quinta-feira, 20 de novembro de 2014

Do you manage your time well?

"Do you manage your time well?"
"In what ways do you manage your time well?"

The first question is a little easier. The second question is more difficult because it requires an example. I'm going to give an example for the second question and you should be able to use it for the first question as well.

Short Answer
"I know I manage my time well because I'm never late to work, and I've never missed a deadline."

"I'm good at managing my time. I stay busy both at home and at work and being able to manage my time is necessary for me to do everything that I want to do."

"I manage my time well by planning out what I have to do for the whole week. It keeps me on track and evens helps me to be more efficient."

Long Answer

"Managing my time is one of my strong traits. I prioritize my tasks and this allows me to stay ahead of schedule. Each day I manage my time so I can achieve more than I set out to do. So managing my time in a goal oriented way is what I feel very comfortable doing."

Are you better at anticipating or reacting to problems

"Which category do you fall under? A person who anticipates a problem well, or a person who reacts to a problem well?"

This is a tough question because both options look pretty good. My recommendation would be to answer depending on the position you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a type of analyst or upper management position, then anticipating a problem would be more useful. However, if you are applying to be a nurse for a hospital emergency room, then reacting to a problem well is stronger.

Short Answers

"I think it's good to be good at both. But in my experience, I realized I react to problems better. Whenever I'm faced with a new problem, I know what steps to take to deal with the problem."

"I believe I'm strong in both, but I try to work more on anticipating problems. In this profession, it's very important to anticipate a problem and fix it before it becomes a real problem."

"I'm very observant and aware of what's going on, so I'm stronger at anticipating problems."

"I'm good at dealing with problems, so I'm a person who reacts to a problem well."

Long Answers

"I feel I react to problems well, but I'm much stronger at anticipating them. I'm a type of person that pays attention to detail, inconsistencies, and subtle signs. Basically, I want to find a potential problem and put measures in place to correct it before it happens. It's interesting to see how the people who deal with problems get rewarded for resolving the issue. What about the people who put the fire out before it even started? So anticipating problems before it happens is what I've always done and I believe it's important in any work environment."

"Being a nurse requires many skills. One of the important traits is to be able to react to problems well. Reacting to a problem well requires the ability for quick thinking, ability to think of all the options available, and maintaining self control in hectic times. In my spare time, I even think about creative problems that might come up. Since a problem can arise at any time and in any form, I try to be as creative as I can and I walk through the situation as if I'm dealing with the problem. So this has helped me to become very good at reacting to problems."

The answer gets stronger with examples, so if you have experienced something that you can explain, feel free to use include it in the answer. Also, if you are unsure about how to say it, remember that you can ask us.

Are you a risk taker or do you like to stay away from risks?

"Are you a risk taker or do you like to stay away from risks?"

This also depends on the position. But in most cases, I believe someone who likes to take risks is a better candidate. If you choose to answer saying you are a risk taker, you should include why and how you take risks.

Short Answers

"I consider myself to be in the middle, but if I were to choose from my past experience, I would think I would call myself a careful risk taker."

"I'm reliable and believe in stability and guarantees. My work will be based on facts without assumptions or guesses, so I tend to stay away from risks."

"I think it's important to take some risks. I keep the options open and if the reward justifies the risks, I would definitely try. So I'm more of a risk taker."

"I take risks because through planning and working smart, it's possible to reduce some of the risk. So if there's a reasonable chance of success, I would take the opportunity."

Long Answer

"I see myself as a risk taker. But before taking the risk, I always evaluate all other options, weigh the pro's and con's of success and failure, and after careful consideration, I would definitely take a risk if the rewards were high enough. I view staying away from risks similar to staying away from a gold mine surrounded by dynamite. Of course if you don't know what triggers the dynamite, it would be unwise to take that risk. But if you study the situation and know the location of all dynamite and the way they are triggered, then the risk is minimized. Some people would not explore the options to reduce the risk, but I would definitely study each situation and take a risk that would improve my personal or company's situation."

You don't have to use the dynamite example. You can think of any other example. But I used this to clearly explain what I feel about taking risks. Not only did I choose to be a risk taker, but I also explained how and when I would take risks.

Why should I hire you?

"Why should I hire you?"

I don't know if this is a common question, but I heard many people use this question. In all the interviews I've been through, I never received this question, nor did I ask this question in any interviews I gave. But, there are a lot of people asking this question, so preparing for it is a must. To answer this question, you need to know exactly what they are looking for. With this information, tie it in with your strong traits. This will verify that you are completely qualified for the job. Second and more importantly, you need to stand out more than the other people interviewing for this position. I will give two examples for the long answers, one for a person with a lot of experience, and the other for a recent college graduate.

Short Answers

"I'm a perfect fit for this position. I have the experience and the traits you are looking for. On top of that, I'm a great team player that gets a long with everyone."

