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Job interview English: how to practise before the day

Knowing your work is one thing. Explaining it under pressure, in a second language, to someone deciding whether to hire you, is another. Interviews are fairly predictable, though, which means you can rehearse most of what you’ll say.

The questions most interviews include

Every interview is different, but most include some version of these:

  • Tell me about yourself.
  • Why do you want this role, and why here?
  • Tell me about a time you solved a difficult problem.
  • Tell me about a time something went wrong, and what you did about it.
  • What would you bring to the team?
  • Do you have any questions for us?

Write short notes for each one, not scripts. A memorised script sounds memorised, and it falls apart the moment a question is phrased differently from the one you learned. Notes give you the points; the lesson gives you the words.

Structure your answers

For "tell me about a time" questions, the STAR structure keeps you on track: the situation, the task you had, the action you took and the result. Spend most of your time on the action, and say "I" rather than "we" when you describe what you did. The interviewer is hiring you, not your old team.

For "tell me about yourself", aim for about a minute: what you do now, one or two things you have done that matter for this job, and why you are applying. Then stop and let them ask.

Learn a few phrases that buy you time without sounding lost:

  • "That’s a good question. Let me think about it for a moment."
  • "Can I check I’ve understood? You’re asking about..."
  • "Sorry, you cut out there. Could you repeat the question?" (for a video interview with a bad connection)

Run a mock interview in a 1:1 lesson

A live lesson is the closest you’ll get to the real thing: a person on video, asking questions you haven’t seen. To get the most from it:

  1. Share the job advert with your teacher before the lesson, so they can ask the questions this employer is likely to ask.
  2. Ask them to interview you straight through, as an interviewer would, and to hold feedback until the end.
  3. Go back over the answers that went worst. Ask for the words you were missing and a clearer order for your points.
  4. Answer the same questions again. The second answer is usually closer to the one you’ll give on the day.
  5. Finish with your own questions for the employer, and practise asking them naturally.

If the interview will be on video, take the lesson the same way: same room, same laptop, camera at eye level. You’ll find out whether your microphone and lighting work while it doesn’t matter.

Choosing a teacher

Choose on fit. Each profile shows the teacher’s intro video, the levels they take, where they’re from and their price for each lesson length, in GBP. If a teacher’s profile mentions experience in your field, that’s useful, but it isn’t necessary. You bring the knowledge of your work. The teacher helps you say it clearly, and they can’t tell you what a particular employer wants to hear.

There’s no subscription, so you can plan around the interview date. For example, book one lesson a week before for a full mock interview, and another a day or two before to run your answers again. Our Learn English page has more about learning English on Nattive.

Where part of your lesson goes

10% of the teacher’s lesson price, included in the one price you see, goes to Nattive Classroom. It’s pooled until there’s enough for the next course: 8 hours of free group English courses for a small group of up to five learners in developing countries, with a teacher paid for every hour. Places are for learners in the developing countries we select for the programme, subject to funding and places. We’re building the first course now, and we’ll publish what has been funded and taught as it happens. See how Classroom funding works on Our impact.