Shadowing Practice: Mock Interview Preparation: Common Questions with Feedback! - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Thank you for coming in today and I'm happy to help you with your preparing for your interview.
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Why don't we start by having you tell me a little bit about yourself.
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So I'm a senior communications major here at Curry.
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Graduating, anticipated graduation is May of 2015.
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I have very strong points in working with people.
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I am very involved here at Curry, So I'm a part of the student activities office.
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I'm a student worker there.
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I was an orientation leader as well.
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I have a background in theater.
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I've spent almost half of my life doing theater.
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I have Vocal talents.
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I've taken voice lessons for nine years.
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I don't know what else to say.
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I don't know what else to talk about.
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I'm from Franklin, Mass.
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Overall, really good.
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I think you did a really nice job of showing both
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parts of your background
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but also some interests it really helps to paint a picture
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of who you are as a person I think what you need to be careful of
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and what is a common mistake is to not just reiterate everything
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that they're looking at on your resume so once you start to get into
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that I'm at this type of major and that I did this job
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and then before that I did
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that job all you're doing is reading your resume to them
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and they've already read your resume that's why they brought you in as a candidate
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so you kind of to think about what your pitches
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and what your story is and what is it
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that I want them to know within the first few minutes of meeting me.
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And that's really hard.
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This isn't something that's an easy thing to do.
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But you want to just try to stay away.
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And you actually did a good job.
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I would say you weren't.
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I've had, you know, I, well, I'm from Franklin, Mass.
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And I went to such and such high school.
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And then I went to Curry College.
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And then I did this job.
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And you didn't do that, which was good.
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But you want to try to stay away from what I
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kind of would describe as like the chronology of your background
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and more as a summary of who you are as a candidate, what you're looking for, where your passion lies, as it relates to the position.
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What is a weakness that you have?
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My weakness is when things aren't going my way, I tend to stress myself out to the max, and I just don't know where to go from there,
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but then when it all comes down to it, I can pick myself back up.
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And so it's a weakness that builds into a strength kind of thing.
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I have a little bit of a formula
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that I like students to follow when it comes to answering this question because this is a tough one.
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And it's a three-part formula.
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One, pick something that's honest and authentic.
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So you did that.
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I didn't get the, oh, I'm just, I work too hard.
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That's not very authentic.
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So you did.
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You picked an authentic weakness.
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Step two is to not pick a weakness that's going to throw yourself under the bus.
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So you don't want to say, for instance, you're going into PR.
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I really don't like working with people.
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Like that's a weakness that's going to be a deal breaker for that kind of industry.
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Three, you then take it and you talk about how you mitigate that weakness.
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So that's where the step, the third step I'd want you to take.
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So I think you hit one and two.
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But three would be to then say, so typically what I do when I feel myself getting really overwhelmed is I stop, I take a breather, or I begin to write lists,
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or I figure out a way to organize my day.
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so that if you were to ask my co-workers at Outback, they probably have no idea that I'm like this, but internally this is something that I go through,
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and so these are the things that I do to make sure that it doesn't affect my work.
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Can you give me an example of an accomplishment you've had and what that tells us about you?
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So I think one of my greatest accomplishments is the general focus of me going to college,
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because initially graduating high school I didn't I wasn't planning on
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going to college I was a C student in high school wasn't involved in anything basically just went to school
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and left and didn't really do much and then coming to college I had
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that mindset of I'm just gonna like do whatever
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and then I got involved on campus I ended up getting Dean's List both semesters of my freshman year
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and then both semester sophomore year and then it continued up up until my senior year, I've made Dean's List almost every semester, a couple of semesters I haven't, but close enough.
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I'm extremely involved on campus.
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I was an orientation leader.
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I have been involved in Curry Theater and I'm participating in all of these specific things that go on at Curry,
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which initially I had no idea or anticipation of me doing anything that I've done at Curry so far.
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So I think that right there is a great aspect of my life that I initially had never expected to happen.
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Great.
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I think, again, very good sort of common way to answer an interview question.
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I think taking it up a notch is to complete the question, which I kind of fed you, which was, what does that tell us about you as a worker?
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And that's usually not how that question is going to be asked.
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They'll say, can you give me a sense of an accomplishment that you've had?
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But what you want in your brain to do is to translate that for them.
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So your example of making dean's lists.
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So I didn't think I was going to go to college, and then I went to school, and I made dean's lists immediately.
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And what that can tell you about me is that once I get myself going, I'm really committed, that I've got great time management skills.
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It took me a little while to really put a commitment to education, but once I did, I was committed,
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and that's where I am now and start to think about what is it that made you get that accomplishment.
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So what skills, because those are transferable skills, those skills that helped you to get Dean's List are the same type of skills that an employer wants,
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that time management, the attention to detail, the getting things done, getting things done on time.