"I should be hired because I'm efficient, smart, and friendly. I'm great at solving problems and love challenges. Most importantly, I'm dependable and reliable."

"There are two reasons I should be hired. First, my qualifications match your needs perfectly. Second, I'm excited and passionate about this industry and will always give 100%."

"You should hire me because I'm confident and I'll do the best job. I have a proven track record of success starting from high school until now. I'm responsible and smart.
This position requires someone that will work well without supervision. I know how to manage my time and organize my work well. So, I'm confident I'll be the best candidate for this position."

Long Answers

"This position is for a quality assurance manager, I'm confident I'm the best person for this job because of my past experience. At ABC Software Company, I was in charge of a team that was responsible for the quality of three different applications. I have intimate knowledge of quality assurance, product support, and even some creative processes that will benefit a quality assurance team. I've built a team from scratch and fully understand the product development cycle. Finally, one of my traits is in developing and mentoring junior employees. I believe in transferring knowledge to everyone in the company and investing a little more effort into the people who work for me. So I strongly believe that I'll be the best candidate due to the combination of my experience, my managerial skills, and my desire to provide growth in employees."

"The reason I applied for this position is because the qualifications matched my strengths perfectly. I'm good at juggling multiple tasks, I'm very detail oriented, and I organize my time very efficiently. But the truth is that many people have these traits. But if I were in your position, I would hire myself because of the passion I have for this industry, and my optimistic personality. My education background and my strengths show that I can do this job. But I want to make more of an impact than just doing my job. I don't want to blend in with the company, I would rather want my addition to improve it."

The first answer is using experience and skills to convince the interviewer to hire him or her. In addition to talking about past experiences, this example also emphasizes the strong ability to mentor people. The second example is more on the personal level and definitely more creative. Everyone one will claim to have all the good traits. So this candidate says it by saying, "... the truth is that many people have these traits." On top of these traits, this candidate is including passion and excitement. This is very important during interviews. Finally, the last sentence is a good line that the interviewer will remember. It is creative and bold.

Tell me about Q's... / Tell me about a time you made a mistake.

'Tell me about...' type of questions are very popular. It is more effective because it is asking for an answer that comes from experience. If you don't have a particular experience in one of the questions below, make one up. You should prepare ahead of time because you don't want to make up a story during the interview. It will be too hard to sound believable. Finally, you should know that some questions will not be asked to certain job types. For example, if you are not in a management position, you probably won't be asked how you saved the company money. Or if you are not in sales, you won't be asked about making a great sale.

These types of answers are usually long because it is explaining an experience. If you want the interviewer to understand the significance of your story, they will need to understand it. So all my examples will be a little longer than regular interview questions. Finally, a lot of these are my own experiences. I encourage you to think back to your experience and create one. I'm providing my answers so you can see the structure and learn from my answers.

"Tell me about a time you made a mistake."

The best answer for this question involves learning something from a mistake. If you are having difficulty thinking about a mistake you made that will be an effective answer, try to think of a lesson you learned that improved a good trait. Making a mistake is not good, but since you have to tell them something, you should tell them something that makes you look good. For an example, let's create a scenario where you learned how to be someone who anticipates problems.

Short Answer

"I was given a project to complete in a week. I understood the project, but I misinterpreted one section. After completing the project, I was told by my manager that it was done incorrectly. I really made a mistake by assuming incorrectly in one of the sections instead of asking for clarification. I learned not to assume through the mistake I made."

Long Answer

"I had a project I was working on, and while I was in the middle of typing up my documentation, my computer started acting weird. It froze for a while and so I rebooted. After 10 minutes, the computer showed a blue screen saying that there were problems and recommended that I reboot the computer again. After another reboot, everything appeared to be ok. I continued my work and finished for the day. I spent two days on this assignment and when I went to retrieve my data the next day to double check my work, my computer wouldn't start up. A technician came and found that my hard drive malfunctioned. I lost all the data and lost two days of work. I was disappointed and thought I would never trust a computer again, but there was a great lesson to be learned. I had a couple of warnings and I ignored them. From then on, I practiced being someone who can anticipate problems. I now think of potential problems ahead of time and pay attention to details along the way. If I applied this sooner, I would have saved the data on another computer and I wouldn't have lost a couple days of work. But I can't say I regret making the mistake because it made me someone who can anticipate problems better."

This is a minor mistake, and you can say it is really the computer's fault. But this is a good example because I wasn't really at fault. The computer was. But this example is wording it so it looks like the person's fault and it explains how a great lesson was learned. In the end, this candidate became a better person through this mistake. Learning from a mistake is probably the key point here, and this example demonstrates that.

Tell me about a time you made a good decision.

