A job interview in Serbian
An interview at a small company: past work and skills in Serbian. 9 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Изволите, седите. Чиме сте се бавили до сада?» — Please sit down. What have you done so far?; «Радио сам као механичар у фабрици, седам година.» — I worked as a mechanic at a factory, for seven years. 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: an interview at a small company: past work and skills. 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.
- Изволите, седите. Чиме сте се бавили до сада?Izvolite, sedite. Čime ste se bavili do sada?Please sit down. What have you done so far?
- Радио сам као механичар у фабрици, седам година.Radio sam kao mehaničar u fabrici, sedam godina.I worked as a mechanic at a factory, for seven years.
- А зашто сте отишли? Фабрика још ради.A zašto ste otišli? Fabrika još radi.And why did you leave? The factory is still operating.
- Смањили су производњу, па су многи остали без посла.Smanjili su proizvodnju, pa su mnogi ostali bez posla.They cut back production, and many people were left without work.
- Разумем. Код нас се ради у две смене, са паузом од пола сата.Razumem. Kod nas se radi u dve smene, sa pauzom od pola sata.I see. Here we work in two shifts, with a half-hour break.
- То ми одговара. Занима ме колика је плата и да ли има аванса.To mi odgovara. Zanima me kolika je plata i da li ima avansa.That suits me. I'd like to know the salary and whether there's an advance.
- Плата је нешто изнад минималне, а аванс се исплаћује петнаестог.Plata je nešto iznad minimalne, a avans se isplaćuje petnaestog.The salary is a bit above minimum, and the advance is paid on the fifteenth.
- У реду. Кад бих могао да почнем и треба ли ми лекарски преглед?U redu. Kad bih mogao da počnem i treba li mi lekarski pregled?Good. When could I start, and do I need a medical exam?
- Од првог. Донесите преглед и потврду, а пропусницу добијате на капији.Od prvog. Donesite pregled i potvrdu, a propusnicu dobijate na kapiji.From the first. Bring the exam results and a certificate, and you'll get your pass at the gate.
Lines one by one
| Serbian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Изволите, седите. Чиме сте се бавили до сада? | Izvolite, sedite. Čime ste se bavili do sada? | Please sit down. What have you done so far? |
| Радио сам као механичар у фабрици, седам година. | Radio sam kao mehaničar u fabrici, sedam godina. | I worked as a mechanic at a factory, for seven years. |
| А зашто сте отишли? Фабрика још ради. | A zašto ste otišli? Fabrika još radi. | And why did you leave? The factory is still operating. |
| Смањили су производњу, па су многи остали без посла. | Smanjili su proizvodnju, pa su mnogi ostali bez posla. | They cut back production, and many people were left without work. |
| Разумем. Код нас се ради у две смене, са паузом од пола сата. | Razumem. Kod nas se radi u dve smene, sa pauzom od pola sata. | I see. Here we work in two shifts, with a half-hour break. |
| То ми одговара. Занима ме колика је плата и да ли има аванса. | To mi odgovara. Zanima me kolika je plata i da li ima avansa. | That suits me. I'd like to know the salary and whether there's an advance. |
| Плата је нешто изнад минималне, а аванс се исплаћује петнаестог. | Plata je nešto iznad minimalne, a avans se isplaćuje petnaestog. | The salary is a bit above minimum, and the advance is paid on the fifteenth. |
| У реду. Кад бих могао да почнем и треба ли ми лекарски преглед? | U redu. Kad bih mogao da počnem i treba li mi lekarski pregled? | Good. When could I start, and do I need a medical exam? |
| Од првог. Донесите преглед и потврду, а пропусницу добијате на капији. | Od prvog. Donesite pregled i potvrdu, a propusnicu dobijate na kapiji. | From the first. Bring the exam results and a certificate, and you'll get your pass at the gate. |
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 Serbian in this situation?
“Изволите, седите. Чиме сте се бавили до сада?” (Izvolite, sedite. Čime ste se bavili do sada?) — Please sit down. What have you done so far?. 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.