By Jacob M in Listening — 18 Feb 2026

Job Interview Listening Skills

Boost B1–B2 ESL students' business English skills with these three interactive listening comprehension activities. Master job interview vocabulary across corporate, creative, and technical roles seamlessly.

{ "title": "Standard Corporate Job Interview", "lang": "en-US", "intro": { "text": "Listen to a candidate interviewing for a marketing position. Pay attention to how she discusses her past experience and achievements.", "context": "You are sitting in an office observing a formal job interview." }, "vocab": [ { "word": "oversee", "definition": "to supervise or manage a person, team, or task", "example": "In my next role, I hope to oversee a larger team." }, { "word": "initiative", "definition": "a new plan or process introduced to achieve a particular goal", "example": "Our green initiative reduced office paper waste by half." }, { "word": "metrics", "definition": "standards of measurement by which efficiency or performance is assessed", "example": "We use detailed sales metrics to track our success." }, { "word": "collaborate", "definition": "to work jointly with others on an activity or project", "example": "I frequently collaborate with the design team on new campaigns." }, { "word": "transition", "definition": "the process of changing from one state or condition to another", "example": "The transition to a new software system was very smooth." } ], "listening": { "transcript": "Interviewer: Good morning, Sarah. Thanks for coming in. Let's start with your current role. Can you tell me what you do?\nSarah: Good morning. Yes, currently I am a marketing coordinator. I oversee our email marketing campaigns and collaborate closely with the sales team to ensure our messaging aligns.\nInterviewer: Excellent. Can you describe a time you took the initiative on a project?\nSarah: Certainly. Last year, I noticed our open rates for emails were dropping. I proposed a new A/B testing initiative. We tested different subject lines and analyzed the metrics over three months.\nInterviewer: What were the results?\nSarah: We saw a twenty-five percent increase in engagement. It was a very successful transition to a more data-driven approach.\nInterviewer: That's impressive. How do you handle tight deadlines?\nSarah: I prioritize tasks based on their impact and communicate clearly with my team if we need to adjust expectations.", "questions": [ { "question": "What is Sarah's current job title?", "options": [ "Marketing Manager", "Marketing Coordinator", "Sales Director", "Data Analyst" ], "correct": "Marketing Coordinator" }, { "question": "What specific task does Sarah oversee in her current role?", "options": [ "Email marketing campaigns", "Social media posts", "Website redesign", "Budget planning" ], "correct": "Email marketing campaigns" }, { "question": "What initiative did Sarah propose to solve dropping open rates?", "options": [ "Hiring more staff", "Changing the software", "A/B testing", "Moving to print ads" ], "correct": "A/B testing" }, { "question": "How much did engagement increase after her initiative?", "options": [ "15%", "20%", "25%", "30%" ], "correct": "25%" } ] } }

