1. This job ad was placed online by a recruitment agency.
I’m currently looking for a Front of House Receptionist for immediate start at an
Investment Bank in prestigious offices in the City.
The main duties in this role will be meeting and greeting international visitors in
a friendly, welcoming and efficient manner and making sure they are put in
touch with the person or department they are visiting as promptly as possible.
The post holder will also book and set up meeting rooms as well as monitor and
order stationery supplies for the office.
Applicants need to have excellent interpersonal skills, the ability to communicate
effectively and efficiently with internal and external visitors, and the ability to
work autonomously and using their own initiative.
A can-do attitude and the ability to multitask are essential to this role.
Anna-Maria lives in Germany and works in a similar position for a bank in Frank-
furt. She wants to apply for the job. Write a CV for her.
These are her basic details: She was born in Germany, is 35 years old and in her third
job. She speaks several European languages and started her career as a trainee with
a regional bank. You may invent any other information about her that you need for
the CV.
2. Karin Fischer wants to apply for an advertised position. She has drafted the letter but
the paragraphs have got mixed up. Put them into the best order.
1) My greatest achievements to date include implementing the 360-degree apprai-
sal system at Bauer Inc. and the introduction of a standard recruitment process,
which reduced application turnaround by 25 per cent.
2) Dear Mrs Hughes
3) I would welcome the opportunity to discuss my application with you in more de-
tail and hope to hear from you in the near future.
4) Ref. 23/H/PS4, Senior Secretary
5) I very much look forward to taking these skills into the workplace in a profes-
sional capacity.
6) I am writing with reference to your advertisement in today’s Cardiff Advertiser
requesting applications for the position of Senior Secretary to the Personnel De-
partment.
7) As you will see from my CV, I have numerous years of experience in this type of
work. I am outgoing and open-minded and believe that I have the skills and qua-
lities that you are looking for.
8) Yours sincerely
Karin Fischer
9) I am about to complete a one-year counselling course and am especially inte-
rested in the opportunity this vacancy offers to put the theory learned into prac-
tice. I greatly enjoyed the distance-learning course, which I feel has given me the
chance to expand my interpersonal skills. It has provided me with insight into
the way that disadvantaged people can grow and develop with the right support.
3. Below you can read some guidelines about behaviour in crowded lifts that a compa-
ny published in their internal newsletter. How much of this advice do you agree
with, if at all? What behaviour would you personally recommend?
Write between 80 and 120 words in complete sentences (not bullet points). You can
base your text on the statements below but don’t repeat these words.
• Avoid eye contact with others at all times.
• Don’t talk to anybody, even anyone you know.
• Stand in the same spot and don’t leave it until you step out.
• If you have a newspaper with you, open it and hide your face behind it.
• Watch the floor numbers on the display until you reach your destination.
4. In an assessment centre you are asked to write an answer to the following question.
If you were starting your career all over again, what would you do differently?
Write between 80 and 120 words.
5. Complete the sentence with a meaningful, work-related ending.
1) If I had accepted the job offer, I …
2) We would have won the contract if we …
3) My boss would have been angry if I …
4) If you hadn’t been so careless, you …
Complete the following sentences by putting the given verbs in the correct tenses:
1) As soon as he __________ (to read) the personnel manager’s name, he knew that
they __________ (to meet) before.
2) Diana __________ (to be) excited when she received the interview invitation.
She __________ (not to expect) it.
3) You’re almost finished with the course. Your language skills __________ (to im-
prove) if you __________ (to continue) to practise regularly.
4) Yesterday I found the perfect job advertisement. I __________ (look) for months!
5) If you __________ (to find) to have lied on your CV, you __________ (to be) dis-
missed.
6) Would you work night shifts if you __________ (to be promoted) to a manage-
ment position?