‘I have got a job interview and they have told me it is going to be in English’. If this sentence comes from somebody that you know, maybe it will not be a surprise. It is not the same as if somebody would tell you ‘I have a job interview in Chinese’. We are in the 21st century now, the century of globalization, English interviews should not be a big deal and nobody is surprised if somebody the know has a job interview in English. But everything changes when it is us, who have to do that type of job interview. We suddenly start panicking and sweating and all of our language knowledge seem to be get away through the closest window. We want to calm you today and show you how can you survive to a job interview in English without panicking that much.
The first, and most important thing is to be sincere with ourselves. My friends, this are the basics, because it is more than possible to overcome that interview, but way before applying for that job offer you have to be clear with yourself and know, more or less, which English level you have, and which level are they demanding. It is not the same when a company is demanding a basic level of English, in order to face occasional situations, or, on the contrary, that you have to work completely in English. Be aware that being sincere to yourself does not mean underrating yourself. If they are asking for a C2 level, and you have never studied English apart from high school, it may be a little bit difficult for you to keep up the pace. However, if you consider that you could be fit for it, go for it!
You need to prepare yourself before the interview, thinking about what could be of interest for the interviewer: your professional skills, weaknesses and strengths…anything that you could answer to. But be careful, do not make a script out of your speech, because you may be using dictionaries or translating things, those lines you would write will not show what your knowledge is, and, also, nobody is going to guarantee that the interview is going to address all those bullets. This can make you incapable of continuing your interview in a fluent way. To sum it up, you need to compile all the words you may be using, and make an scheme inside your head: it will definitely take you further.
Also, you can try to adjust your listening skills to the English tongue the previous days to the interview. You have plenty of tools by just clicking a few buttons, like, for instance, the famous TED speeches, that have become a really interesting way in the past few years to learn English, you can even get subtitles in so many different languages, at the same time you gain knowledge of any topic it may interest you.
We want to you give you a last advice, and this is: take your time to answer every question that pops up during the interview is you think you need to. Your interviewers want to know where can your knowledge take you, they are not there to test your answering speed. Try to keep up the conversation flow, but if you need to take some seconds to think how can you express what you want to say, nobody is going to blame you for that. It is certainly better to do things right and to take your time, than wrong but fast, do not ever forget that.
Good luck with your interview and do your best! And the most important thing: do not panic!
