Shadowing Practice: Tell Me Something About Yourself | Call Center Job Interview - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Okay, so maybe you already have a call center job experience, or maybe you have a job experience, but it was not in the call center.
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Or maybe you're a fresh graduate and you have zero job experience.
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If one of these three applies to you, keep watching because in this video,
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I'm going to show you how to answer the most dreaded interview question in the history of call center job interviews.
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and that is tell me something about yourself.
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I'm also going to show you a sample answer for each of these three scenarios
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so by the end of this video you should be able
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to understand the purpose of this question as well as tailor your answer
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so that it is unique to yourself
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and it is not a copy of anyone else so keep watching
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but first let's understand why interviewers love to ask this question
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so the reason is
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that they simply want to know the person in front of
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them they simply want to know you how you are as a potential hire how you are as their employee
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or as a past employee
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they simply want to know you as a person
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and for this there's no better question than tell me something about yourself
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so how do most applicants answer this question they usually answer
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this question by giving out one word information about themselves like
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first name last name address gender age birth date let me give you an example
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so i'm sheena i'm a graduate of bachelor's degree of Education.
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I'm 27 years old.
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I live in Davos City and I was born on May 18, 1993.
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And here's why this answer just doesn't satisfy the question.
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It's too impersonal.
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It's too robotic.
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It's all one word, personal, simple, personal information that you even find in the resume.
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It doesn't really tell the interviewer anything about who you are as an employee, as a potential hire and as a person.
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It's basically just a bunch of gibberish that doesn't mean anything to the interviewer at all.
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I mean, who cares about your age as long as you're of legal age to work?
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Who cares about where you live as long as you go to work every day?
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Nobody cares about your birth date and birthplace.
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So here's a good way to answer it.
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So instead of talking about yourself in one word personal information
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you want to talk about the job you had you want to talk about the task involved in it
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and the skills you learned
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but before I give you an example let me just answer another question
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that I usually hear all the time should I
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or should I not talk about what's on my resume a lot of people say
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that you should not talk about what's on your resume Well, it's a little more complicated than that.
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You actually still want to talk about what's on your resume because after all, your job title is there.
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But you want to add something that isn't there.
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You want to expound on it.
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Instead of just talking about your job title, you also want to talk about the task you've learned from your previous job and the skills you've learned.
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Let me just give you a quick format.
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So first, you want to state your first name, your educational attainment, and then talk about your previous job experiences.
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This is where you expound on your answer.
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Instead of just stating your job title, expound by talking about the task involved in it and what you've learned.
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This will give your interviewer a quick but detailed overview of your employment background.
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Because of this, she will have a better understanding and idea about who you are as an employee.
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Another thing is the more you could relate your previous job experiences to the job description of a call center agent, the better.
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Obviously, if you already have an experience in the call center,
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then this would not be much of a problem because you already have an experience and you have nothing much to prove.
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you've already taken the job in the past and you have passed the interview.
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For example, if you have a call center experience, you can just say, I'm Sheena, a graduate of computer programming.
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For four years, I worked as a customer service representative for an e-commerce store that sells kitchen supplies.
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My task was to answer a customer's questions about order delivery dates as well as process payments and refunds for them.
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It was a challenging job, but I learned a lot from it.
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As you can see, it's really easy if you already have a call center experience.
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But what if you have a job experience, but you have no call center experience?
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How could you relate your previous job to the job description of a call center agent?
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Well, here is a format I recommend.
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You want to start with your first name and then your educational attainment.
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Next, you still want to talk about the task involved in your previous job experience.
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and lastly this is
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when you relate the two jobs together the idea is to emphasize an element in your previous job
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that is also present in a call center agent's job description
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so let me show you an answer I gave the interviewer four years ago
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when I first applied as a call center agent my job
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experience at the time was I was a cashier a service crew and a sales lady in a mall
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So let me show you my answer.
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One thing I learned from both of these jobs is that people buy products because they need it.
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But what makes them come back for more and become a repeat customer is an exceptional customer service.
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When I found out that your company is looking for customer service agents who would serve customers internationally, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity and decided to apply.
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But what if you couldn't relate your previous job to the job description of a call center agent?
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maybe you were a nanny
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or maybe you were a construction worker these two jobs are just
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so different from the task of a call center agent and
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if this is the case
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if there's just absolutely no way to connect the task of
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your previous job to a call center agents then don't sweat
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it just you can still you can still state your first name your educational background the task involved in your previous job.
