Sample Interview

I = Interviewer C = Candidate

Stage 1
I      Good morning my name is Clive. Could you tell me your full name, please.

C     My name is Xiao Ying. But you can call me Margaret.

I      That's great and who gave you that name?

C     My former English teacher gave that to me. She said I reminded her of Margaret Thatcher.

I      Interesting. Can you tell me where you're from?

C     Sure. I'm from Beijing.

I      May I see your identification please?

C     Here you go.

I      Now just to start out, I'd like to ask a few questions about you. Are you currently working or are you a student?

C     I am currently a student at university.

I      Right and what is your major?

C     My major is in Engineering.

I      Why did you choose to study engineering? Did you make the choice by yourself?

C     Well in a way but I was also steered that way by my parents. They uh,uh_uh wanted me to have a good techna technical job. 

I      Well, even though you were influenced by them, do you still like your major?

C     Yes I do. An engineer is a creator and a manager at the same time. I like learning about how to solve new problems.

I      Is there anything about your major that you don't particularly like?

C     Well at times I found it a bit uh,uh,uh tedious, because you have to study a lot of technical terms and informations.

I      Well how about when you are not studying? Let's now talk about what you like doing in your spare time? Do you have any hobbies or interest?

C     Yes one thing I enjoy doing is to playing bridge.

I     When you do get time off from school during your holidays, what do you usually do? Uh, well different things. I mean, sometimes I go travelling. I think the main thing that I try to do is to catch up on sleep.

I      You say you sometimes go travelling. Well let's talk a little bit about travelling and transport. If you're going on a long trip, how do you prefer to travel?

C    To tell you the truth, I'm a bit scared of planes, and of course they're more expensive. So I guess my favourite way is to do I mean go by train, so long as the train is not too crowded.

I      Has transportation changed much in the last 20 years?

C     Well in China people are uh,uh, very crazy about cars and so if you go to to any major city in China, you will see a lot more cars on the road then there was ever used to be.

Stage 2 

I      Now I'm going to give you a topic and I'd like you to talk about it for one or two minutes. Before you talk, you've got one minute to think about what you're going to say. And you can make some notes if you wish. Do you understand? Ok. Here's your topic and here's some paper and a pencil for making notes. I'd like you to describe a recent news story that you have heard or read about.

Verbal Prompt Card

INSTRUCTIONS

Please read the topic carefully. You will be asked to talk about it for 1 to 2 minutes. You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.

Describe a teacher that had a powerful effect on your education. You should say

What subject the teacher taught you

What your teacher looked like

What her personality was like

And explain what effect the teacher had on you

Candidate's Notes on paper  

Appearance                  Tall, thin, dark eyes, bushy eyebrows. glasses

Personality                   Strict, warm hearted,

Teacher's effect           hard work, ethic, strict, kind

C:    First let me tell you about my teacher whose name is Jia Qian and she still works at Sanya, Middle School number 23.

First let me tell you how she looks. She looks like very normal except that she has a very inside beauty. She's tall and thin but the thing you can notice about her so fast is that she has wonderful, dark eyes with very bushy eyebrows under her spectacles. I can still picture her. You know she does not seem friendly at fITst, because she is very stem when she speaks and she will not tolerate nonsense, but later you will find she is very kind. For example, many students tried to give her gifts during Teachers Day and she scolded every parent. So they disliked her at first, but when she helped a parent go to the hospital and she even paid the bill, the parents began to see beyond her tough exterior. She is also very demanding and clear when she speaks and her concern is always not your grades but your effort.

The effect she had was very powerful. Essentially she taught me that you can be very disciplined and stem and hard working but still be very kind. Before I thought all teachers who were strict were just mean. After her, I learned that hard work is about not compromising on quality.

I      I'm a bit puzzled. Why did she give the gifts back?

C:    Pure and simple. She said the only gift she wanted was hard working from the student.

I      So you didn't think that was rude?

C     Well many parents did at first, but they sure learned fast that she was going to give no favourites with anyone.

Stage 3
 

I      Ok, I'd like to discuss with you one or two more general topics. You talked about the powerful effect your teacher had on the students and yet she was never motivated by money. So does it mean that teachers do not need a high wage to perform?

C     I see what yo