Cambridge English for Job-hunting

Cambridge English for Job-hunting

Cambridge English for Job-hunting takes students step by step through the process of applying for a job in English. The first chapter looks at preparing to apply and understanding job adverts then chapters two and three aim at producing a CV and cover letter. The remaining three chapters look at interview skills, including telephone interviews and how to follow up on either success or rejection. It is aimed at upper intermediate and advanced (CEFR B2-C1) learners and comes with two audio CDs. A teacher book and extra activity sheets are available as PDF downloads from the publisher’s website.

Students with clear goals will find this course very useful, and when it is finished they will have a usable CV, a polished cover letter and a good idea of what to expect in an interview. I was especially impressed by the outcome of the chapter on cover letters – students submitted much more professional letters than I had expected. I would recommend it as an optional module for students with a real need to apply for jobs in English, as they can use their specific career aims to choose the language they need from the options offered. Students with only vague intentions to apply for a job at some point in the future might lack the motivation and focus needed to get the most out of this quite challenging course.

I can see it working best with final year university English major courses or life skills courses for students living in an English speaking country. It is more difficult to place it in a business context – while I have taught job-hunting business students, they were always one-on-one classes and this textbook’s frequent use of paired discussion makes it more suitable for group classes.

The tasks themselves are a good mix of discussion, listening, language and roleplay tasks. However, if I had one criticism it would be that this variety is not obvious. The book is quite dense, often presenting page after page of closely set text unbroken by any visual aids or photos. Even a slightly larger page size or a more visual separation of chapter sections might have made it easier on the eye.

The teacher book has an answer key, suggested pre-teaching vocabulary, useful links and extension activities. The separate Extra Activities file contains mostly activities similar to those in the student book, but I liked the “Strengths and Weaknesses” board game and the “Common interview questions” flashcards as they provide a welcome break from the density mentioned above.

Overall, the book does exactly what the cover suggests, and will do it well if matched carefully with students’ needs.