graduated, final year, current position…) and what he/she is planning to do in the near future (acquire more experience, get better in a specific field…).  
• 
  The second part should contain a brief overview of your technical background (what type of school you are from, main points of strength, and the aim and caracteristics of the eventual most important internships fulfilled. No details, this paragraph should be an appetizer to push the recruiter and trigger its curiosity to go to the CV to see what you are talking about. 
• 
  The last part should be dedicated to your extra-curricular activities, it’s the best place where to mention what positions you have held and what soft-skills you learnt.

The conclusion:

• You should mention something related to getting an opportunity to introduce yourself better through an interview and discus more how you will be useful for the company. 

• Invite the recruiter to know more about you through taking a look at your CV. 
• Finally, don’t forget to mention that you are available through any contact data mentioned in the CV and thank the recruiter for his/her time and consideration.

Some fatal typical mistakes that applicants usually make, like: mentioning your own name, evaluating yourself (I am good at… I have excellent knowledge about…) that is the job of the recruiter not yours. Or also mentioning too much details about your education or your internships and activities. That would be boring an that will make your CV obvious, predictable and not worth to see. Remember: a cover letter should push the recruiter to check the CV, not the other way around.

Adapted from The secret of an excellent Cover Letter
Posted by Achraf on February 10, 2013

The Anonymous CV Concept

An anonymous curriculum vitae (CV) includes a summary of our professional and academic backgrounds as well as research experience, publications, awards, honors, affiliations and other details. However, our names and other personal identifying information are not included in order to avoid choice-based discrimination by recruiters.

Who has never heard of discrimination during a job search? Given the vast typology of situations it covers, (seniors, gay, pregnant women, disabled, “unionized” people surnames or physical original inhabitants in badly-reputed neighbourhoods …) and its foundation which is often subjective (perception, beliefs, unspoken), discrimination can potentially affect all of us.

This idea emerged when some worries-raising figures appeared: in 2009, 16% of Europeans said they had been victims of discrimination, while 25% mentioned have witnessed such an act over the past year. Then in this case, what about non EU-citizens? In fact the concept started even before, in 2006, in France with the adoption of the law of “equality of chances“. This law caused a lot of talks and debates between pros and againsts. UK Companies like Tesco, Barclays and Coca-Cola have agreed to apply this policy, others stayed non-responsive.

This topic seemed to solve discrimination problems in hiring. At the beginning, people thought that the recruiters will not have any discriminative choices anymore. However, this policy has caused a bigger threat, which had reduced even more the chances for immigrants for example to get hired. According to a study conducted by the Centre for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST) ​​between November 2009 and November 2010 over a thousand companies, the anonymous CV fight effectively against gender discrimination but not against those of ethnic issues. The opposite just happened: the immigrant candidates have only one chance in 22 of getting an interview, against a 10 chance if their resume were not anonymous.

This seemingly surprising result is due to the tendency of recruiters to “relativize” the shortcomings of the resume immigrant when they are registered. Spelling mistakes are more tolerated, the non-respect of the conventional national CV form and layout are not badly seen. Indulgence disappears then otherwise. “Recruiters forgive more ‘holes’ in the CV or spelling mistakes when they know the social origins,” says CREST.

The question at then end stays the same: how can it be guaranteed that companies will not make discriminative choices when recruiting? How can immigrants, despite their outsanding technical and academic profiles, find challenging positions without getting faced to descrimination? After all, this idea of the anonymous CV is not that efficient, as the recruiter will get to know the candidate once he/she is invited to a job interview.
                                                            Source:https://achrafaouadi.net/2013/03/03/anonymous-cv-reasons/

Your CV (Europass)

Curriculum Vitae

A document to present your skills and qualifications effectively and clearly
And you CAN CHOOSE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES in case you don't understand one of the requirements

• Create your CV (+ cover letter) online
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• Template and instructions
• Examples

