How to Prepare for an Interview & Setting up Your Own Business Reading Answers for IELTS General

With consistent practise, IELTS applicants can score highest on the Reading module of IELTS General as it is comparatively easier than IELTS Reading Academic. All you need is to be able to approach and respond to the different question types, such as those in How to Prepare for an Interview Reading Answers, in order to perform well.

The How to Prepare for an Interview Reading Answers, which is a part of the IELTS Cambridge 11 Reading Test 4 and is an IELTS General reading test, comprises two passages: How to Prepare for an Interview and Setting up Your Own Business. Ideally, you should not spend more than 20 minutes on both these passages.

There are 13 questions in total in How to Prepare for an Interview Reading Answers. You must understand the subject, look up key terms in the IELTS reading passages, and then respond in line with the instructions.

The question type found in these passages is:

• Sentence Completion (Q. 1-7) & (Q. 8-13)

If you need proven strategies to master the Sentence Completion types of questions, check out the video below.

Reading Passage 1

How to Prepare for an Interview

Why prepare?

There are three main reasons.
One: Although you can’t guess every question you might be asked, if you are prepared you can tailor your answers to fit.
Two: If you’re well prepared, you will have more confidence and this will affect the way you come across.
Three: Attitude matters. Prospective employers will choose a not-quite-perfect but willing candidate over a brilliant one who obviously isn’t bothered.

What to prepare?

Find out about the organisation

• Visit the website and read any materials that you have been sent. If nothing has been sent, phone the company to ask for any reading matter they may have.
• Talk to anyone you know who works there already.

Find out about the job

• Ask for a job description or specification. This will tell you the duties that go with the job.
• Talk to anyone you know who is familiar with the work you may be doing.

Find out what the employer is looking for

• Make a list of the skills specified in the job advertisement.
• Think of examples to back up claims that you have these skills.

You can then answer most of the questions that will come up, such as ‘Tell me more about how you work in a team’.

Add in a few ‘lessons learned’ – what you did and how you might have done it better. You can also outline any voluntary work you have done for a charity, or any experience of paid work in an unrelated sector.

Preparing for other kinds of questions
Interviewers are also looking for someone who is likely to stay with the organisation and progress within it. Prepare to answer questions about your ambitions for the future.
You may also be asked to account for gaps in your career history, if you have any. Be positive and accentuate the learning or experience you gained during these periods.

Preparing your own questions

• Do ask technical questions about software, systems and structures and how things are done.
• Do ask about possibilities for training.
• Don’t ask about salary unless you have been offered the job.

When you’ve prepared as much as this, you’ve got a good chance of success.
Good luck!

Questions 1-7

1 By preparing for your interview, you will gain ………….. which will help you present yourself well.
2 Read through any documents you have received about the company and also go to their ………….. .
3 Check the job description to find out what ………….. are involved in the post you have applied for.
4 Interviewers may be interested to hear about any unpaid help you have given to a ………….. .
5 Be ready to talk about your ………….. for the development of your career.
6 Explain any ………….. that there are in your work record and clarify how you used the time to improve your skills.
7 Questions about ………….. should be delayed until a later stage.

Reading Passage 2

Setting up Your Own Business

Here are some ideas about how you should start:

Know your market
So you know what you want to sell – the most important thing is that it should be something that people want to buy. Start by thinking about who your target customers are. Are they people who live locally? Are they a particular group of people?

Now look at your competitors. What is different about what you will be doing and how will you persuade people to come to you instead of going to someone who is already established?

How will you reach the customers?
Will you promote your product by phoning people, or visiting local traders, or advertising in magazines or online? Will your delivery system be direct or through shops?

How will your business work?
Now think about what your business needs to succeed. Do you need to look for premises or can you work from home? Do you need to invest in manufacturing equipment to start with?

Is the business something you can do on your own, or if you get more work will you be looking to recruit staff? If so, what skills would they need?

Whether you’re a sole operator or are looking to recruit a team, effective management is essential.

The law regulates how companies are run and you need to set aside the time to see that this is done properly, in relation to issues like accounting, insurance and tax.

The money!
As you are working our die prices for your products, you need to make sure you build in all your costs. Remember you will probably need help from an accountant at least once a year, so build that in too, and do a forecast of how much money you think will flow in and out of the business.

Look at what you expect to happen over the next three years — and work out what you need to do to break even, as well as the turnover that you hope to achieve to give you a profit. If you think you will need to find some funding to help get the business off the ground, how much will you need and who will you approach to get it?

Your business plan
Now write it all up and call it a business plan.