"Tell me about a time you made a good decision."
"Tell me about a time you found a solution to a problem."

This is a little easier than thinking about a mistake. You should make sure to include why it was a good decision and the result should be obviously meaningful. I also want to use this as an example of answering multiple questions. I would use this same answer for either of the two questions above. It was a good decision, and I fond a solution to a problem. Preparing for every interview question in the world will be too much work. Think of key experiences and apply them to multiple answers. In the case where it is the same interviewer, then you might be forced to think of a new answer. So it might be good to think of couple of answers.

Short Answer

"During my last project, we ran into a difficult problem. This was high priority so everyone was instructed to find a solution. I started looking for more information on the Internet, I even talked to a different manager on a different team. This helped tremendously and our problem was solved. I made a decision to use every resource I could find, and in the end, it solved the problem."

Long Answer

"In my last position at Microsoft, there was a time period where our group was going to slip reaching our milestone by one day. This was because the day before exiting the third milestone, we found a problem in the program. Since we created a new build with all bug fixes each morning, we had two choices. We could either fix the problem and verify the program the next day after we build again, or we could postpone the problem and fix it in the next milestone. Both options didn't sound very appealing. I suggested fixing the program now, and perform another build to verify the fix instead of waiting for tomorrow. Many times people are used to following a process, but in this case, I challenged the process of building in the morning and requested another build to verify the last bug fix. In the end, we were able to complete milestone 3 on time and fixed the important problem. This was significant because if we didn't exit milestone 3, then everyone waiting to start work on the next milestone would have to wait another day. In essence, this saved a days work for more than 30 people."

For this example, I was careful not to use too many technical jargons that might not be understood. I also explained the situation carefully and explained why the decision was a good one. Remember that some of these answers will not work for you. In this case, if you never worked at Microsoft and never experienced this, just follow the steps of stating the problem, explaining the choices, why you made the decision, and finally why it was a good decision.

Tell me about a time you made a poor decision.

"Tell me about a time you made a poor decision."

This question is similar to the mistake question. So first, let's think about what lesson we want to learn. A common mistake is when people make assumptions. I'll give an example where a poor decision was made due to making a bad assumption. The answer will also include what was learned and how the poor decision was used as a tool to become a better worker.

Short Answer

"When I was doing an audit for a small company, there was a problem with one of the accounts. I tried to contact the company to ask questions, but they were not there. I made the decision to keep looking for the answer. Four hours later, they returned my call and I realized it was a simple typo. I wasted 4 hours of my day. In this case, I was too sensitive about detail. So I learned how not to be so detailed and picky."

Long Answer

"In my first month working at Tiffany's selling jewelry, I made a poor decision by making an assumption. A person buying an engagement diamond wanted to see some rings. It's not polite to immediately ask for a price range, so I showed the person a variety of rings. He pointed to a ring that was about twelve thousand dollars. The diamond ring he pointed to was one of the more expensive ones I showed him. Eager to sell him the ring, I explained the quality of the ring, explained our satisfaction guarantee policy to him, and made sure he was comfortable with making a purchase at Tiffany's. He bought the ring, and I thought I made a great sell. However, it turns out that on my day off, he came in and exchanged the ring for one that was twenty five thousand dollars. It was one of the rings that I didn't show him. So basically, I made a bad decision on selling him what he first pointed out instead of showing him more options. I assumed that the initial ring he selected was the price range he was looking for. I never made that mistake again and I learned that I shouldn't assume so much."

This example is geared towards sales, but like I said earlier, make sure to clearly explain the situation, identify the decisions, explain why it was a bad decision, and most importantly what you learned by making a poor decision.

Tell me about a time you fired someone.

"Tell me about a time you fired someone."

Firing someone is a difficult task. Usually you will not be asked this question unless it is for a management position. You should emphasize a couple of key things when you answer this question. First, you should be very professional about firing someone. Second, you should mention the procedures you took so the action of firing is justified. I'll give an example for someone who has never fired someone and an example for having fired someone.

Short Answers

"In my last position, I had four people reporting to me. One of my direct reports failed to show up on time, complete assignments, and really didn't care about the work. I tried to encourage the employee, assign different types of work to him, and even sat down and showed him how to do things. After 2 months of trying, I had to let him go."

"Our company was down sizing and I had to let two people go. It's easier when a person does a terrible job, but if everyone is doing there job, it's more difficult. I had to select the bottom two performers and explained why they were being let go."

Long Answers

"During my second year as a manager, I had to fire one of my directs. I can't say it was a difficult task because not only did he not do his job well, he didn't want to try. Initially, we put him on probation monitoring his work, we tried to give him different types of work that he might do better at, and we even assigned a mentor to him. However, even through all this, he was a weak performer. I consulted with other management members and we all agreed it was best for the company to let him go. I got together with an HR representative and told him that he no longer has a job here. He wasn't surprised at all. He just picked up his things and left."