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But you want to add one thing and here's what you want to add.
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You want to acknowledge the fact that you don't have a job experience
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but you need to emphasize that you understand the job description of a call center agent
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and that you know what you're getting into.
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Let me just give you an example.
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So right after you state your first name, your educational attainment, and the task involved in your previous job,
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you want to add something like this.
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I know that my previous job experience is different from a call center agents, but before I decided to apply here, I did a lot of research
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I asked a lot of call center agents
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and I knew fully well the workload
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and stress involved in working in this industry
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and I still really want to take on this challenge by saying this you're able to end your answer gracefully
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and at the same time you're telling the interviewer
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that you're not just here because you think that being at a call center is cool
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you're here because you want to get the job despite your lack of experience
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and that you're really willing to learn you're acknowledging the fact
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that you are inexperienced but you're showing the interviewer
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that you did a lot of research and
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that you really want to be in this industry and
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that at least counts for something there's a plus there
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but what if you're a fresh graduate it and you have no job experience.
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What are you going to say?
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Well, this gets a little trickier
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because you have nothing to show off to the interviewer because you just graduated and you don't have a job experience.
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So let me just show you the format and what I recommend.
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First, you still want to say your first name, your educational attainment, but this time talk about your accomplishments in school, if there's any.
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After that, if you don't have any accomplishments in school, then tell your interviewer a story about yourself.
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What I mean by that is you could talk about your hobbies like reading books,
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watching movies, maybe you like solving puzzles and how you are as a person, maybe you're an introvert or an extrovert,
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what are you proud of in your life and your dreams.
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So as much as possible, you want to create a connection between your answer and the job description of a call center agent.
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Let me just give you an example.
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This is a bit of a long answer because I want to show you the example for all my recommendations here.
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But you feel free to remove the things that you don't like
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or doesn't apply to you and feel free to add the things that you want to include in your answer.
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and again as much as possible you want to relate your
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answer to the job of a costener agent like for example you like reading books
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that could probably mean that you like improving yourself
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or maybe you like solving puzzles that could mean that you're analytical
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or maybe you like watching foreign movies
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which means you're curious about the culture of other people around the world something that paints you in a good light,
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you can use that.
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So let me just show you my answer.
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Hi, I'm Sheena.
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I just graduated computer programming last September.
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And since I don't have a job experience yet, let me tell you about my life as a student instead.
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When I was in college, I was the editor-in-chief of our school newspaper.
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I also love joining extracurricular activities, especially sports whenever I could.
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Any activities that involves a lot of people you could expect me to be there.
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I guess what I love about it is the feeling of being a part of a group.
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I'm an extroverted person so mingling with people comes naturally to me and even gives me a great pleasure.
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I guess I'm what you would call a people person.
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If you ask me about what I'm most proud of about myself.
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I guess it's when I managed to graduate college without any failing grades.
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My course is a really tough one.
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Lots of students usually drop out within the first and second years
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because of stress and pressure but somehow I was able to push through it all
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and make my parents happy and for that I am proud.
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Okay so as you can see in the first paragraph it says here I was the editor-in-chief over school newspaper.
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So this is the part where you highlight your accomplishments in school.
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Maybe you joined, maybe you represent your school in competitions.
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So you could include that.
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And there's a part here that says, I love company.
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I am an extroverted person and I love mingling with people.
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Well, for a cost-centered agent, this is particularly good because you're going to be talking to customers eight hours a night
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or a day and being an extroverted person could be an advantage for you
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but this doesn't mean that just
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because you're an introvert you can't work in a call center i'm an introverted person myself
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and i i did work in a call center for four years
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but that's a topic for another video so the part
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that i really love the most about this answer is the
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last paragraph about being proud of being able to graduate without any failing grades despite the fact
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that a lot of students drop out on the second
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and first year of the class and I think that is remarkable
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because you're showing the interviewer that you're a diligent student
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and you're determined to to finish your studies despite the stress
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and pressure and that is particularly good
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because in the call center there's always going to be stressed
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you're always going to be stressed you're always going to be facing hard situations
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and that's what i mean by relating your answer to the job description of a call center agent
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so that's it guys i just want to give you a quick summary
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so first to answer the question tell me something about yourself always always highlight your career
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and previous job experiences first because you're basically applying for a job.
