1. Tell me about yourself.

- First of all, I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to attend this
interview with your company. My name is Trần Thị Mai Linh, i just graduated
from HCM university of Law and since I studied Law, I have great communication
skills both in English and Vietnamese. During my experiences as an ESL teacher, I can
confidently say that I have strong skills in expressing ideas as well as organizing (I have
multiple classes and each class required different curriculum so I have to keep track of all
students’ progresses which including their learning ability, their up-to-date lessons and
their test results in 4 skills). I was rated as one of the best teachers in the center according
to QC’s feedback, Freetalk English also asked me to record some of my live lessons as
model teaching materials. I love English so your company’s environment is ideal to me,
I can see myself staying with this job for a long time. I believe that I will make a
good return in your company's investment.

2. What are your goals for the future?

I would like to continue developing my managing expertise over the next several years
and archieve advanced English and teaching certificates. One of the reasons I’m
interested in working for Jan English is that I’ll have the opportunity to work in an
engaging and positive environment and have access with new standard teaching methods
which I can hardly find at anywhere else, therefore it can help me improve my available
skills and learn new ones effectively. I believe this experience will help me archieving
my ultimate goal of having a certain position in this expertise and be good at the job.

3. What are your greatest strengths?

I’m proud of my organizing skills. I can manage my time very well and I can take care of
many things at the same time. I used to look after my mom’s shop on weekends morning
for several years, I can cater 5 - 6 customers at a time while still keeping an eye on the
store. I saw on your JD that this role involves a lot of organizing which is one reason I
applied.

4. What are your greatest weaknesses?

I have trust issues which makes me hard to make friends. I’ve been a victim of bullying
so being in a new environment can be a tough challenge for me. During university, I
didn’t take part in many social activities and I don’t have many friends because of the
fear of isolation. This disadvantage also prevented me from trying out new job
opportunities which I had during my university time. But now I’ve learned to
acknowledge and accept the past, I know the worth in myself and I know what to
prioritize. I’ve somehow overcome my fear of involving in new environments and
meeting new people, that’s why I have the courage to apply to your company today. I
know what’s good for myself and what I’m capable of, that’s how I protect myself from
bullying.

5. Do you have any questions?

- What are the biggest challenges that someone in this position would face?
- Can you describe the working culture of the company?
- What skills do I need to work best in this position?
- What else do you want to know about myself that I haven’t clearified?

6. Why do you want to work here?

I’m impressed by your company’s mission of helping children be good at English and I
want to be a part of it. Helping other people learn new things and expand their knowledge
has always been my passion. My values align with the mission and goals of the company
and hence I would love to be a part of the team of a dedicated brand who pays full
attention to every aspects of an English center: curriculum, teachers, facilities, the staffs
and students which I can hardly find that in any where else.

7. Why did you change your career path?

I’m looking to change careers to join a company that’s more aligned with my personal
interests and passion for education. I want to make a positive impact, not just help a
company generate profits, and I love that your company has a focus on learning
methods’s qualities and student’s enjoyment. Hence, I’ve received career advice from my
older cousin who’s currently working for Aroma English, she has successfully made this
same career change and recommended it as a way to grow, earn more in her career and
find new challenges.

8. Why should we hire you?

You should hire me because of 3 main reasons. Firstly, I’m enthusiastic in English and I
want to share that positive attitude to everyone else, that combining with my good
English skill as I’m currently teaching English parttime too is an ideal investment to your
company. Thus my wonderful organzing skills as I mentioned before can contribute a lot
to this position. Lastly, I’m very impressed with your company’s mission of making
millions of Vietnamese good at English which has inspired me and encouraged me to
devote my abilities into this job to complete my own career mission.

10. What responsibilities do you think this job needs?

I think this job requires managing the testing, assessment of learning results and record
keeping along with the class schedule while assigning teachers into each classes. Also I
have to support teachers and manage student records, exchange information with
students' parents and other tasks as required.

11. What difficulties do you find when teaching young children?

1. children do not pay attention to you and spend their time wandering around
2. children keep speaking their first language during the lesson
3. children learn to understand what you say in English but not to speak it actively
4. parents try to hard to help and end up putting too much pressure on the children
5. you feel exhausted
The solutions to the problems are to train and know how children learn a second language
(which is different from how grown ups learn) and how to motivate children. We have to
make the lessons interesting enough to them by using games, pictures, music and fun
activities because children have short attention spans while keeping the lessons simple
and short. Being patient is also very important, we have to take a break if needed. Rules,
punishment and rewards are essential as well. I often reward my younger students by
letting them watch short cartoons (about 5 mins) after they did all the homework
correctly or they responded well to the lessons (paid attention and focused). On the other
hand, if they get misbehaved or not follow the class’s rules (do homework or exercises),
punishments are needed to keep them on track (feedback their behaviors to their parents
or deterrent on class).