Applying for a job in any field either for the first time or the umpteenth time is always nerve-wracking. Stepping inside that office, with that assessor sitting across a desk or waiting comfortably in an armchair while you've been on tenterhooks since the call was made to appear for the interview, is a crucial moment for any applicant and like any other crucial moment, preparation is required to make those tenterhooks seem less painful. Preparing Getting ready for a job interview means four things:

D o You Know the IELTS Marking Criteria for the Writing Sectio n? When I first started working 20 or so years ago, it was teaching high school graduates who were applying through UCAS to attend a university in Britain and whose mother tongue wasn't English . The IELTS, therefore, was a 'must' for them.  Through my experience dealing with both year-long students, with whom ample time preparing was available, and intensive course candidates who needed to sit the exam in a few weeks time, I learned that writing was the area most were having trouble coming to grips with. This, apparently, seems to be the case with the majority of IELTS candidates around the world as well, as I've been seeing a lot of discussion on forums, social media groups and other online communities in general about the writing section on the IELTS exam lately . The overwhelming question is "How do they [the examiners] grade the writing?" and the usual post is one where an essay...

When I first started teaching students in preparation for university studies, I felt the need to explain to them why Literature isn't just a course you could do in the library, like some story-hour session with a kindergarten teacher. Many students had already seen what a Literature course was like in their mother tongue, and unfortunately next to no one saw the value of studying texts. That may have had to do with the way public and private school teachers had been directed to cover the subject matter since they were preparing students for nation-wide college admission examinations, but I'm digressing.  Whatever the case may have been, I was surprised to find that none of the students I'd had, had been asked to ponder the question of why anyone would add Literature to the list of 'scientific' university courses offered and why, in spite of all contradictory opinions regarding its worth, someone would choose to major in this field of knowledge. This last ques...