{ "title": "Creative Role Job Interview", "lang": "en-US", "intro": { "text": "Listen to a conversation between a creative director and an applicant for a graphic design position. Notice how they discuss a portfolio and feedback.", "context": "You are in a design studio listening to an interview for a creative role." }, "vocab": [ { "word": "portfolio", "definition": "a collection of examples of a person's creative work", "example": "Please bring a digital portfolio to the interview." }, { "word": "aesthetic", "definition": "concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty; a specific style", "example": "The brand has a very minimalist and modern aesthetic." }, { "word": "constructive", "definition": "having a useful and beneficial purpose; intended to improve something", "example": "I always welcome constructive feedback on my initial sketches." }, { "word": "turnaround", "definition": "the amount of time taken to complete a process or fulfill a request", "example": "We need a quick turnaround on this logo design." }, { "word": "versatile", "definition": "able to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities", "example": "He is a versatile designer who can do both web and print graphics." } ], "listening": { "transcript": "Director: Hi David, it's great to meet you. I was looking through your portfolio and I really love your aesthetic.\nDavid: Thank you! I try to keep my designs clean and modern, but I'm quite versatile depending on the client's needs.\nDirector: We often have a very fast turnaround here. How do you manage your time when you have multiple tight deadlines?\nDavid: I use project management software to break down my tasks day by day. If things get overwhelming, I speak to the project manager immediately to see what can be shifted.\nDirector: That's a smart approach. In a creative team, you will receive a lot of critiques. How do you handle constructive feedback?\nDavid: I view feedback as a tool to make the final product better. I don't take it personally. Ultimately, the goal is to solve the client's problem, not to protect my ego.", "questions": [ { "question": "What did the director compliment David on?", "options": [ "His resume format", "His aesthetic", "His interview suit", "His punctuality" ], "correct": "His aesthetic" }, { "question": "How does David primarily describe his design style?", "options": [ "Complicated and busy", "Traditional and classic", "Clean and modern", "Dark and moody" ], "correct": "Clean and modern" }, { "question": "What does David use to manage his time and tasks?", "options": [ "A handwritten journal", "A daily alarm clock", "Project management software", "A physical calendar" ], "correct": "Project management software" }, { "question": "How does David view constructive feedback?", "options": [ "As a personal attack", "As a tool to improve the product", "As a waste of time", "As something to ignore" ], "correct": "As a tool to improve the product" } ] } }

{ "title": "Technical Role Job Interview", "lang": "en-US", "intro": { "text": "Listen to a technical interview for a software engineering position. Focus on the candidate's explanation of their problem-solving process.", "context": "You are on a video call observing a technical interview for a tech company." }, "vocab": [ { "word": "debug", "definition": "to identify and remove errors from computer hardware or software", "example": "It took me three hours to debug the crashing application." }, { "word": "scalable", "definition": "able to be changed in size or scale to handle growing amounts of work", "example": "We need to build a scalable database for our growing user base." }, { "word": "bottleneck", "definition": "a point of congestion or blockage in a system that slows down progress", "example": "The old server was a major bottleneck for our website traffic." }, { "word": "agile", "definition": "relating to a project management method that divides tasks into short phases", "example": "Our development team prefers using an agile workflow." }, { "word": "deploy", "definition": "to bring into effective action or make a program available for use", "example": "We plan to deploy the new application on Friday night." } ], "listening": { "transcript": "Interviewer: Hello Marcus. Let's dive right into your technical background. What is the most complex system you've helped build?\nMarcus: Hi there. At my last job, I was the lead engineer on building a scalable payment processing API. The old system was a major bottleneck during busy holiday seasons.\nInterviewer: How did you approach the problem?\nMarcus: First, we used an agile approach, breaking the project into two-week sprints. We spent the first sprint just trying to debug the existing architecture to see if we could salvage it. When we couldn't, we started fresh.\nInterviewer: What was the biggest challenge when you went to deploy the new system?\nMarcus: Migrating the legacy data without any downtime. We had to write a custom script to transfer the data in batches during off-peak hours.\nInterviewer: Excellent. And how do you stay updated with new programming languages?\nMarcus: I regularly attend local tech meetups and contribute to open-source projects on the weekends.", "questions": [ { "question": "What kind of system did Marcus help build at his last job?", "options": [ "An inventory tracker", "A scalable payment processing API", "A social media platform", "A mobile game application" ], "correct": "A scalable payment processing API" }, { "question": "Why did the company need to replace the old system?", "options": [ "It was too expensive to maintain", "It was a bottleneck during holidays", "It had been hacked repeatedly", "It looked visually outdated" ], "correct": "It was a bottleneck during holidays" }, { "question": "How long were the sprints in their agile approach?", "options": [ "One week", "Two weeks", "One month", "Six weeks" ], "correct": "Two weeks" }, { "question": "What was the biggest challenge when deploying the new system?", "options": [ "Training the staff", "Migrating the legacy data", "Finding a new server host", "Writing the user documentation" ], "correct": "Migrating the legacy data" } ] } }