job interview: owned

[cloudwalking]

so i have a job interview in a few hours and i am super nervous. usually i'm totally fine with job interviews but this one is scaring the crap out of me, mainly because:

- it's in german. my german is not that bad or anything, if it was just direct questions i'd have no problem whatsoever and probably make almost zero mistakes, but i often have problems when trying to articulate wishes/desires and my reasonings for thinking things. well, explaining complicated things in general. so when i get asked something like "why do you think you are the right person for this job" i'm gonna stumble all over myself.

- my german teacher is friends with the interviewer and he told him that my german is awesome. so that puts some pressure on me not to fuck up at all. perfect german is not required for the job and german ultimately will take kind of a backseat, but i know my teacher really talked me up to this guy and now i feel really insecure.

- i actually need this job. in past interviews, not only were they in my native language but also really not that important. in the past i knew that if i bombed an interview it'd be relatively easy to find another job. this job is not so easy to get and so if i screw up i'll be really upset.

well, now i'm not really sure why i'm making this thread... i think writing all that down has made me feel a little better though.

i hope i can just push through it and avoid embarasing myself...

[cloudwalking]

danke

it's an english teaching job.

[TVC15]

I'll keep you in my thoughts, cloud.  For the record, I kind of really envy your life.  It must be absolutely fascinating, and at times seem like an adventure.  Good luck!

[xnikki118x]

Good luck honey! I bet you'll kick ass.

[Bildi]

Imagine how nervous you'd be if you couldn't speak German at all.

[Bacchus7]

Viel Glück!

[TVC15]

Articulate in your head first what you are going to say.  Don't try to say something simply because it is silent and someone is staring at you.  They aren't stupid so they will know that your German isn't perfect so a bluff will look worse.  Also don't respond, verbally (and this is importnat) non-verbally unless you are sure you understood.  You'll do fine.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I fucked one of these up so bad when I lived abroad.  So bad.

[close]

You lived abroad?  Stories plz.

[cloudwalking]

I'll keep you in my thoughts, cloud.  For the record, I kind of really envy your life.  It must be absolutely fascinating, and at times seem like an adventure.  Good luck!

thanks a lot for the encouragement!
to be honest, my life isn't that much different than when i lived in the U.S. besides having a MAN and the language thing. also the money is funny colours and the houses all have cute little gables.

Articulate in your head first what you are going to say.  Don't try to say something simply because it is silent and someone is staring at you.  They aren't stupid so they will know that your German isn't perfect so a bluff will look worse.  Also don't respond, verbally (and this is importnat) non-verbally unless you are sure you understood.  You'll do fine.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I fucked one of these up so bad when I lived abroad.  So bad.

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thanks yeah, jarosh told me i should tell the guy straight out of the gate that i am nervous because my german is not perfect. i guess i just feel dumb admitting that, but i suppose it's better than sweating like crazy and bumbling through everything.

understanding is pretty much zero problem for me now. i understand mostly everything as long as the topic is not something like astrophysics. and hopefully it doesn't come to that.

thanks everyone for the good wishes

[Akala]

good luck.

[cloudwalking]

what language did you interview in, cohen?

i've only been learning german for just more than a year, but i have "high intermediate" german... doesn't feel like it though

[cloudwalking]

yeah, i can read german better than i can speak or write... i think reading is usually the easiest thing to learn and retain. but i have problems sometimes with the preterite forms of verbs. i haven't learned them all yet simply because they're not used often in speech and not used at all in swiss german...

[Bacchus7]

I wouldn't worry about the preterite, especially if you can read better than you can speak or write. I suppose if you're writing up something formal you might want a good grasp on it, but otherwise you'll of course never need it for speaking.

[TVC15]

French.  I can still read it (i think ) but my conversational skills have decreased dramatically.

I put a lot of effort into learning French, but I just couldn't grok the pronunciation.  The grammatical rules of the language are easy compared to english, but the pronunciation is killer.

[cloudwalking]

i have to go in 20 minutes. eep

[Cormacaroni]

Go go cloudwalking!

I've been to any number of interviews conducted in Japanese, and it's always a bit unnerving, even after all these years. It's an easy language to make catastrophic, hilarious mistakes, such as the interviewee who was told "Kakete" meaning "take a seat", but interpreted it as "Kakete" (run!) and started running around the room...