"I've never had to fire somebody yet. I believe that a manager should mentor and lead all team members to be a solid performer. But I know that there are some people who can't or won't perform despite management's best effort. So in that case, I would have to let someone go in a professional manner following the procedures set by the company."

Both of these are good answers. They mention that a manager should take actions to make the worker better, but sometimes turning something bad to something good is impossible, so the only action is to fire someone. The person with experience outlines the steps taken. For example, the probation, assigning different work, providing a mentor, etc. Then in the end he was fired. The second example shows despite experience, that he or she would fire someone in a professional manner following procedure.

terça-feira, 28 de outubro de 2014

Tell me about a time you hired someone.

"Tell me about a time you hired someone."

If you hired somebody before, you know you could have hired someone great, or someone bad. If you have both experiences, you can ask if they want to hear a bad hire experience or a good hire experience. Sometimes the question will be, tell me about the time you made a bad hire. In that case, then you don't have to ask. I'll give an example of a good hire and a bad hire.

Short Answers

"I found a resume on the Internet that was a perfect match for one of our open positions. I contacted the person and we talked for about 10 minutes. During that call, I explained why our company was a great place to work and the opportunities we offered. After a couple more calls, he agreed to come in for an interview and we made an offer. He became a great employee."

"I received a resume but it didn't have all our requirements. I initially thought she wasn't a fit, but after looking over the education background and the previous work experience, I thought this person would have more potential than other candidates. After interviewing her, we extended an offer. She was a quick learner and performed at an exceptional level. Sometimes it's important to see potential and in this instance, it was a great hire."

Long Answers

"In the last company I worked for, we had a recruiting team. They go through all resumes and submit the ones that would be a good fit for a particular team. I received a resume and after looking it over, I was quite impressed. I called him for a phone interview and after that we scheduled a full interview. He aced almost every question given to him by 5 different interviewers. We made a reasonable and fair offer. He mentioned that he was considering another company. I called him to touch bases with him and reiterated the opportunities, the great environment here, and ultimately that we all looked forward to having him join our team. I tried to make the phone call more personal and warm to show him that our group was a place to be comfortable. He joined our team and became one of our strongest performers. It took a little extra work, but it's important to take extra steps when you see someone who is going to be great."

"I had one bad experience when hiring someone. I remember I was following procedures and verifying everything I could from past experience, checking communication skills, personality, work ethic, technical skills, and some tough logic problems. We even had 4 different people interviewing this candidate. Everything looked great. But when the person started, he had a hard time understanding new concepts. I originally thought it was because he was new and had to ramp up on many things, but as months past by, this employee was still unable to work alone. He always had to ask how to do even simple tasks. I remember going through his resume and looking over his background and even thinking about where we missed this flaw in the interview. Using this same interviewing procedure, we hired many great people. But this one turned out a little sour."

The first question is straight forward. This person took it one step farther by making a phone call and encouraging the candidate to join his team. But the second answer is an example of doing everything right, but seeing bad results. You can use something like this, but if you do, you must think of follow up questions such as, 'what did you do to this employee? What happened in the long run? Did you end up firing this person' But I recommend you think of a situation that you personally experienced. Then you can answer all follow up questions easily. But if you never hired anyone before, then simply say that. It shouldn't hurt unless it is for a recruiting position.

quinta-feira, 2 de outubro de 2014

A time you failed to complete an assignment

Tell me about a time you failed to complete an assignment on time.

"Tell me about a time you failed to complete an assignment on time."

If you are a good worker, then you probably haven't failed to complete an assignment on time. But if you have a lot of experience, you might have some situations where external factors caused you to miss a deadline. This is what my example will be about. But if you have an example where you failed to complete an assignment, make sure you give clear reasons why you failed and what you learned from it. Also, if you can't think of any, then use an example from your university days stating. But if you do, make sure you tell them that so far in your job experience, you completed all assignments on time or ahead of schedule.

Short Answer

"One time, I had a project that was due on Tuesday. On Friday I analyzed our progress and I was ahead of schedule. I didn't have to work over the weekend to complete the assignment. On Monday, my manager was sick so I had to attend several meetings that took all day. Because of that, I didn't complete my assignment until Wednesday. Now, I try to finish my assignments a day or half a day early because something unexpected could come up."

Long Answer

"With proper planning and good execution, I think it's hard to fail at meeting a deadline. But I remember one time in the middle of the project, our clients wanted to change one aspect of the assignment that we already completed. I analyzed the change request and told them that we wouldn't be able to make the date. I estimated that it will take three additional days. They insisted that we finish on the agreed upon time schedule. I told them we'd try but could not promise anything. Even with hard work and overtime, we missed the due date. We did however, finish one day late. In this situation where I didn't feel we could reach the deadline, I specifically told them that we couldn't, I continually sent updates on the progress to keep the clients informed. Since we missed the deadline, they were not too happy, but overall they were satisfied because I effectively communicated the progress regularly."

