[originaltext]M: Miss Ellen Chan? Good to see you. Thank you for coming in to t

M: Miss Ellen Chan? Good to see you. Thank you for coming in to the interview. Now, let me see. You are applying for the vacancy we have for a Marketing Officer Trainee. Isn’t that right?
W: Yes, that’s right.
M: Mm. And you’re in the final year of a degree in Business Administration?
W: Yes, I expect to graduate in the summer of 2009.
M: With French as your major and Marketing as a minor, right?
W: No. [1]Marketing is my major—and French my minor.  I’m looking for a career in Marketing, with my languages as a useful back-up.
M: Oh yes, sorry. Well now. I notice that you intend to complete your degree in three years instead of the usual four, and that you were able to persuade the university authorities to agree to that. Why did you decide to approach them in the first place?
W: Well, the reason I wanted to complete the degree as quickly as possible is that I am older than most undergraduate students. I’ve had work experience before starting the degree, and I was anxious to be back into the working world as soon as I could. I made up my mind to show in the first term that I am well-organ-ised and hard-working. I did this, and the university authorities agreed very readily.
M: Have you any regrets about that decision?
W: Well, no, no serious regrets. But I should have liked to give more time to the dramatic and musical activities. I’ve had to cut down on these in my final year.
M: Now, you say in your letter that you are aggressive and ambitious. What exactly do you mean, Miss Chan?
W: I mean that I really do want to test my abilities against very high standards. That’s why I Want to work for your company. And I don’t mean that I bully people. I hope I never do that. But I am determined and I am direct—and most people like that and respond to it. They don’t feel threatened by it.
M: Mm… I think we see eye to eye there. How about those languages? I can hear how good your English is. How is it you can speak both Cantonese and Mandarin?
W: I grew up speaking both languages. [2]My father is a native speaker of Mandarin, and my mother’s Mandarin is very good. And of course I have always spoken Mandarin to my grandparents and my other relatives. I studied French in school and now at university.
M: And how good is your French now?
W: Not as good as my English. I can read it easily and write with no more than a few mistakes, but, I have never spent more than a few weeks in a French speaking country, so neither my listening comprehension nor my speaking are fluent.
M: Mm. Now. How much do you know about the sort of work that the Marketing Officer Trainee does in a company like ours?
W: Well.  [3] My reading of the job description suggests that a trainee probably starts as an apprentice working closely with an experienced Marketing Officer, learning how to keep records, identify opportunities, and implement plans and, I suppose, gradually taking on more responsibility and exercising more initiative.
M: Well, Miss Chan, [4]one of your referees say you left a place where you were employed, unexpectedly, in circumstances, and not entirely clear. What happened?
W: I’m not sure what he means.  [4] I have certainly never been dismissed. But I did give in my notice and leavea part time job when I had the offer of a university place. I said very little about my reasons for going. They would have been thought strange and rather snobbish.
M: Mm. I see. Well, on another topic altogether. Do you see a use for your languages in all this?
W: Well. Not on a daily basis. My experience is that-if you do have a control of several languages, then you put that to use only occasionally—but the occasion is often a highly critical one! You are in a position to be—well, just for that moment—extremely useful! And that is very satisfactory.
M: Well, mm. Any questions you would like to ask, Miss Chan?
W: Mm, just one. It has to do with, mm progression in your company. [5] I notice there is a three-month probationary period followed by six months further training. Well, what happens then? Where are successful applicants say urn, eighteen months after they join your company?
M: Earning very competitive salaries—well we don’t want to lose them—on their way to developing one of several specialisms we require.
W: Thank you. Thank you for your time. I hope I’ll hear further from you soon.
M: Hmm. We have two more applicants to interview on Thursday. Well, our Company practice is to advise all short-listed applicants whether they have been successful or not by telephone or by mail within a week after that. Well. Goodbye Miss Chan. We’ll be in touch with you.