Work English: 12 Phrasal Verbs for Job Interviews

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Yeah, tomorrow is great.

Yeah, what time should I show up?

Okay, I'll be there.

Thank you so much.

All right, see you tomorrow.

Yes, I have a job interview tomorrow.

Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on ten phrasal verbs for job interviews.

So, in this lesson, I will be looking at some vocabulary that you can use as the interviewee,

or you might hear from the interviewer in your job interview.

So, let's begin.

First, go over.

So, to go over something means to review it in detail.

So, you might hear your, you know, the interviewer say, "I was going over your CV", or you might

say to the interviewer, "I was going over your website", "I was going over the job description",

maybe you noticed the advertisement for the job online, or you noticed it on their website,

and you say, "I went over your website", "I went over the job description", or maybe the

person interviewing you says, "Okay, I'm going over your CV", and it says here that you have

five years of experience in crisis management, for example.

So, this means to review, right?

You can go over a website, go over a job description, go over a resume or CV.

So, this is something that you can use, a phrasal verb you can use to talk about, you

know, one of your strengths.

So, to take on something means to begin to handle or deal with something, such as, "I

like taking on", like take on, right?

Like you're very active, you're jumping on things.

"I like taking on new challenges.

I like taking on responsibilities.

I like taking on major projects", right, where I'm the one who's responsible for it.

"I like taking on a leadership role.

I like being a leader."

So, to take on means, you know, to begin to handle something or deal with something, like

you're attacking it, jumping on it, and you are taking on a challenge, taking on responsibility,

taking on projects.

You can really use this to sell yourself in a job interview, which is really the goal

of a job interview, as well as, you know, the employer should be selling themselves

to you as well.

So, to carry out something means to do a particular piece of work.

So, one of my strengths is carrying out difficult tasks, carrying out complex analyses.

So, if you carry out something, you do the work.

You don't just say you're going to do it, you say you're going to do it, and you do

So, I often carry out difficult, complex analyses.

I carry out difficult tasks.

I carry out a lot of different projects, for example.

Next, if you want to talk about your punctuality, or you might hear your employer, potential

employer, asking about your punctuality, you can use the phrasal verbs "get in" or "show

up" to talk about the times that you arrive for work.

For example, you might hear the person say, "Oh, thank you for showing up early.

Thank you for coming to the interview, for arriving at the interview early."

Now, of course, this will depend on the formality of your employer, of the person you're speaking

to, some interviewers are very casual, others are more formal.

So, "Thank you for showing up early", "show up" is a bit more casual than some of the

other phrasal verbs on this list.

And you might say, you know, "I consider myself to be a punctual person.

I like to get in a few minutes early", you know, before my shift starts, or before I

have to start work.

Next, "speak up".

So, if you are someone who speaks up, you like to express your ideas or your feelings

freely, openly, frankly.

You're not hiding things, you're not shy, you're not timid, you speak up.

So, I speak up if I notice areas for improvement.

So, you want to say, you know what, if I'm working at a company and I see a deficiency,

I notice something that could be better, I speak up about it.

I talk to the people who can make a difference, who can make a decision, who can change this

issue, who can change and improve this problem.

Can you improve a problem?

You know what I mean.

Find a solution.

So, I speak up if I feel someone isn't being treated fairly.

I speak up if I notice injustice, essentially, in the workplace.

So, depending on your employer, you know, this is a positive trait, it's good to speak

Most people want their employees to speak up and express their ideas or express their

feelings on how they feel the company can improve.

Depending on your employer, sometimes speaking up is not super great if you do it, like,

all the time, so just be careful.

You guys, you know what I'm talking about.

All right, so we have done one, two, three, four, five phrasal verbs.

I said there would be 10 in this lesson, so let's do five more.

I'm going to go look at them over there.

Next, to depend on or rely on someone means to trust someone.

So, this is a positive trait that you can mention to your employer that you have.

So, for example, you can say, "At my last job, my last employer relied on me, trusted

me, depended on me to coordinate employee schedules."

Maybe you were a coordinator at your last job.

My last employer relied on me, depended on me, trusted me to provide accurate sales reports.

Maybe you were a sales associate, maybe you were a marketing manager and you had to provide

accurate sales reports to your boss.

This is a good thing, so please use.

You can depend on me, you can rely on me.

My last job, my last employer relied on me, depended on me to do something, to deliver

To call in simply means to call work to tell them something.

Now, most often we use the phrasal verb "call in" when we want to talk about being sick

and having to tell our employer that we cannot come into work because we are sick.

So, I rarely call in sick.

An employer would view that as a bonus, right?

That you are not often sick, that you're healthy, and you can say, "Yeah, I never call in sick.

I rarely call in sick."

You can also use this to, you know, before your job interview.

So, before your job interview, maybe you call the employer and say, "Hello, I'm calling

in because I dropped off my resume last week, and I'd just like to know if you have had

a chance to review it."

So, you can call in, basically to call.

Next, keep up with.

To keep up with things means to stay up to date, stay current, stay recent.

So, you might tell your potential employer, "I like to keep up with technology.

I like to keep up with market trends.

I like to keep up with client expectations."

So, these are things where you stay recent, you stay current, you stay up to date with

the latest things.

It's a positive trait.

I'm saying "okay" a lot this video.

Not something you want to do in a job interview, although maybe, okay, okay, okay.

Yeah, maybe employers like that.

Depends on the person.

All right, next.

Next, follow up.

To follow up means to review or to revisit something again later, or to contact someone

again to give them more information.

So, for example, the person who interviews you might say, "We will be following up with

candidates in one week."

So, maybe it's the end of the interview, you're shaking hands, and they say, "Yes, we are

following up with candidates in one week."

We are contacting them again to give them the results of the interview.

And you can also follow up on a project.

You can follow up with your clients, so you can say, it's like, yeah, I like to follow

up with clients, like, within 24 hours after our initial interview or our initial meeting

if you work with clients directly.

And then, similar to follow up, but specifically related to communicating, to get back to someone

means to return communication, all right?

So, you can follow up on an issue, a problem, a situation, but to get back to someone strictly

refers to returning communication with someone.

So, thank you for getting back to me.

I try to get back to clients within 24 hours, so I will get back to you.

This means I will return communication once I have more information, okay?

So, what time should I come in for the interview?

I'll get back to you on that.

Give me, you know, I will call you later, basically, because maybe they don't have their

schedule in front of them and they will get back to you.

So, that is 10 phrasal verbs for job interviews.

Of course, I cannot plan, I cannot foresee every single interview situation you will

come across, so there are countless phrasal verbs that you can use in a job interview

The ones I've chosen here are some of the more common ones that you can hopefully use

practically at your next job interview, or maybe these are ones that you will hear at

a next job interview situation when you apply for that next English job.

So, I wish you luck in all your job interviews.

Good luck to you guys, and if you want to test your understanding and practice these

phrasal verbs some more, as always, you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com.

You can also check me out on YouTube, where you can subscribe to my channel, click the

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Just look for @alexengvid, you'll find me, I promise.

Until next time, thanks for clicking.

Good luck at your job interview.