I like this answer because they want a situation that should make you look bad. Instead, you gave them a scenario where you failed to complete an assignment, but really it wasn't your fault. In the end, this answer makes you look good because you did everything right from communicating properly, giving them a new time frame, and reaching the goal two days ahead of schedule despite missing the original date by one. But just in case they ask what you could have done better, you can say something like, "I feel I should have been more firm with the three additional days I requested. I like to meet difficult deadlines, but I knew the additional work was too large to finish on time."

Tell me about a time you found a solution to save the company money.

"Tell me about a time you found a solution to save the company money."

This question is also for a management level position. If you are not in management, then you probably won't face this question. But just in case, here are a couple of answers. If you are not in a position to save the company money, then you could think of something small.

Short Answer

"Hmmm... I wasn't really in any position to save the company money, but I have one small example. When we were a smaller company, we didn't get a significant corporate discount on our hardware. After we grew in size, we qualified for the larger discount, but nobody realized that we now met the quota. I pointed this out and we started saving 5% more on our hardware."

Long Answer

"We were outsourcing a portion of our work to a 3rd party company. We had two phases for this project. After the first phase, I was given the task to complete the work because the original worker responsible for this project left our group. I quickly got up to speed on the details of the work. I analyzed the information and realized that one portion of the work given to them could've been done by our group because we already had the infrastructure in place. So I only spent half a day to set this up and in turn, we were charged 35% less for the second phase from the first one."

This is a simple story of an experience. It doesn't include every detail on the type of work that was outsourced, or what I specifically did during the half days of work. If they choose to ask this, then I will be prepared to answer it, but this answer gives enough details to allow the interviewer to understand how you contributed in saving the company money. Also, depending on the field of work, answers will vary. If your job specifically oversees the finance, then it is probably important to think of a much better answer specifically for that position. Think of some scenarios, write them down, and feel free to ask us if the grammar is correct.

Tell me about a time you aimed too high.

"Tell me about a time you aimed too high."

This is another question where you can turn this answer into a good experience. I am going to be using the answer as the one where you failed to complete an assignment on time. This is good practice to use a similar answer by changing only a few sentences to answer another tough interview question. But first, I'll give an example of a different short answer.

Short Answer

"We had a new project that I was interested in. Even though I was busy, I volunteered to take on the assignment. I had to work so much more. Although I managed to complete the assignment, it really burned me out. I feel I aimed too high and I would have benefited by doing a better job on my current assignments instead of wanting more challenges."

Long Answer

"I believe aiming high is a good practice. Aiming high keeps me focused and forces me to grow by trying to reach high goals I have set for myself. But I know there are times where aiming too high is not good. For example, one time in the middle of the project, our clients wanted to change one aspect of the assignment that we already completed. I analyzed the change request and told them that we will not be able to make the date. I estimated that it will take three additional days. They insisted that we finish on the agreed upon time schedule. I told them we would try but we could not promise anything. Even with hard work and overtime, we missed the due date. We did however, finish one day later. I challenged myself to complete on time, but with the large change request, it was too high of a goal to reach. In this case, I really aimed too high. I should have been more firm telling them that we will need a few more days."

This is a similar experience we already used, but you changed the beginning and the end to tailor it to this question. Remember that you can use one answer for multiple questions. This answer should make you look good instead of looking like you made a terrible mistake.

Tell me about a time you made a great sale

Tell me about a time you made a great sale.

"Tell me about a time you made a great sale."

This is similar to the question, 'what does it mean to make a great sale' You can change the words a little and use the answer for both questions. The key to this answer is explaining what it means to make a great sale, and then giving a good example of a great sale that you made.

Short Answer

"I had a customer come in that was a little rude. He had many questions and cut me off very frequently. I stayed patient and explained everything to his satisfaction. He ended up representing a medium sized business that required a large order. I feel this was a great sale because I treated this customer with respect and patience."

Long Answer

"Making a great sale can be measured by how much the company made, but I think making a great sale is how satisfied the customer is. A satisfied customer will return and continue to be a valued customer, so it's important to make sure that the customer is satisfied. One day, a customer was debating on two different types of watches. One was $1200 and the other was $400. This was a huge difference. I believe I could have sold him the $1200 watch, but instead, I laid out all the pro's and con's for him, and asked him questions to find out the purpose of the watch, if it was for casual wear or formal wear, and eventually helped him realize exactly what he was looking for. He ended up buying the $400 watch. Some people might think that was not a great sale, but I felt as a salesman and a person representing the company that I did a great job in satisfying this customer. In the next couple of years while I was working there, he came and bought many more items and had other friends come in to buy more products. I can confidently say that the $800 in missed sale resulted in thousands more for the company."

