The Tuesday interview in Spanish
A job interview: experience, conditions and the probation period in Spanish. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Siéntese, por favor. Hábleme un poco de usted.» — Sit down, please. Tell me a little about yourself. Every line can be played right on the page. The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a job interview: experience, conditions and the probation period. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- Siéntese, por favor. Hábleme un poco de usted.Sit down, please. Tell me a little about yourself.
- Llevo cuatro años en el sector y ahora busco algo más estable.I've been in the industry for four years and now I'm looking for something more stable.
- He visto su currículum. ¿Por qué dejó el trabajo anterior?I've seen your resume. Why did you leave your previous job?
- Hubo un recorte de plantilla y despidieron a mi departamento entero.There was a staff cut and my whole department was laid off.
- Entiendo. Aquí el horario de trabajo es de nueve a seis, con jornada completa.I understand. Here the working hours are nine to six, full time.
- ¿Y hay periodo de prueba antes de firmar el contrato indefinido?And is there a probation period before signing the permanent contract?
- Seis meses. Después hablamos de sueldo y de la paga extra.Six months. Afterwards we'll talk about salary and the extra pay.
- Me parece bien. ¿Cuándo sabré si me han contratado?That's fine with me. When will I know if I got the job?
Lines one by one
| Spanish | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Siéntese, por favor. Hábleme un poco de usted. | — | Sit down, please. Tell me a little about yourself. |
| Llevo cuatro años en el sector y ahora busco algo más estable. | — | I've been in the industry for four years and now I'm looking for something more stable. |
| He visto su currículum. ¿Por qué dejó el trabajo anterior? | — | I've seen your resume. Why did you leave your previous job? |
| Hubo un recorte de plantilla y despidieron a mi departamento entero. | — | There was a staff cut and my whole department was laid off. |
| Entiendo. Aquí el horario de trabajo es de nueve a seis, con jornada completa. | — | I understand. Here the working hours are nine to six, full time. |
| ¿Y hay periodo de prueba antes de firmar el contrato indefinido? | — | And is there a probation period before signing the permanent contract? |
| Seis meses. Después hablamos de sueldo y de la paga extra. | — | Six months. Afterwards we'll talk about salary and the extra pay. |
| Me parece bien. ¿Cuándo sabré si me han contratado? | — | That's fine with me. When will I know if I got the job? |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and it gets in the way badly. It is one of the most reliably measured findings in the entire field.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Spanish in this situation?
“Siéntese, por favor. Hábleme un poco de usted.” — Sit down, please. Tell me a little about yourself.. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.