The Stress Interview

A few weeks ago, Melissa Morrow had a stress interview, one which featured tough, tricky questions and negative evaluations. First, the interviewer asked why she couldn’t work under pressure. Before she could answer, he asked who had written her application for her. Melissa was shocked but she handled herself very well. She asked the interviewer whether he was going to ask her any serious questions. Then she left.

Companies sometimes conduct stress interviews to see how candidates handle pressure. Suppose, for example, that there is an accident in a nuclear power plant. The plant’s public relations officer must remain calm when reporters ask how the accident could have happened. Be aware, however, that in some countries, like the United States, certain questions are not allowed unless they are directly related to the job. If your interviewer asks how old you are, you can refuse to answer. The interviewer also should not ask whether you are married or how much money you owe. If you think a question is inappropriate, ask how it relates to the job. If it doesn’t relate to it, you don’t have to answer.

Exercise 12 Put the following sentences in the Indirect Speech beginning with the words given in brackets.

1.Where did I put the book? (I forgot …) 2. Who has given you this nice kitten? (She wanted to know…) 3. Where can I buy an English-Russian dictionary? (He asked me …) 4. How long will it take your brother to get to Madrid? (He wondered …) 5. Where is he going? (He didn’t tell anybody …) 6. Where has he gone? (Did you know …) 7. Where is he? (Did you know …) 8. When is he leaving school? (I wanted to know …) 9. Where does he live? (Nobody knew …) 10. When will he come back? (She asked them …) 11. Where did she buy this hat? (He wanted to know …) 12. How much did she pay for it? (I had no idea …)

Exercise 13 Read the report of an interview with Gary Wilmot, an actor, then write the actual words of an interview.

I asked Gary what sort of music he liked, and he told me that he had always liked jazz. In fact, he played in a jazz band called Sax Appeal. When I asked him where the band played, he told me they mainly played in small clubs. I asked him, if he had ever played a Shakespearean role, and he told me that he had. He’d played Othello in Stratford in 1989, and he’d enjoyed it very much. Finally, I asked him if he ever wanted to direct a play, and he told me that he hoped to one day, but he didn’t know when it could happen because he was so busy acting.

Interview