This example has several key points. First, this answer is telling the interviewer what you believe is a great sale. Second, it is giving a good example. Finally, it is showing a good sign of an employee by saying, 'a person representing the company' All salesman or someone who works with customers is representing their company in some way. Saying this casually in an example is definitely powerful.

Tell me about a time you went over budget

Tell me about a time you went over budget.

"Tell me about a time you went over budget."

If you go over budget, it is a bad sign. It can mean you are not organized, do not plan well, or are not good with finance. So when you think of an answer, make sure you justify it with a good reason. Here is an example of what I am talking about.

Short Answer

"During our marketing campaign, we realized how many customers we were gaining through the radio advertisements. Although we didn't have budget for more radio advertisement, I still made the decision to place our ad on three more stations. We increased sales by 25% for that month, but I ended up going over budget by 5%."

Long Answer

"There was a project that had a strict 4 month deadline. I didn't have enough employees to complete the task, so I had to hire temporary workers. I was given a budget to either hire three extra heads for four months or to hire four extra heads for three months. Because of the importance of the project and the strict deadline, I chose to hire 4 temporary workers for 3 months to give us a time cushion at the end. We had a couple of unexpected obstacles and it turned out that we needed the temporary workers for another two weeks. We completed the project on time and everything turned out well, but in this instance, I went over budget by 5%. Due to the importance of this project, I didn't want to risk slipping the date. Even though everyone was congratulating me on this accomplishment, I feel I could have done better if I calculated a cushion for unexpected obstacles."

This answer is admitting to going over budget, but the reason was good enough. The answer indicates that by saying how everyone was happy and making sure to say how important the project was. In the end you say you learned something. But you can change this answer a little. If you want to be more clear on the importance of the project, you can say a monetary value, like it was a two million dollar deal, and going over budget by $10,000 was acceptable by upper management.

sexta-feira, 12 de setembro de 2014

*** Add Fuel to the Fire

"I would like to do something to help, but I don't want to add fuel to the fire."

Imagine that you saw a friend of yours that is married kissing another woman. This woman is your wife's best friend . When you get back home your wife is offering a cup of tea to your friend and his wife. So , during the conversation your wife says: " Sabrina has just called me saying that she is coming to visit us. She has good news to tell us. I invited your friend and his wife to join us for dinner" . You look at your friend trying to slip him a note but he didn't realize that Sabrina is the girl he was kissing. You call him privately and advert him about the danger. Your friend says: " We would love to know Sabrina but we better call it a day". Your wife replies adding fuel to the fire: " You already know Sabrina but your wife doesn't "

In Brazil this expression goes like this: Colocar lenha na fogueira.

.............................................................................................

*** Out of the blue

"Why did she do that?" Answer: "I have no idea. It was completely out of the blue."

In this expression the word 'blue" has anything with the color or the feeling but the surprise. We don't know what the girl did but we are sure that nobody expected that. It was suddenly. Without a signal or something like that.

In Brazil, we use another expression : "do nada, sem mais nem menos"

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*** One for the road

"Bartender- I'll have one more beer for the road."

When you ask a drink for the road it means that you are going to drink the last drink of the day. In other words you will drink it and take the road!

In Brazil there's a law that forbid a driver to drink before driving. Most of drivers disobey this law and because of that so many accidents happen in our streets and a great deal of people lose their lives.

Brazilian use an expression that its similar to a "pit-stop". You drink and go. We call it "saideira"

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*** Better Late than never

"Sorry I was late for the meeting today; I got stuck in traffic." Answer: "That's okay; better late than never."

Nobody likes to get late for a meeting or important appointment. The most important thing in this kind of situation is telling the truth and be present even a little late. Your presence shows that you overcame the obstacle and really believe the meeting and people are important.

In portuguese we use the same expression that means: Antes tarde do que nunca

quarta-feira, 10 de setembro de 2014

Sep 10th - Politic and politician

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/student-activities

Vocabulary

1- Election
2- Vote
3- Campaign
4- Candidate
5- Political Party
6- Politic
7- Politician
8- State Representative
9- Governor
10- Mayor
11- President
12- Primer Minister
13- Congressman
14- Senator
15- null vote
16- First round
17- Second round
18- reelection
19- Democrat
20- Republican
21- Airtime
22- Ballot box
23- Canvasser

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Questions

1- Who is your candidate for governor?
2- Was Geraldo Alckmin a good governor?
3- Do you believe in politician's promises?
4- Do you have a candidate for state representative?
5- Have you heard about my candidate?
6- Are you going to null your vote?
7- Is there a Prime Minister in Brazil?
8- What do you do during the airtime?
9- In Brazil the ballot boxes are eletronic. Do you like it?
10- Are you somebody's canvasser?
11- Is Tiririca a good congressman?
12- Will we have a second round this year?