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But if you don't have those, if you're a fresh graduate, you want to talk about your hobbies, how you are as a person, what you did in school,
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your accomplishments, and as much as possible, relate them to the job of a call center agent.
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Let me just give you some reminders.
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First, you need to be prepared for follow-up questions.
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Whatever you answer to this question that is where your interviewer will base his
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or her next questions on number two is
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that delivery the delivery is very important you have to be aware of your rising
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and falling intonation and again i'm going to create a video for
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that in the future but know that delivery is really important
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when you're you're applying as a call center agent because
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when you're talking to the customers you're not really seeing face to face
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so you have to compensate for that by modulating your voice
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and making sure that you're understandable over the phone again that's a topic for another video
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so make sure to subscribe to my channel
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if you want more tips about how to pass your call center interview another thing is
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that you have to smile and i noticed that when you smile
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there's actually a difference in the tone of your voice
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when you smile you're actually affecting your voice positively
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and it also alleviates your anxiety
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so it doesn't hurt to smile it i really recommend it
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when you're nervous let me just say
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that there are many other different ways to answer this question
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and what i discussed in this video are what works for me back in the days
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when i was still job hunting but this doesn't mean
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that this is the only right way to answer this question
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so if you have anything to add feel free to drop them in the comments below
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so that aspiring applicants could benefit from them in the future okay that's it thank you for watching
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if you like this video consider subscribing because I'm going to be uploading more videos in the future that's it bye
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Tell Me Something About Yourself”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: center, answer, experience, agent, previous. This video has 193 sentences and 2509 words to shadow. The speech runs for 15:18. The speaker talks at a natural 164 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| interviewer noun | /ˈɪntɚvjuɚ/ | One who interviews. |
| relate verb | /ɹɪˈleɪt/ | To tell in a descriptive way. |
| attainment noun | /əˈteɪnmənt/ | The act of attaining; the act of arriving at or reaching; the act of obtaining by effort or exertion. |
| extroverted adjective | /ˈɛkstɹəˌvəɹtɪd/ | Turned or thrust outwards, especially |
| accomplishment noun | /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/ | The act of accomplishing; completion; fulfilment. |
| 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. |
| expound verb | /ɪkˈspaʊnd/ | To set out the meaning of; to explain or discuss at length. |
| introverted adjective | /ˈɪn.tɹəˌvɜːɹ.təd/ | Thinking about internal or spiritual matters. |
| distress noun | /dɪˈstɹɛs/ | Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature. |
| mingle verb | /ˈmɪŋ.ɡəl/ | To intermix; to combine or join, as an individual or part, with other parts, but commonly so as to be distinguishable in the product. |
| applicant noun | /ˈæp.lə.kɪnt/ | One who applies for something; one who makes a request; a petitioner. |
| emphasize verb | /ˈɛm.fə.saɪz/ | To stress, give emphasis or extra weight to (something). |
| hobby noun | /ˈhɑ.bi/ | An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time. |
| puzzle noun | /ˈpʌzəl/ | The state of feeling confused or mystified because one cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.; bewilderment, confusion; (countable) often in… |
| subscribe verb | /səbˈskɹaɪb/ | To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| drop out verb | To leave (school, a race, etc.) prematurely and voluntarily. | |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| follow up verb | To take further actions remaining after an event; to continue, revisit, or persist; especially, to maintain communication or verify. | |
| give out verb | To utter, publish; to announce, proclaim, report. | |
| pass up verb | /pɑːs ˈʌp/ | To refuse (not accept); forgo. |
| push through verb | To force (legislation or a plan) to be passed or agreed to or a decision to be reached. |
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 | you've learned · you've already taken |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was born · are inexperienced |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | keep watching · love joining · love mingling |
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | should be · should I · should I not talk |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 65 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: accomplishment /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/, gibberish /ˈd͡ʒɪ.bə.ɹɪʃ/, intonation /ɪntəˈneɪʃən/, cashier /kaˈʃɪə/, exceptional /ɪkˈsɛpʃənəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: extroverted /ˈɛkstɹəˌvəɹtɪd/, accomplishment /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/, introverted /ˈɪn.tɹəˌvɜːɹ.təd/, extracurricular /ˌɛkstɹəkəˈɹɪkjʊlə(ɹ)/, impersonal /ɪmˈpɝsənəl/
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 interviewer, relate, attainment.
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.