Job interview: Strengths and weaknesses

🇮🇹 This phrase is a staple of Italian CVs and job ads, often in the form capacità di lavorare in squadra "teamwork skills".

💬 qual è has no apostrophe, even though it looks like it should. Writing qual'è is a very common mistake, even among Italians.

💬 debole means "weak" and stays the same for masculine and feminine. Only the plural changes: i punti deboli "weak points".

💬 volte is literally "times", as in tre volte "three times". So a volte is like "at times".

💬 perfezionista ends in -a but works for both men and women. In the plural it becomes perfezionisti or perfezioniste.

🇮🇹 Italian recruiters know this answer as well as English-speaking ones do. Pairing it with how you manage it, as below, makes it land better.

💬 capisco literally means "I understand". Before e or i, sc sounds like English sh: (ka-PEE-sko), but capisce is (ka-PEE-sheh).

💬 lo "it" goes before the verb, not after. Same pattern: lo faccio "I do it", lo so "I know it".

💬 do "I give" has no accent, but dà "he/she gives" does. Write mi dà for "he gives me".

💬 delle is di + le, and here it means "some". Same with masculine words: dei colleghi "some colleagues".

💬 In chiedo, ch sounds like a hard k: (KYEH-doh). Italian uses ch to keep the k sound before e and i.

💬 Italian asks help "to" someone, so you use a. Here a + i merges into ai.

💬 Le is the formal "to you", the same word as "to her". Context, and often a capital L, tell you it means you.

💬 entro means "by" or "within" a deadline. Same pattern: entro domani "by tomorrow".

💬 entro means "by" or "within" a deadline. For example, entro domani is "by tomorrow" and entro un mese is "within a month".

🇮🇹 This is the standard end-of-interview line. In Italy, follow-up isn't always prompt, so a polite email after the stated date is acceptable.

🇮🇹 This is more formal than grazie, and it's well suited to closing an interview. Use it with the interviewer, not with friends.

💬 tempo means both "time" and "weather". For example, che tempo fa? means "what's the weather like?".

💬 To say what you're thanking someone for, use per. For example, la ringrazio per l'opportunità means "thank you for the opportunity".

🇮🇹 This is the polite goodbye to use with an interviewer. Ciao would be far too casual here.

💬 giornata is the day as something you live through, while giorno is the day as a date. Similarly, buona serata means "have a nice evening".

🇮🇹 Arrivederci is the polite goodbye for an interview. Save ciao for people you speak to as tu.