How does your mother describe you? 你的母親認為你是個怎樣的人?
問題分析： 只有外國面試官會這樣提問， 因為他不瞭解中國的國情。在中國， 有兩類母親， 一類母親是傳統型的中國婦女， 從來不會誇獎自己的孩子; 另一類母親是80後的現代母親， 因為只有一個孩子而看不到孩子任何的缺點。在面試中， 你不妨把中國的這種“文化”傳遞給面試官， 以使面試氣氛更加輕鬆有趣。
回答示範1： Well, it’s an interesting question. It reminds me of a Chinese saying, the best child is your own child, and the best wife are others’ wives. It means a man or woman is always satisfied with his/her own child, but not with the spouse, hehe. My mother is just like this. She tells everybody that I am hard working, more hard working than I should be. She says I am trustworthy and independent, never giving her troubles. You know, she sent me to boarding school at 14.
點評1： 這個回答很好， 它有兩個優點： 第一， 比較有趣， 輕鬆地傳播了一點中國文化; 第二， 以事實說明了自己的刻苦與自立的特徵。
回答示範2： Most Chinese parents are not quite as expressive as western parents. My mother has never told me what kind of person she thinks I am, but I feel if you ask her, she would say that I’m a good kid. I never give her trouble. You know, as a kid, I was healthy, seldom went to hospital. As a student, I never needed her to push me to study. As a son, I give her a call several times a week to ask how she is doing and to tell her about myself.
點評2： 很詼諧很感人的回答!
回答示範3： Well, I think my mother would describe me as hard working, independent, but too independent, “stubborn” is her very word, hehe. My mother says I’m hard working because it’s true, I am a bit of a workaholic. She says I am independent because she sent me to boarding school at 14 and I took very good care of myself. But maybe because she sent me away at a young age, I’ve learnt to make my own decisions instead of consulting her, so she feels I am stubborn, hehe.
點評3： 有優點， 有缺點， 非常真實。
29. What do you consider your strengths as an employee? 作為一名公司職員， 你覺得自己有什麼優點?
問題分析： 請大家注意， 這個問題的前提是“作為一名員工的優點”， 它和單純的“你有什麼優點”是有區別的。你必須列舉自己在工作場合的優點。
回答示範1： I am keen on making improvements. I can find problems and like to find ways to solve the problems. Our company has a Suggestion Scheme, that is, every employee is encouraged to offer suggestions on improvements to technology and management. I have offered more than sixty suggestions in two years, 80% of which have been adopted, which makes me rank number 3 in our department of 533 employees. Besides technical suggestions I have also given some advice on management, though it seems unimportant to some people. For example, I have suggested that music be played in the workplace, and that one light is good enough in toilets instead of three lights.
點評1： “善於提出建議”， 這的`確是個很大的優點。
回答示範2： I have good time management skills. As an assistant I often have several things in my hands at the same time so I have to manage my time well to work effectively. I paste a very big Monthly Schedule on the walls at the office and at home, adding arrangements like sales meetings or friends’ birthday parties anytime they are scheduled. So I am very organized both at work and in personal life, never missing important events and deadlines.
點評2： “善於管理時間”， 是祕書和助理等職位必須具備的優秀素質。
回答示範3： I am very organized. While studying, other students like to borrow my class notes. My personal items and paperwork are sorted nicely. My colleagues can easily find the document they want from my desk or my computer. I believe being organized is a habit which everyone can have if he/she persists.
點評3： “有條理”， 是祕書和助理等職位必須具備的優秀素質。
回答示範4： I am a planner and my motto is “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” I plan everything. I plan my work, the first thing I do in the morning is to make a Must-Do list and Waiting-To-Do list. I plan shopping, I always make a shopping list so I never wander in the supermarket wondering what is needed—it’s the best way to save time and money! I plan my career too. Since sophomore year I have planned to work as a marketing representative after graduating. So I began to undertake more elective courses in marketing and find related part-time jobs, as you can see on my resume.
點評4： “計劃性強”， 是所有職位都必須具備的優秀素質。
回答示範5： I do my job whole-heartedly to achieve good results. As my friends say, I am a workaholic. I always give 100% to my work. In university I worked overnight for experiments. Last month I spent the whole month in the city of Liuzhou, all-day work, no rest, to finish a project before the deadline.
點評5： “做事情很拼命”， 是任何老闆都欣賞的素質。
回答示範6： My strength is my flexibility to handle changes. I began to like Guangzhou shortly after I had come from the northeast of China and I have made many good friends in a short time. I’ve been sent to three different departments in three years of work at ICBC and I’ve adapted to each new position very well. (如果面試官繼續詢問你如何適應變化， 則繼續回答如下)When changes occur, I first learn the new things carefully and quickly. Most importantly, I don’t hesitate to ask for help when needed. I am not afraid of telling others that I don’t know something. Being open-minded is very important in my view, so much better than hiding in fear of losing face.
點評6： “適應能力強”既是一個生活上的優點， 也算是一個工作中的優點。不過， 這個回答最絕的地方是它巧妙地把面試官的注意力轉移到該申請人在工商銀行三年換了三個崗位的這個事實。連續換崗， 表明原單位對他很重視， 有意識地培養和鍛鍊他。
回答示範7： My strength is that I am quite expressive and I have the passion for expressing myself. When studying in college I wasn’t afraid of speaking in front of the whole class. Now at work I’m not shy about expressing my mind. I believe if we love a job, we must share our views to make it better.