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Those are the things that help you to get Dean's List are also the things that help you be a productive employee.
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So anytime you have an opportunity to talk about an accomplishment, you want to tie it immediately back to what attributes about you
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helps you get that accomplishment
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because that's going to paint a picture for them of what kind of worker you're going to be.
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What do you think sets you apart from other candidates?
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This sort of ties into like my strengths.
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I'm incredibly well at communicating with people and just being with people in general.
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I tend to have people gravitate towards me when I go places.
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I'm respectful.
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I am able to to put forth any effort to help others, including myself, but others as well.
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And I'm just very creative as well.
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And I'm always able to bring like a creative aspect into a situation.
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So again, I would encourage you to think about what sets you apart, what makes you truly different, and oftentimes look at your combination of experiences.
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Because most people won't have the exact same background as you.
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So if you piece together the different areas that make you different, so it might be the combination of event planning plus the theater
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or something that is a real interesting cross-section
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that then brings a certain caliber to the workplace and kind of figure out what that is.
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And I think the other part of it is anytime you have an opportunity to talk about a story or an example,
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that that could have been another opportunity to to provide an example to support what you're saying when you answer that question.
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Do you have any questions for us?
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I don't have any questions.
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Thank you.
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We always want to have questions prepared prior to coming into an interview
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and oftentimes what happens is just through the back and forth of the interview those questions get naturally answered.
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That said you do want to have some additional questions
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or have questions that are most likely not going to get answered unless you ask them
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and so the best way to do that is through company research.
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Research that organization, research how they've been covered in the news.
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If you ask a question related to a PR agency
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or interview with a PR agency and you saw in the news that they just had a new client come on, that's a great opportunity to show that you've been really keeping track of them as an organization.
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So I noticed that you are now a PR agency for XYZ company.
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Can you tell me a little bit about how that might impact the work of this area that I'm interviewing for?
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So that's a way to show that you've been engaged
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and you've been following them and that you're really interested in them as an organization
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and it also gives you a chance to ask a really good question.
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I would say overall very good.
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I think you are your interviewing level is at above average of a typical college student.
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I think this feedback is intended to take you to the next level
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and to be more on the professional seasoned professional level of interviewing.
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So it's not an organism.
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I think a lot of times students think it's just answering the questions
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and there's a right way to answer a wrong way to answer and it's an ABC.
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It's not that it's really a back and forth conversation
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and you should be driving the interview as much as them
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so it's your opportunity to learn about the position the organization
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you're anytime you're on an interview you're trying to figure out
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whether this organization is a good match for you as much
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as they're trying to figure out whether you're a good match for them
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 140 sentences and 1787 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:28. The speaker talks fast, about 211 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| weakness noun | /ˈwik.nɪs/ | The condition of being weak. |
| accomplishment noun | /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/ | The act of accomplishing; completion; fulfilment. |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| worker noun | /ˈwɝ.kɚ/ | One who works: a person who performs labor for a living; traditionally, especially, manual labor. |
| theater noun | /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/ | A place or building, consisting of a stage and seating, in which an audience gathers to watch plays, musical performances, public ceremonies, and so on. |
| semester noun | /sɪˈmɛstɚ/ | Half of a school year (US) or academic year such as autumn or spring semester. |
| anytime adverb | At any time. | |
| resume verb | /ˈɹɛz.ə.meɪ/ | To start (something) again that has been stopped or paused from the point at which it was stopped or paused; continue, carry on. |
| authentic adjective | /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/ | Of the same origin as claimed; genuine. |
| formula noun | /ˈfɔː.mjʊ.lə/ | Any mathematical rule expressed symbolically. |
| aspect noun | /ˈæspɛkt/ | Any specific feature, part, or element of something. |
| commit verb | /kəˈmɪt/ | To give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to entrust; to consign; used with to or formerly unto. |
| orientation noun | /ˌɔː.ɹi.ənˈteɪ.ʃən/ | The determination of the relative position of something or someone. |
| naturally adverb | /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/ | In a natural manner. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. |
| back up verb | To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so. |
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
| stay away verb | To avoid or not go anywhere near someone or something. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've spent · I've taken · they've already read |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | wasn't involved · have been involved · be asked |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 66 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: theater /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/, authentic /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/, breather /ˈbɹiː.ðə(ɹ)/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: accomplishment /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/, orientation /ˌɔː.ɹi.ənˈteɪ.ʃən/, passion /ˈpæʃən/, graduation /ˌɡɹæd͡ʒuˈeɪʃən/, freshman /ˈfɹɛʃ.mən/
- Long words — get the stress right: accomplishment /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/, orientation /ˌɔː.ɹi.ənˈteɪ.ʃən/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, participate /pɑːˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like weakness, accomplishment, skill.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.