Job hunting in Palestine: Learning to write a CV and preparing for an interview in English at the EC It´s hard enough trying to write a CV in your own language but as a student wanting to prepare for the trying task of job hunting in Palestine, it is quite a challenge! Not only will you need to learn the correct lay-out and content of a CV but there is the interview preparation focusing of your area of expertise.
The E.C has put together workshops with reduced numbers of students with only in mind give candidates the best chances of getting selected first on account of their CV and second on their interview performance. This is when native speakers who have lived and worked in various countries of the world can add a lot of value to the process. Let´s take the example of the latest workshop where students present were looking for advice on the sectors of banking and social wealth fare.
The first part consisted in general guidelines on cover letters and how to structure the content of their CV (dates, photo etc..). We gave them advice on things to take into consideration to ensure your CV is as relevant as possible to each job application. We also asked them to think about the CV selection process, who does it and what are the general criteria.
The second part was about the interview itself, what to expect and the best way to prepare for it. “Get well prepared, don´t improvise!” We told them. “An interview is not a casual event, it is your very first contact with your potential future employer. You have that one opportunity to demonstrate how serious you are about the job.” One important aspect of preparing for an interview in a non-native language is to familiarize oneself with the specific vocabulary of your industry. That is even more essential when the industry requires a technical language like in banking for example. We went on to launch a set of industry-related conversations to put them at ease and assess their knowledge. This is an excellent way of preparing for an interview by making yourself aware of your shortfall language-wise and of course improving.
The last part of the workshop consisted of ins interview simulations with each student to put them in a realistic situation in front of other students. We asked them to focus on the important aspects ranging from their body language (hand-shake, eye contact, posture) to the content of their answers, without forgetting their speech pattern. We wanted them to understand that, for most people, an interview is a situation of stress and the successful ones are those where you take control of that stress thanks to a serious preparation. In their case, of course, a big part of the stress comes from the language challenge. We were pleasantly surprised to realize that the level of English for those students in the workshop was quite high. In any case, we believe the workshop was of use to them and wish them good luck with their job hunting! J
It´s hard enough trying to write a CV in your own language but as a student wanting to prepare for the trying task of job hunting in Palestine, it is quite a challenge! Not only will you need to learn the correct layout and content of a CV but there is the interview preparation focusing of your area of expertise.
The E.C has put together workshops with reduced numbers of students with only in mind give candidates the best chances of getting selected first on account of their CV and second on their interview performance. This is when native speakers who have lived and worked in various countries of the world can add a lot of value to the process. Let´s take the example of the latest workshop where students present were looking for advice on the sectors of banking and social wealth fare.
The first part consisted in general guidelines on cover letters and how to structure the content of their CV (dates, photo etc..). We gave them advice on things to take into consideration to ensure your CV is as relevant as possible to each job application. We also asked them to think about the CV selection process, who does it and what are the general criteria.
