A talk with HR in Russian
An office in a small firm, a job interview in Russian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Добрый день! Я по объявлению о работе.» — Good afternoon! I am here about the job ad; «Здравствуйте. Расскажите о себе коротко.» — Hello. Tell me about yourself briefly.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: an office in a small firm, a job interview. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Добрый день! Я по объявлению о работе.Dobryy den! Ya po obyavleniyu o rabote.Good afternoon! I am here about the job ad.
- Здравствуйте. Расскажите о себе коротко.Zdravstvuyte. Rasskazhite o sebe korotko.Hello. Tell me about yourself briefly.
- Пять лет я работал в другом городе. Мой опыт — работа с людьми.Pyat let ya rabotal v drugom gorode. Moy opyt — rabota s lyudmi.For five years I worked in another city. My experience is working with people.
- Почему вы ищете новую работу?Pochemu vy ishchete novuyu rabotu?Why are you looking for a new job?
- Хочу больше ответственности и сложные задачи.Khochu bolshe otvetstvennosti i slozhnye zadachi.I want more responsibility and difficult tasks.
- У нас испытательный срок — три месяца.U nas ispytatelnyy srok — tri mesyatsa.We have a probation period of three months.
- Это хорошо. А когда можно работать?Eto khorosho. A kogda mozhno rabotat?That's good. And when can I start working?
- С первого числа.S pervogo chisla.From the first of the month.
Lines one by one
| Russian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Добрый день! Я по объявлению о работе. | Dobryy den! Ya po obyavleniyu o rabote. | Good afternoon! I am here about the job ad. |
| Здравствуйте. Расскажите о себе коротко. | Zdravstvuyte. Rasskazhite o sebe korotko. | Hello. Tell me about yourself briefly. |
| Пять лет я работал в другом городе. Мой опыт — работа с людьми. | Pyat let ya rabotal v drugom gorode. Moy opyt — rabota s lyudmi. | For five years I worked in another city. My experience is working with people. |
| Почему вы ищете новую работу? | Pochemu vy ishchete novuyu rabotu? | Why are you looking for a new job? |
| Хочу больше ответственности и сложные задачи. | Khochu bolshe otvetstvennosti i slozhnye zadachi. | I want more responsibility and difficult tasks. |
| У нас испытательный срок — три месяца. | U nas ispytatelnyy srok — tri mesyatsa. | We have a probation period of three months. |
| Это хорошо. А когда можно работать? | Eto khorosho. A kogda mozhno rabotat? | That's good. And when can I start working? |
| С первого числа. | S pervogo chisla. | From the first of the month. |
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 noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.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 Russian in this situation?
“Добрый день! Я по объявлению о работе.” (Dobryy den! Ya po obyavleniyu o rabote.) — Good afternoon! I am here about the job ad. 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.