segunda-feira, 8 de setembro de 2014

Conversation

* Do you speak English?
** Yes, a little.
............................
* Does Eliane speak English?
** Yes, She speaks English perfectly.
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* What's Eric Clapton's native language?
** I don't know what his native language is.
............................
* How many languages do you speak?
** I speak only Portuguese but I'm studying English.
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* How many languages does Pope Francisco speak?
** He reads and writes in several languages.
............................
* How well do you know Japanese?
** I just know some words.
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* Does John speak English fluently?
** Not yet. He speaks English with a Portuguese accent.
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* How well does Roberto Justus speak English?
** He speaks English fluently.
............................
* Do you speak English correctly?
** No, sometimes I make mistakes when I speak English.
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* Do you have trouble with spelling?
** No, I have a lot of trouble with pronunciation.
............................
* How is teacher JB's accent in English.
** He speaks like a native american.
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Extra Vocabulary

* Perfectly = perfeitamente
* Native language = Lingua nativa
* several = muitas, diversas,várias
* How well = Em que nível
* Accent = sotaque
* Fluently = fluentemente
* Only = apenas , somente
* Just = apenas
* Some words = algumas palavras
* Not yet = ainda não
* Correctly = corretamente
* Sometimes = as vezes
* Spelling = soletração
* A lot of = bastante, muitos
* Trouble = dificuldade
* Pronunciation = pronúncia
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New verbs

* To know = saber,conhecer
* To read = Ler
* To write = escrever
* To make mistake = cometer erros
....................................
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My name is Bill Jones and I am a student. Actually, my first name is William. "Bill" is short for William. I was born in a little country town not far from here. I was born on June 17,1941. I have four siblings. Two sisters and two brothers. My father's name is George and my mother's name is Marilyn. I have many friends and much love in my heart. Last year I was in the hospital during the month of July. I was in the hospital for twenty-two days. My friend,Wendy, was in the hospital for two weeks last year. He was in the hospital during the month of March. My friend Wendy has a good Play-station video game. He has about 25 games. He doesn't have his own television set, but I have one. My television set is a small one, but it's a very good one. During the week I get up before seven o´clock and I study all day. I study engineering. On Saturdays and Sundays I don't get up early.
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If Bill Jones asks you some questions , how will you answer them?

1- What is my name and what am I ?
2- Actually, what is my first name? What's "Bill" short for?
3- Where was I born?
4- When was I born?
5- How many sisters and brothers do I have?
6- What's my father's name?
7- What's my mother's name?
8- How many friends Do I have?
9- Where was I during the month of July last year?
10- How many days was I there?
11- What's my friend's name?
12- When was he in the hospital?
13- What does he have?
14- How many games does he have?
15- Does he have his own television set?
16- Is my television set big or small?
17- Is it a good one?
18- What time do I get up during the week?
19- What do I do all day?
20- Do I get up early on saturdays and Sundays?
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segunda-feira, 18 de agosto de 2014

Aug 20th - Conversation

Eliane is talking to John who she has just met in a café. They are having a conversation when Eliane asks John what he does for a living . . .

Eliane: - What do you do for a living?

John: - I am sorry . Can you run that by me again?

Eliane: - What is your occupation?

John: - I'm a hairdresser; I work in beauty parlor on Oxford street.

Eliane: - A hairdresser?? You must cut a lot of hairs and get very satisfied .

John: - yes I do lots of work. Every day I cut hairs and it takes a long time to get a good result.

Eliane: - That is really interesting. How many hairs do you think you cut in a day?

John: - On average I probably please about seven customers every day I do get tired. What about you Eliane? What sort of job do you have ?

Eliane: - I don’t have a job at the moment.

John: - why?

Eliane: - I’m at a Private Course learning English.

John: - Thanks for the chat I have to get back to work now.

Eliane: - yes, thank you for your time.

Match the occupation with the daily activity.