There's nothing you can do to improve your German instantly anyway, so no point sweating it. And anyway, us furriners get a pass. The bar is set WAY lower than for native speakers. You're saving THEM from having to speak English after all!

[cloudwalking]

i'm going now. thanks again everyone

Isn't German supposed to be one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn on account of a common ancestry?

german and english have a lot of very similar words, but the grammar is completely different and much more complicated than english.

german is not an easy langauge to learn. i don't know very many native english speakers around here who speak it fluently, and i know a lot of english-speaking expats... some that have been here for many years.

[Cormacaroni]

She's gone? Great, now we can have fun! 

[youtube=425,350]U55SvF1P0aU[/youtube]

[Brehvolution]

slowclap.gif

Congrats!!

[cloudwalking]

well i'm back and it actually went really well. the interviewer was a nice guy but he seemed a little nervous himself. he didn't ask me that many questions and he did most of the talking, which helped. i think my german teacher told him a lot about me already.

he actually commended me on my german and said it's very good for someone who has only been learning for a year

i just have to give a trial lesson and if that goes well i've got the job! woo!

i also have the opportunity at the beginning of next year to teach to kids who are not much younger than me

now i feel really silly for being so nervous before. but i want to thank everyone for the encouragement, it helped a lot.

i'm going to celebrate by making myself a big bowl of pasta with homemade sauce!!!

[cloudwalking]

she did really well 

she pretty much got the job. she'll give a sort of introduction/test lesson next week but then she's good to go.

i just had to share it, i'm excited. she probably wanted to post it first, but i don't care

you beat me to it!!

love you

[cloudwalking]

he actually commended me on my german and said it's very good for someone who has only been learning for a year

well duh

everyone's telling you that, all the time.

yes but people say that stuff all the time just to be nice.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

i accidentally said goodbye in swiss german when i left

[close]

[cloudwalking]

conversation of a married couple, you're witnessing it here live on evilbore

[cloudwalking]

shit i didn't mean to modify your post. sometimes i click the button on the post after mine by accident

anyway, why are you and ing me now?

[Cormacaroni]

Are you actually taking turns to post on the same PC?

[cloudwalking]

nope. he's at work.

[The Fake Shemp]

Don't get involved in a teacher sex scandal!

[Tauntaun]

Oh man, it got way too gay several posts up and by gay I mean hetero.   I'm taking Jarosh to the dumpster. 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

My dumpster has a mattress in it. 

[close]

[Eric P]

CONGRATS!

[cloudwalking]

EDIT: why would you get so nervous about messing up with your German if you're applying for an "English Teacher" position?

because you still have to at least be able to read and take notes in the language, all the clerical stuff is done in german, and some of the other people who work there may not speak english, what would happen when i have to deal with them and they can't understand me? :'(

[cloudwalking]

EDIT: why would you get so nervous about messing up with your German if you're applying for an "English Teacher" position?

this also isn't like japan where every japafag who speaks moderate english can get a job.

[MrAngryFace]

BOOOM! Interview is cryin!

[Van Cruncheon]

booyah! well done. now teach them dirty kraut-esque kids how to swear like REAL men and women!

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Congratulations!

[muckhole]

Congratulations, cloudwalking!

Are you actually taking turns to post on the same PC?

Awesome. Pacing in the background, waiting for their turns to reply. 

[Mr. Gundam]

Yay for employment and taxation! Congrats!

[Flannel Boy]

Congrats. But  Canada misses you.

[Tauntaun]

Oh man, it got way too gay several posts up and by gay I mean hetero.   I'm taking Jarosh to the dumpster.

(Image removed from quote.)

let's have a threesome, buddy boy. i'm in the middle 

Who's our third? 

[BlackMage]

Oh man, it got way too gay several posts up and by gay I mean hetero.   I'm taking Jarosh to the dumpster.

(Image removed from quote.)

let's have a threesome, buddy boy. i'm in the middle 

Who's our third? 

 

[Tauntaun]

Oh man, it got way too gay several posts up and by gay I mean hetero.   I'm taking Jarosh to the dumpster.

(Image removed from quote.)

let's have a threesome, buddy boy. i'm in the middle 

Who's our third? 

 

 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

You too Jinfash. 

[close]

[BlackMage]

we need 4-person smiley orgy: stat!

[xnikki118x]

Congrats honey! Knew you'd kick it.