The interview in English is one of the situations where the gap between your real level and your performance is biggest. People who speak English every day at work come to me terrified at the idea of a thirty-minute interview: because in an interview you don’t just have to understand and be understood, you have to sell yourself in a language that is not your own, under pressure, with someone who is also judging how you express yourself.
The good news is that interviews in English are extremely predictable. The questions are almost always the same, they expect answers with a precise structure, and the useful language formulas are a finite number. Preparing does not mean learning a monologue by heart — it means having the building blocks ready with which to construct your answers.
This applies both to people looking for a role in an international company and to students facing an admission interview, an Erasmus interview or a selection for an internship abroad.
“Tell me about yourself”: the question that sets the tone
It is almost always the first and almost always the worst handled. The typical mistake of Italians is to tell their life story in chronological order from school onwards, or — the opposite — to dismiss it in two awkward sentences.
Your interviewer doesn’t want your story: they want to understand in ninety seconds why you are relevant for that role. The structure that works is present → path → future:
✅ “I’m currently a project engineer at [Company], where I manage a portfolio of industrial automation projects. Before that, I completed my Master’s in Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, which is where I first got into process optimisation. What I’m looking for now is a role with more international exposure, which is exactly why this position caught my attention.”
Note two things. First: I’m currently… — the present continuous is the right tense for your current role. Second: the answer ends by pointing to the position you are applying for, not to your personal history.
❌ “I was born in Bari and I have studied engineering…” — where you were born is of no interest, and “I have studied” is wrong here: for a completed course of study you need the past simple (I studied, I completed).
Strengths and weaknesses without clichés
“What would you say your strengths are?” and “What’s your greatest weakness?” come up almost every time. The secret is that neither is a question about your personality: they are questions about how self-aware you are.
For strengths, the rule is one quality + concrete proof. An adjective on its own convinces nobody.
❌ “I am a very hard worker and I am precise.” ✅ “I’d say my main strength is staying organised under pressure. Last year I was running three client projects at the same time, and we delivered all of them on schedule.”
For weaknesses, avoid both the fake flaw (“I’m a perfectionist” — interviewers have heard it a thousand times) and the self-harming confession. The right formula is a real flaw + what you are doing to manage it:
✅ “I used to find it difficult to delegate, because I wanted to keep control of the details. I’ve been working on it by setting clearer expectations upfront with the team, and it’s made a real difference.”
The structure I used to… is useful here — it says exactly “I did before, I don’t any more” and is perfect for describing an improvement.
Behavioural questions and the STAR method
“Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with a colleague.” “Give me an example of a project that didn’t go to plan.” “Describe a situation where you had to meet a tight deadline.”
These are behavioural questions and in the English-speaking world they are the heart of the interview. The interviewer doesn’t want opinions: they want a concrete episode. And they expect you to tell it in the order known as STAR:
- Situation — the context, in one sentence
- Task — what your task or problem was
- Action — what you did (not “the team”)
- Result — how it ended, with a number if possible
✅ “We were three weeks from launch when our main supplier pulled out (S). I was responsible for keeping the timeline (T), so I shortlisted two alternative suppliers, renegotiated the delivery terms and re-planned the final phase with the team (A). We launched only four days late, and we’ve kept one of those suppliers ever since (R).”
From the language point of view this is the trickiest part, because you are talking about the past: you need a clean past simple. Beware of the calque from Italian with the present perfect — in a story that is finished and dated, it is wrong.
❌ “Last year I have managed a difficult client.” ✅ “Last year I managed a difficult client.”
Prepare three or four episodes in STAR format before the interview and you will be able to recycle them for almost any behavioural question.
Talking about money, availability and motivation
“Why do you want to work here?” expects you to have done your homework on the company. Mention something specific:
✅ “I’ve been following your expansion in the Nordic market, and the way you’ve integrated sustainability into the product line is something I’d really like to contribute to.”
“Why are you leaving your current job?” is a trap only if you fall into it. Never criticise your current employer — always rephrase positively:
❌ “My manager doesn’t appreciate my work and the company is badly organised.” ✅ “I’ve learned a lot in my current role, but I’ve reached a point where I’m looking for more responsibility than the structure there allows.”
“What are your salary expectations?” If you can, pass the ball back:
✅ “Based on my experience and the market, I’d be looking at a range of X to Y, but I’m open to discussing the whole package. Could you tell me what range you’ve budgeted for this role?”
And if you don’t understand a question, ask — don’t improvise:
✅ “Sorry, could you rephrase that? I want to make sure I answer the right question.”
Closing: the questions for you to ask
At the end comes “Do you have any questions for us?”, and answering “No, I think everything is clear” is a wasted opportunity. Having two or three ready signals real interest:
- “How would you describe the team I’d be working with?”
- “What would success look like in the first six months?”
- “What are the biggest challenges facing the team right now?”
- “What are the next steps in the process?”
And to close, leaving a good impression:
✅ “Thank you for your time — I’ve really enjoyed the conversation, and I’m very interested in the role.”
The next day, a short thank-you email is normal practice in the English-speaking world, and in Italy very few people write one: two lines that remind them who you are and why the role interests you make you stand out at almost no cost.
How to really prepare (and not just read)
Reading model answers helps you understand the structure, but an interview is won with the mouth, not with the eyes. Three things that work:
- Write your answers, then throw them away. Preparing your three STAR episodes and your tell me about yourself in writing helps fix content and vocabulary. Then you need to practise saying them, not reciting them: if they sound learned by heart, the effect is worse than improvising.
- Record yourself answering out loud. You will discover the hesitations, the “how do you say…” and the tense errors that you don’t hear in the silence of your head.
- Run a simulation with someone who interrupts you. The real interview is not a monologue: it is follow-up questions, requests for detail, changes of direction. This is where preparation becomes robust.
In English lessons interview simulations are one of the most frequent requests: we work on your real answers, your sector and your recurring mistakes, with immediate feedback on what sounds natural and what doesn’t.
The interview usually comes after a written application: for that part there is the post on CV and cover letter in English. If you get the job, phrases for meetings and calls and work emails are the next step.
If you have an interview in your diary and want to arrive prepared, write to me and we’ll work out together how to set up a plan in the time you have.