REWRITING. B2

SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION

The ability to rewrite sentences so that they have the same meaning as the original is often required for many English Exams such as Cambridge's FCE. It is also an important skill which can help you improve your understanding of similar English expressions and vocabulary.

http://www.world-english.org/sentencerewriting.htm 

https://www.englishgrammar.org/rewrite-sentences-changing-meaning/ 

https://www.fluentland.com/english-grammar-practice-test-rewite-sentences/ 

http://www.web-esl.com/Adj_Adv/rewriting.htm 

http://www.ue.katowice.pl/fileadmin/_migrated/content_uploads/Placement_test_B2-C1.pdf 

Speaking skills practice. B2

Practise and improve your speaking skills for your school studies, your exams and for real life. There are videos and activities for different levels, so find your level and make a start.

 http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/speaking-skills-practice

Listening skills practice

Practise and improve your listening skills for your school studies and your English exams. There are activities for different levels, so find your level and make a start.

 

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening-skills-practice

Writing skills practice. B2

Practise and improve your writing skills for your school studies and your English exams. There are activities for different levels, so find your level and make a start.

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/writing-skills-practice 

Reading Skills Practice. B2

Practise and improve your reading skills for your school studies and your English exams. There are activities for different levels, so find your level and make a start.

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading-skills-practice 

Vocabulary exercises

Learn new words and practise your vocabulary. In this section you can listen to the pronunciation of the words and then do the exercises. There are worksheets too for offline practice.    http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary/vocabulary-exercises

What time is it?

                                                                                                        It's one o'clock
                                                                                                        It's five past one...
                                                                                                        It's quater pas one
                                                                                                        It's half past one
It's twenty-five to two
It's quarter to two
It's ten to two
It's five to two
                                                        It's two o'clock

Bad Liar - Selena Gomez (lyrics)

DATES

DETERMINERS

 

ACTIVITIES

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-determiners.php

https://elt.oup.com/student/solutions/int/grammar/grammar_10_022e?cc=global&selLanguage=en

 Subject Tests: (grammarbank.com)
1. Determiners/Quantifiers Tests
2. Determiners - Intermediate
3. Determiners-Upper Intermediate
4. Determiners Articles Intermediate
5. Quantifiers - Intermediate
6. Quantifiers - Upper Intermediate
7. Quantifiers - Advanced
8. Similar Quantifiers Worksheet
9. Quantifiers/Determiners Practice
10.Quantifiers Exercises (Classic Style)

Ready for your Cambridge English: First (FCE)? (B2)

Free: English practice

Free online activities for reading, writing, listening, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary.
Search for free English activities
Select the skills, level and time. You have got 49 activities (grammar, listening, writing, reading, pronunciation, vocabulary)

 

PREPOSITIONS of Place and Movement

OTHER WAYS TO SAY ... (2)

OTHER WAYS TO SAY....(1)