Occupation

Bus driver
Teacher
Astronomer
Baker
Actress
bricklayer
Accountant
Architect
Politician
Author

Activity

makes bread and cakes
builds houses
works with accounts
Designs buildings
lies to get votes
drives buses
studies the universe
writes novels
teaches classes
acts in a movie

Conversation 2

Hello John, Good evening!
Good evening Eliane. How are you?
I'm fine, thanks. What about you?
Likewise. Tell me my friend...Did you understand that class about occupation?
Yes. I did. Why?
Can you explain me what does an accountant do?
It's a piece of cake, John!
An accountant makes a piece of cake?
You are funny John. I mean that this question is very easy.
Oh my goodness!
Well John, as fars as I'm concerned an accountant is a person that works with the money and accounts of a company.
Congratulations! What about the architect?
An architect designs buildings and houses.
Very smart! You are really very smart.
It's my time to ask John.
Go ahead girl! I'm prepared for everything.
Ok. Tell me what an astronomer is...
Astronomer? You mean that person who studies the stars and the universe?
Are you kidding me? What about the author? What does he do?
He writes books and novels.
Novels? You mean " O outro " with Francisco Cuoco was written by an author?
No way! A novel is a romance...a book that tells love stories. " O outro" is a soap opera.
You are very intelligent John.
Thanks girl! it's very kind of you. Now tell me...Is there any Baker in your family?
No. There is not any baker in my family but there is a bus driver.
Who drives buses in your family?
My father does. He is a very good bus driver.
My father is an actor. He is very famous in Hollywood.
Is your father a Hollywood actor? What's his name?
His name is Robert Deniro.
If Robert Deniro is your father , he certainly know my cousin.
Your cousin? Who is she? Is she an actress?
Of course she is. Did you watch " Tomb Raider "?
Yes, I watched it. I loved Lara Croft.
So my cousin was the actress that played Lara Croft.
Are you Angelina Jolie's cousin? Oh my goodness!
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Aug 18th - Occupations

Below we have a list of different Professions and an explanation of what each person does in that profession.

Accountant - a person that works with the money and accounts of a company.

Actor /Actress - a person that acts in a play or a movie

Architect - a person that designs building and houses.

Astronomer - a person who studies the stars and the universe

Author - They write books or novels.

Baker - They make bread and cakes and normally work in a bakery.

Bricklayer - a person that helps to build houses using bricks.

Bus driver - a person that drives buses.

Butcher - a person that works with meat. They cut the meat and sell it in their shop.

Carpenter - a person that makes things from wood including houses and furniture.

Chef/Cook - a person that prepared food for others, often in a restaurant or café.

Cleaner - a person that cleans/tidies an area or place (such as in an office)

Dentist - a person that can fix problems you have with your teeth.

Designer - a person who has the job of designing things.

Doctor - a person you go to see when you are ill or have some type of health problem.

Dustman/Refuse collector - a person that collects trash/rubbish from bins in the street.

Electrician - a person that works with electric circuits.

Engineer - a person who develops solutions to technical problems. They sometimes design, build, or maintain engines, machines, structures or public works.

Factory worker - a person that works in a factory.

Farmer - a person that works on a farm, usually with animals.

Fireman/Fire fighter - a person that puts out fires.

Fisherman - a person that catches fish

Florist - a person that works with flowers.

Gardener - a person that keeps gardens clean and tidy. They take care of the plants in the garden.

Hairdresser - they cut your hair or give it a new style.

Journalist - a person that makes new reports in writing or through television.

Judge - a qualified person that decides cases in a law court.

Lawyer - a person that defends people in court and gives legal advice.

Lecturer - a person that gives lectures, usually in a university.

Librarian - a person that works in a library.

Lifeguard - a person that saves lives where people swim (at a beach or swimming pool).

Mechanic - a person that repairs machines, especially car motors.

Model - a (usually attractive) person that works in fashion, modeling clothes and accessories.

Newsreader - a person that reads the news, normally on television.

Nurse - a person trained to help a doctor look after the sick or injured.

Optician - a person that checks your eyes and try and correct any problems with your sight.

Painter - a person that paints pictures or the interior and exterior of buildings.

Pharmacist - a qualified person that works with and dispenses medicine.

Photographer - a person that takes photos.

Pilot - a person who flies a plane.

Plumber - a person that repairs your water systems or pipes.

Politician - a person who works in politics.

Policeman/Policewoman - a member of the police force. They (try and) prevent crime.

Postman - a person that delivers mail to your house.

Real estate agent - a person that makes money from selling land for development.

Receptionist - a person that is at the reception (entrance) of a company.

Scientist - a person that works in the science industry. They do many experiments.

Secretary - a person employed in an office who types letters, keeps records etc.

Shop assistant - a person that works in a shop or store selling products.

Soldier - a person who works for the army.

Tailor - a person that makes clothes for others, many times producing exclusive items of clothing.

Taxi driver - a person who drives a taxi.

Teacher - a person that passes knowledge to students, usually at school.

Translator - a person that translates from one language to another.

Traffic warden - a person that patrols areas to check that people do not park in the wrong place.

Travel agent - a person that organises and sells holidays and flights for others.

Veterinary doctor (Vet) - a qualified person that looks after sick animals.

Waiter/Waitress - a person that works in a food outlet, looking after customers and serving food.

Window cleaner - a person that cleans windows, normally the windows of big buildings.

Professions, Jobs and Occupations in English

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