Personal qualities
In order to be considered suitable for a job, employers need to know more about your personal qualities.
Was für eine Person sind Sie?– What sort of a person are you?
How would you describe yourself in a job interview?
You could use some of these A word used to describe a person or thing..
Hilfsvokabeln - Helpful vocabulary
Adjectives of character
- fleißig – hard-working
- freundlich – friendly
- geduldig – patient
- gut gelaunt – good-humoured
- gut organisiert – well organised
- hilfsbereit – helpful
- humorvoll – humorous
- nett – nice
- praktisch – practical
- sympatisch – pleasant, likeable
- vernünftig – sensible
- zuverlässig – reliable
You could add an A word that adds intensity to another adjective, adverb or verb, eg 'very'. Intensifiers often have little meaning when used on their own. to make your description more accurate.
Hilfsvokabeln - Helpful vocabulary
Intensifiers
- ein bisschen – a bit
- ganz – quite
- immer – always
- manchmal – sometimes
- meistens – mostly
- oft – often
- sehr – very
- total – completely, totally
- wirklich – really
- ziemlich – fairly
Question
How would you say: I’m always reliable and also very well organised?
Ich bin immer zuverlässig und auch sehr gut organisiert.
Question
How would you say: I’m fairly sensible and mostly good-humoured?
Ich bin ziemlich vernünftig und meistens gut gelaunt.
Listen to Anne talking about her family's jobs and personalities, and answer the questions.
Question
- Why does she want to be a technician?
- Why is her father fit?
- Why is her mother suited to her job as office manager?
- What is her brother's job?
- What did her grandfather used to do and why was he suited to it?
- What did her grandmother used to do and why was she suited to it?
- She is very practical. – sehr praktisch.
- He is a postman and has to walk a lot every day. – mein Vater ist Briefträger und muss sehr viel laufen.
- She is very well-organised – sehr gut organisiert.
- He is a hairdresser. – er ist Friseur.
- He is nice and pleasant and used to be a nurse. – mein Opa war Krankenpfleger. Er ist sehr nett und sympathisch.
- She used to be a teacher. She is very patient. – meine Oma war Lehrerin. Sie ist sehr geduldig.
Did you know?
Wie sind die Deutschsprachigen? – What are the people in German-speaking countries like?
We often stereotype people from different countries, but this is how people from German-speaking countries see themselves:
The Germans: punctual, well organised, precise, but pessimistic.
Die Deutschen: pünktlich, gut organisiert, gründlich, aber pessimisitisch.
The Swiss: punctual, orderly, clean, but can't queue.
Die Schweizer: pünktlich, ordentlich, sauber, aber können nicht Schlange stehen.
The Austrians: punctual, charming, humorous, but can be negative.
Die Österreicher: pünktlich, charmant, humorvoll, aber können negativ sein.
