Language Residents

an archive of lesson plans

Tag: Job Interviews

JP S20 INT/ADV Job Interview

May 11, 2020 /

Language Resident Name: Miki Saigo

Day and Date: February 5, 2020

Language and Level: Intermediate Japanese

Class theme/topics discussed:

  • Job interview

Goal of the class:

  • Learn what job interviews in Japan are like
  • Learn what to talk about in a job interview

How did you structure the class?

  • Greetings and announcements
    – Study Break: Calligraphy Feb. 6th
    – Oldenborg Open House Feb. 13th
  • Activity I: Film Nanimono (2016)
    I first introduce the term shukatsu (‘job-hunting’). Next, I briefly explain the setting of Nanimono, a film that well-portrays the situations of job-hunting in Japan, and we watch the opening scene of the film. We watch it twice, and I ask students what they saw (e.g. black suits, interviews, resumes etc.) as I write them down on the board. We watch another scene from the film about a group interview and talk what we noticed.
  • Activity II: Job interview
    After watching what a job interview is like in Activity I, we practice how to talk in a job interview. I give students a handout that lists sample questions and ideas to build the answers. I explain the meanings of the advanced vocabulary in the handout, explain the typical structure of a good answer, and demonstrate some examples. I also show some video clips for more examples (skip to relevant scenes):
    – https://youtu.be/L9fO-xpWF18
    – https://youtu.be/U_jI1KQkmsk
    – https://youtu.be/Ayb2pWPK9ko
    Finally, in pairs, students ask each other the questions and practice how to answer. I ask some students to share their answers to the whole class.
  • Activity III: What would you do?
    Students in pairs discuss what they would do in the following situations:
    1. Your boss pronounces your name incorrectly everytime. What would you do?
    2. You go to karaoke with your boss and colleagues. Your boss is a terrible singer but asks what you think his singing is. What would you say?
    In a few minutes, I ask some students to share what they discussed.

What technology, media or props did you use?

  • PowerPoint slides
  • Handout
  • Youtube videos
  • Film (DVD from FLRC)

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

  • This class was successful. The job interview practice was challenging for the students, but they find it practical and were very engaged. Every student took notes in their handout and brought it back with them (Usually some students leave handouts in the classroom when they don’t need them after class, but not this time). Students left the class with accomplished faces!

How could this class be improved/ modified?

  • Students, especially those actually planning to apply for Japanese companies, would want more feedback. Because it was hard to correct all of their errors when they were talking at the same time, next time I would ask more students to present their answers after the practice time so that I can correct them.

Materials (Download the files for better view):

JP F19 ADV Business Situations

December 13, 2019 /

Language Resident Name: Miki Saigo

Day and Date: September 12, 2019

Language and Level: Advanced Japanese

Class theme/topics discussed:

  • Superstitions/customs in Japan
  • Business situations in Japan

Goal of the class:

  • Become familiar with Japanese superstitions and customs
  • Learn how you are supposed to speak and act in business situations
  • Learn how to present your ideas

How did you structure the class?

  • Warm-up: Greeting and small talks (How their days are going etc.)
  • Activity I: Superstitions in Japan
    Students make groups of two or three and I give each group a set of cards (See the attached file). Each card describes a famous superstition in Japan with a picture. Students have to guess if the superstitions on the cards are something they should or should not do in terms of good fortune/manner. After they separate the cards in do’s and don’ts, I give them the correct answers and explain.
  • Activity II: Business manners in Japan
    I talk how job hunting in Japan has many rules you have to follow. I give students this webpage I printed out, which is about the dress code in job interviews:
    https://job.rikunabi.com/contents/manners/1003/
    I mention a few important rules and ask how what they think about having these strict rules in job hunting and how it is different from their cultures.
  • Activity III: Invent a new product
    I mention a few products from this webpage which lists products invented by college students in Japan:
    https://matome.naver.jp/odai/2138608074292868501
    I ask them to work in a group of two or three and invent a new product. Before they begin, I present a product I came up with, as an example. I show them a drawing of the product and present a) its name, b) what it is like and what it can do, c) the target consumers, and d) its price. I ask them to try inventing something and give them a handout that helps list (a)-(d). After they collect their ideas and draw what their products look like, they present it to class.