點評7： “表達能力強”， 是很多崗位都需要的優秀素質。
回答示範8： I am a very active person. I’d rather hang out with people than sit and watch TV. That’s the main reason why I want to be a sales rep. Business travel won’t be a burden for me, it’s a joy of life.
點評8： “積極好動”， 明顯是適合銷售崗位的優秀素質。
回答示範9： I am eager to learn. I am curious about lots of things, so I enjoy reading. When I was a kid I liked to take things apart and see how they worked. Now I enjoy researching and developing new technology at work, which is a joy for me as well as work.
點評9： “求知慾強”， 是技術研發類職位的必備素質。
回答示範10： I am passionate about work because I can find lots of fun at work, say, achieving a goal, being praised by bosses especially in public, haha, or self-improvement. For example, I’ve volunteered to be an Internal Trainer at our company to train the new staff. Although I make little money for my hard work I’ve gained more important things than money, like presentation skills and confidence.
點評10： “對工作充滿熱情， 並善於在工作中尋求樂趣”， 這是一個多麼可愛的優點!
回答示範11： My strength is that I am sensitive to what’s happening around, in other words, I pay attention to what’s going on and think about it. I keep up with the latest fashions in our business. For example, I once suggested one of my clients to sell NBA cards and he made around ten thousand Yuan from this business in less than a month. I hit on the idea when my nephew told me many of his classmates were interested in these cards. For another example, an old client once rejected my invitations to dinner three times in a row, and I immediately got a feeling that he was trying to hide something from me. So I visited him the next day and found out that he intended to cooperate with another sports shoes company. I successfully stopped him from breaking from us by giving him some real examples of failures of that brand. I believe I have to be sensitive to the business and to people or I can’t do my work well.
點評11： “對周邊事務非常敏銳”， 這是一個獨樹一幟的回答， 勢必能令聽慣了“領導能力強、 組織能力強、 溝通能力強”等“列強”答案的面試官印象深刻。
回答示範12： I have problem-solving skills, that is, I can often think of a way to bring a satisfying end to a difficult situation. Let me give you an example at the workplace. Last summer I found a very obvious number mistake made by the Project Manager when I was a part-time auditor. I would have told her directly if she hadn’t lost her temper for the same kind of mistake made by another auditor. So I came up with an idea that wouldn’t have made it too embarrassing for her. I sent her an email, not only reporting the mistake of the number, but asking a lot of questions about that project. As a result she realized her mistake and didn’t feel very bad because she was still an expert who could answer my difficult questions!
點評12： “具有解決問題的能力”， 這是一個令面試官很感興趣的優點， 他將很樂於與你討論你是如何解決問題的!
回答示範13： I am quite innovative. I would rather make a birthday card than buy one. My family likes the special dishes I cook. I’ve planned about half of the parties in my class, the “Mock Interview Competition” party proved so successful that it’s been followed by many other classes. Last year I helped an electronics shop owner to build a sales channel in our school. He is a relative of my classmate. When he asked us to hand out some advertisement sheets on campus, I told him that this is not at all an effective way of getting sales, and it might lead to a big fine for paper pollution because students litter that kind of sheet. I suggested that he hire some student agents among freshmen and sophomores because freshmen are the target customers and sophomores are keen to take a part-time job to make some extra money and to improve themselves. This suggestion proved very effective; what’s more, it even got the support from our school because it is seen as a way of getting work experience.
點評13： “有創新思維”的確是個優點， 不過， 筆者並不建議應屆畢業生過多地強調自己的創造性思維， 用人單位往往更喜歡聽到諸如“腳踏實地”、 “兢兢業業”、 “責任感強”等等優點。原因很簡單， 應屆畢業生談創新， 往往停留在空談的階段。
回答示範14： I have a great sense of responsibility, to society and to my work. For example I would shout if I see a thief putting his hand in others’ bags, though I only had one chance to do so because I had only witnessed stealing once. I immediately reported water leaking in public places. And I really dislike some girls for flushing the toilet before use though it looks clean. I don’t think such people will make good employees, because if they lack responsibility for society, they won’t be responsible for their work. I am always responsible for my work; if I don’t do it to my best I will feel guilty.
點評14： “責任感強”， 好哇! 只要能夠有效證明自己的責任感的確很強， 這個優點永遠能為你增色不少。
回答示範15： I am persistent. I have kept a diary since coming to college. I eat healthy food and do exercise as much as possible all these years. I worked for one student organization for three years instead of participating in many organizations.
點評15： “做事持之以恆”， 這個優點對於某些流動性很大的職位來說， 具有致命的誘惑。
回答示範16： I am good with my hands; as my parents put it, I have smart hands. At home it is my job to deal with all the minor troubles of water, electricity and gas utilities. At university I’ve scored very well in lab-based classes. I am good at web design and I’ve brought some of my designs with me today if you are interested. I believe I have advantages over some other candidates because I am good at dealing with machines.
點評16： “動手能力很強”， 是應屆畢業生最能打動面試官的優點之一。