English interview questions often contain vocabulary that is not typically found in everyday conversations. The problem? If you are unfamiliar with these words, you might not understand the question.
So let’s get fully prepared! Here you’ll see 5 words interviewers LOVE to use. Once you know their meanings, you won’t get taken by surprise in your English interview.
Word #1: Ensure
Job interviewers are big fans of the word ensure. Here’s an example of how it looks in a question:
How do you ensure effective communication with your team?
So what does it mean?
Ensure is a more formal way to say make sure. It’s commonly used in an English interview when talking about work tasks. For example, to answer, you might say:
I ensure effective communication by actively listening to my team.
In other words, I make certain the task is done well by listening to my team.
Word #2: Approach
It’s also common in your English interview to talk about your approach to something. An example question would be:
Describe your approach to building relationships with clients.
Approach is synonymous with method. If you hear this word in your English job interview, then you should explain the strategies that you use to achieve a task. For example:
My approach to building relationships starts with empathy.
In the last example, you saw approach as noun. Be aware that the exact same word can also be a verb, to approach. For example:
I approach relationship-building with empathy.
“How does this role align with your long-term goals?“
Word #3: Insights
English job interview questions often include the word insights. For example:
Can you share some insights into our company’s mission?
Insights means your understanding of a situation. You are essentially being asked to share your perspective on a particular topic. It’s a good moment to show off critical-thinking skills!
Word #4: Handle
You will almost definitely talk about challenges during your English job interview! A very common word related to challenges is “handle”. Typical English job interview questions look like this:
How do you handle conflict?
When you discuss how you handle a challenge (in this case, conflict) it’s like explaining the way that you manage or address a challenge. How do you find a solution to the problem?
Word #5: Align
Align is a buzz word in English job interview questions these days! For example:
How does this role align with your long-term goals?
Align really means match or correspond. In this example question, the interviewer is asking how well this job fits with your career goals. Be sure that there are plenty of other topics that could include the word align in your English job interview questions.
How to prepare for your English interview
Bravo for reading this article and boosting your English vocabulary knowledge. Before your interview, I also recommend that you:
- Research the company and position
- Make a list of related experiences and skills you have
- Practice giving fluent answers to common English job interview questions
There’s plenty of support available to you: Let’s give perfect answers to each and every one of your English job interview questions!
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