I WISH.../ IF ONLY

ACTIVITIES

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-if-only-I-wish.php 

http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-5529.php 

http://www.examenglish.com/grammar/wish_if_only.htm 

WISH CLAUSES

Word Order: Hardly/Scarcely/Barely...when No sooner....than

Some Commonly Confused Words

Advice/Advise 
Advice is a noun: Chester gave Posey good advice. 
Advise is a verb: Chester advised Posey to avoid the questionable chicken salad. 
Affect/Effect 
Affect is usually a verb: Chester’s humming affected Posey’s ability to concentrate.
Effect is usually a noun: Chester was sorry for the effect his humming had. 
Among/Amongst
Among is the preferred and most common variant of this word in American English.
Amongst is more common in British English. Neither version is wrong, but amongst may seem fussy to American readers.
Among/Between
Among expresses a collective or loose relationship of several items: Chester found a letter hidden among the papers on the desk. 
Between expresses the relationship of one thing to another thing or to many other things: Posey spent all day carrying messages between Chester and the other students. (binary relationships)
Assure/Ensure/Insure  
Assure means to tell someone that something will definitely happen or is definitely true: Posey assured Chester that no one would cheat at Bingo. 
Ensure means to guarantee or make sure of something: Posey took steps to ensure that no one cheated at Bingo. 
Insure means to take out an insurance policy: Posey was glad the Bingo hall was insured against damage caused by rowdy Bingo players. 
Breath/Breathe
Breath is a noun; it’s the air that goes in and out of your lungs: Chester held his breath while Posey skateboarded down the stairs. 
Breathe is a verb; it means to exhale or inhale: After Posey’s spectacular landing, Chester had to remind himself to breathe again. 
Complement/Compliment
A complement is something that completes something else. It’s often used to describe things that go well together: Chester’s lime green boots were a perfect complement to his jacket.
A compliment is a nice thing to say: Posey received many compliments on her purple shoes.
Disinterested/Uninterested
Disinterested means impartial: A panel of disinterested judges who had never met the contestants before judged the singing contest.
Uninterested means bored or not wanting to be involved with something: Posey was uninterested in attending Chester’s singing class.
Defence/Defense
Defense is standard in American English.
Defence is found mainly in British English. 
E.g./I.e. These two Latin abbreviations are often mixed up, but e.g. means “for example,” while i.e. means “that is.” 
Empathy/Sympathy
Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s perspective or feelings.
Sympathy is a feeling of sorrow for someone else’s suffering. A sympathizer is someone who agrees with a particular ideal or cause. 
Farther/Further
Farther refers to physical distance: Posey can run farther than Chester.
Further refers to metaphorical distance: Chester is further away from finishing his project than Posey is.
Gaff/Gaffe 
A gaff is a type of spear or hook with a long handle: Chester completed his sailor costume with a gaff borrowed from his uncle’s fishing boat. 
A gaffe is a faux pas or social misstep: Posey made a gaffe when she accidentally called Chester by the wrong name.
Gray/Grey
Gray is the standard American English spelling.
Grey is the standard British English spelling. 
Historic/Historical
Historic means famous, important, and influential: Chester visited the beach in Kitty Hawk where the Wright brothers made their historic first airplane flight.
Historical means related to history: Posey donned a historical bonnet for the renaissance fair. 
Imply/Infer
Imply means to hint at something without saying it directly: Chester implied that Posey was in trouble, but he wouldn’t tell her why. 
Infer means to deduce something that hasn’t been stated directly: Posey inferred that Chester was nervous about something from the way he kept looking over his shoulder. 
Loose/Lose
Loose is usually an adjective: Posey discovered that the cows were loose. 
Lose is always a verb. It means to misplace something or to be unvictorious in a game or contest: Chester was careful not to lose his ticket. 
Principal/Principle
Principal can be a noun or adjective. As a noun, it refers to the person in charge of a school or organization: Posey was called into the principal’s office. As an adjective, it means most important: The principal reason for this meeting is to brainstorm ideas for the theme of Chester’s birthday party. A principle (always a noun) is a firmly held belief or ideal: Posey doesn’t like surprise parties as a matter of principle.
Inquiry/Enquiry
Inquiry and enquiry both mean “a request for information.” Inquiry is the standard American English spelling. Enquiry is the British spelling. 
Stationary/Stationery
Stationary means unmoving: The revolving door remained stationary because Posey was pushing on it the wrong way.
Stationery refers to letter writing materials and especially to high quality paper: Chester printed his résumé on his best stationery.
Toward/Towards
Toward is standard in American English. Towards is standard in British English.

Who’s/Whose
Who’s is a contraction of “who is”: Who’s calling Chester at this hour?
Whose is a possessive pronoun that means “belonging to [someone]”: Chester, whose phone hadn’t stopped ringing all morning, barely ate anything for breakfast.

Via  Grammarly

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TO BE vs THERE BE