What technology, media or props did you use?

  • PowerPoint
  • Pictures from the internet
  • Japanese webpages
  • Picture cards
  • Handout

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Students had very creative ideas at inventing new products. The task was more than just language practice but exciting for them.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

It would have been better if I gave students time to practice how to speak in job interviews; in Japanese, you are supposed to talk in honorifics in business situations, and I don’t think they get to practice speaking in honorifics in their usual conversation practices.

Picture cards (Activity I):

Slides:

Sep.12_AdvJP_Slides-Business

ES S19 ADV Work

May 10, 2019 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name:

José Gómez

Day and Date:

02/21/2019

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):

Spanish Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed: Unemployment, politics, Spain.

Goal of the class: To review vocabulary related to politics, economy and the job market. To discuss and raise awareness about the current political and financial situation in Spain.

How did you structure the class?

Head’s up: cultural events

Warm-up (10’): Memory game about professions

Students will be divided into two groups and handed a set of cards with professions. They will have to play a memory game and say the name of the profession aloud every time they uncover one card.

Activity 1 (video and discussion)

  1. (5’) Students will be asked what they know about the employment situation in Spain.
  2. (10’) An interactive short film will be shown on the screen. The video is called “La Entrevista” “The Interview”. The video is interactive as it stops at some point to prompt student’s reactions and guesses. It also includes some hints on vocab to facilitate comprehension.

The video tackles the topic of the over qualification at companies and how desperation pushes people to happily take any job that is under their skills. It all happens throughout a job interview in which the boss is clearly taking advantage of this precarious situation.

  • Students will also make notes on the questions the boss asks as they will use them in an activity later on.
  • (10’) Discussion Feelings

What do you think is the main topic of the video?

What is wrong?

What does it say about the situation in Spain?

How could a society improve that?

Does it happen in your country?

Do you think that the fact that she is a woman influences the position?

Is it common in your country to see men as the boss and women as secretary or cleaner?

Activity 2 (20’) (JOB INTERVIEW/role play): In pairs, each student will take a role. One of them will be a manager, and the other one will be interviewed for the job. For this activity students will have some resources on how a job interview is carried out. Additionally, they will get a handout on the table with accurate questions so that they can improve their grammatical structures as well as their fluency.

First, they will prepare their role (one of them will prepare the profile of the candidate, and the other one will prepare the profile of the employer/company)

Then they will have an interview, at the end, some of the people will show their interview in front of the class.

What technology, media or props did you use? (Internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

This was one of the students’ favorite class since it allowed them to speak all the time, improve their grammar, as well as raising cultural awareness of the job situation in Spain.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I think this class works very well, sometimes it can take longer and might be split into two classes.

If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

Find attached below the possible job interview questions that I have given them in a handout

ADV-0221-worksheet

ES FA18 INT Careers and Jobs

December 14, 2018 /
  • Language Resident Name: Hugo Briones Cáceres
  • Day and Date: Monday, December 3th 
  • Language and Level:Spanish Conversation Intermediate
  • Class theme/topics discussed: Jobs and Careers, Résumés
  • Goal of the class:

To discuss and explain job related vocabulary

To create a résumé. 

To go into job interviews.

  • How did you structure the class? 
  • Warm up: Students are asked to discuss in pairs about their dream job and then to share this with the rest of the class. 
  • Activity 1: Using a handout, students get acquainted with a résumé in a Spanish speaking way. Vocabulary and structures are explained. 
  • Follow up 1: Students, using a template, are asked to complete a résumé with their own information.  
  • Activity 2: Students have one on one job interviews among themselves. They are asked to switch roles or partners every two minutes. 
  • What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Handouts

  • What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The activity worked out well in class. However, not everything went as planned as students had plenty of vocabulary and structure questions. What interested them the most, were how names full name are composed in Spanish. This took us a long time and we ran out of time, but it was definitely very fruitful and entertaining for both parts.  

  • How could this class be improved/ modified?

The class worked out well. We ran out of time, but because of good reasons. What it is included in this lesson plans is what would work in a well timed class. 

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