Questions 8-13

• Step 1: Decide who you are going to sell to and compare yourself with the 8…………… you are going to have.
• Step 2: Consider how you will market your product and your method of 9…………….
• Step 3: Decide if you will have to find 10…………… to work in, or buy equipment.
• Step 4: Think whether you will need to take on staff as your business grows.
• Step 5: Make sure you deal with the accounts and other essentials in accordance with the 11 …………… .
• Step 6: Calculate all the 12…………… involved in your business when deciding how much to charge.
• Step 7: Calculate the turnover you are aiming for in order to make a profit in the first three years.
• Step 8: Consider if you require any 13…………… to start your business, and where to find it.

Answers for How to Prepare for an Interview and Setting up Your Own Business Reading Answers with Explanation

1 Answer: confidence

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: ‘Why Prepare’, Point 2

Answer explanation: In the given location, it is mentioned that “If you’re well prepared, you will have more confidence and this will affect the way you come across.”. This means that if a person is well prepared for his/her interview, they will gain (have more) confidence, which will help them present themselves well (affect the way you come across). Hence, the answer is ‘confidence’.

2 Answer: website

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: ‘What to Prepare (Find out about the organisation)’, Point 1, line 1

Answer explanation: In the mentioned line, it is given that “Visit the website and read any materials that you have been sent.”. In other words, while preparing for an interview, you should read through any documents (materials) you have received about the company and also go to (visit) their website to know more. Hence, the answer is ‘website’.

3 Answer: duties

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: ‘What to Prepare (Find out about the job)’, Point 1

Answer explanation: In the cited location, it is stated that “Ask for a job description or specification. This will tell you the duties that go with the job.”. It can be concluded that to know more about the duties in the post you have applied for, you need to go through the job description or ask for specifications. Hence, the answer is ‘duties’.

4 Answer: charity

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: ‘What to Prepare’ – Paragraph 5, Line 2

Answer explanation: In the quoted section, it is communicated that “You can also outline any voluntary work you have done for a charity, or any experience of paid work in an unrelated sector.”. It indicates that in an interview, you should share (outline) about any unpaid help (voluntary work)you have given to a charity, as the interviewer might be interested in knowing about it. Hence, the answer is ‘charity’.

5 Answer: ambitions

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: ‘Preparing for other kinds of questions’, Line 2

Answer explanation: In the cited paragraph, it is given “Prepare to answer questions about your ambitions for the future.”. It can be deduced that you should be ready (prepare) to talk about (answer) your ambitions for the development of your career (future). Hence, the answer is ‘ambitions’.

6 Answer: gaps

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: ‘Preparing for other kinds of questions’, Line 3 -Line 4

Answer explanation: From the specified lines, “You may also be asked to account for gaps in your career history, if you have any. Be positive and accentuate the learning or experience you gained during these periods.”, it can be concluded that if there are any gaps in your work record (career history), you should clarify how you used the time to improve your skills (Be positive and accentuate the learning or experience you gained during these periods.). Hence, the answer is ‘gaps’.

7 Answer: salary

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: ‘Preparing your own questions’, Point 3

Answer explanation: In the cited line, it is stated that “Don’t ask about salary unless you have been offered the job.”. Based on this reference, it can be said that questions regarding salary should be delayed until a later stage (you have been offered the job). Hence, the answer is ‘salary’.

8 Answer: competitors

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: ‘Know Your Market’, Line 1 & Line 5

Answer explanation: In the extracted lines, it is stated that “So you know what you want to sell – the most important thing is that it should be something that people want to buy…Now look at your competitors.”. These statements indicate that once you decide on what to sell, the next step will be to check out the competitors for that product. Hence, the answer is ‘competitors’.

Tips to Solve the Question Type in the How to Prepare for an Interview IELTS Reading Answers

Since now you know the answers to How to Prepare for an Interview Reading Answers with location, let us check out some quick tips to answer Sentence Completion in the Reading Answers of How to Prepare for an Interview.

Sentence Completion: 

In the Sentence Completion of the IELTS Reading test, you will be asked to fill in the blanks in incomplete phrases with the relevant words or numbers.

• Reading the instructions carefully will help you determine the word limit (no more than two, one word, etc.) and important terms like ‘using words from the text’ or ‘from the text’, which you have to follow precisely.
• Read the incomplete sentences first and simultaneously, look out for keywords that could be represented by synonyms or paraphrasing.
• Use reading techniques like scanning to locate where the information is so that you don’t have to read the whole passage.
• When scanning for your answer, make sure you are thinking about paraphrasing and synonyms.
• The answers appear in the same order as the questions. So, if you follow the sequence, you can find out the answer easily.
• Be careful about spelling mistakes and remember that your answer should be grammatically correct.

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• Information for students at the Language and Culture Center and Business Planning | IELTS General Reading Practice Test 9 with Answers 
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• Good Deal Car Rental – General Reading Answers 
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