To prepare for an interview in a second language, write and rehearse your main answers aloud in that language, practise the follow-up questions as well as the answers, and learn a few phrases for asking for a repeat or finding a missing word. Know your real level before you start, because the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) describes in plain terms what a speaker at each level can do in an interview.
An interview in a second language, in this post, is any job interview held in a language you learned rather than grew up with: English or French for most WHO posts, or a second or third EU language for a post in Brussels.
What level do you need for a job interview?
The CEFR has a scale called “interviewing and being interviewed”, which its 2020 companion volume says covers job applications among other settings. Its descriptors make the difference between levels concrete:
| Level | What the CEFR says a speaker can do in an interview |
|---|---|
| B1 | Give the concrete information asked for, with limited precision; take some initiative, such as raising a new subject, but stay very dependent on the interviewer |
| B2 | Take the initiative, and expand and develop ideas with little help or prodding from the interviewer |
| C1 | Take part fully, expand and develop the point fluently without support, and handle interjections well |
Read the B1 line honestly. If you can answer but need the interviewer to lead every step, the interview will feel like a quiz. At B2 you can steer an answer and build on it, which is what a competency question asks for.
Which level do employers ask for?
Employers often set the level in the posting. The European Commission’s Blue Book traineeship asks for English, French or German at C1 or C2. The UN Secretariat’s application asks you to rate each language in reading, writing, speaking and understanding, and counts you as fluent only if all four are fluent. Listing languages and skills honestly covers how to describe your level on the application, and the interview is where that description is tested.
The CEFR also does not measure you against a native speaker. The companion volume says its top level, C2, has no relation to the performance of an idealised native speaker, and its 2020 grid speaks of “users of the target language” where the 2001 grid said “native speakers”.
Why are follow-up questions harder than prepared answers?
Because they test a different skill. The CEFR calls the distinction between production and interaction fundamental: production is a sustained monologue in long turns, and interaction is conversation in short turns. A prepared answer is production. The follow-up question, the interjection and the “can you give me another example?” are interaction.
Written preparation covers the first and not the second. At B2, the CEFR says, a speaker can communicate spontaneously with good grammatical control, without much sign of having to restrict what they want to say. That spontaneity is what follow-ups test, and it improves only with practice in real back-and-forth, not with memorised text.
How do you prepare for an interview in a second language?
Prepare the content in your own language first if that helps, then move it into the interview language and practise it out loud:
- Choose your examples. Pick six to eight real examples from your work for the requirements in the posting, as you would for any competency interview. STAR method interview answers shows the structure.
- Write them in the interview language. Use words you can say easily. A plain sentence you can deliver beats a fine one you stumble over.
- Learn the job’s vocabulary. Take the technical terms from the posting and the organisation’s own pages, and practise saying them, including any acronyms.
- Rehearse aloud and record yourself. Listen for the places where you stop to search for words, and simplify those sentences.
- Practise follow-ups. Ask a friend or colleague to interrupt with “why?”, “what would you do differently?” and “what was your own part?”. This is the interaction practice that written preparation misses.
- Prepare your questions for the panel. Two short questions, written and rehearsed, so the end of the interview is not improvised.
How to read a job posting helps you pick the requirements that your examples should answer.
What can you say when you are stuck?
Getting stuck is normal, and a calm recovery shows interaction skill. The CEFR’s C1 description includes overcoming gaps in vocabulary with circumlocution, which means describing the word you cannot find. Keep a few phrases ready:
- To hear the question again: “Could you repeat the question, please?”
- To check what was meant: “Do you mean my role in the project, or the team’s result?”
- To take a moment: “Let me think of a good example.”
- When a word is missing: describe it. “The document we send to suppliers before a tender, I am not sure of the exact term in French.”
- When you lose the thread: “To come back to your question, the result was…”
- When you make a mistake: “Sorry, I mean the second phase, not the first.”
Use them without apology. Checking and confirming information is part of what the CEFR expects even at B1, and asking once costs less than answering the wrong question.
A worked example: an answer and its follow-up
Take an illustrative interview in French for a logistics post. Your prepared answer describes how you reorganised a warehouse’s stock system, in about two minutes. The panel then asks: “Et si la direction avait refusé ?” (“And if management had refused?”). You did not prepare this.
A recovery could go: “Si je comprends bien, vous demandez ce que j’aurais fait sans l’accord de la direction ?” (“If I understand, you are asking what I would have done without management’s approval?”). That checks the question and gives you time. Then a short, plain answer: what you would have shown them, and what you would have tested on a small scale first. Two sentences of clear interaction do more for you than a long answer to a question you misheard.
What does the UN language exam test?
The UN Language Proficiency Examination (LPE) tests listening, reading, speaking and writing in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, online. Its exam page says it is based on UN Level III of the UN Language Framework, and that the spoken part involves no live interviewer.
- Parts. Listening and reading, 100 minutes; written production, 90 minutes; spoken production, 30 minutes.
- Pass mark. Each section is worth 25 points. You need at least 15 in each and at least 65 in total.
- Scoring. Graders score writing and speaking on task fulfilment, language range and appropriacy, and language accuracy, and no reference materials or translation tools are allowed.
It is not a test you can take before applying. The 2026 eligibility document says the LPE is for UN Secretariat staff at no cost and open to other UN common system staff on a cost recovery basis. The FAQ says interns may not take it, using a language at home does not count towards eligibility, and individuals cannot pay the fee themselves. For an outside candidate, the application, any tests and the interview are where your language is judged.
How can Zorlya help you prepare?
For a role in your Zorlya feed, interview prep writes eight questions for that role: three behavioural, three technical on the skills the posting asks for, and two on motivation and how you work. Each comes with a difficulty, a STAR outline drawn from your resume and a note on what the interviewer is really assessing. Use them as the questions your practice partner asks.
There is no setting to choose the language of the questions, and Zorlya’s instructions to the model are written in English. If your interview is in another language, translate the questions yourself and rehearse your answers in that language. Pricing shows what each plan includes.
Questions people ask
Is it acceptable to ask the interviewer to repeat a question?
Yes. Checking and confirming information is part of what the CEFR describes from B1 upwards, and answering a misheard question costs more than asking once.
Can I take the UN language exam before I apply?
No. The LPE is open to UN staff members, and the FAQ says interns may not take it. Outside candidates show their level in the application, the tests and the interview.
Does C2 mean I speak like a native speaker?
No. The CEFR companion volume says C2 has no relation to the performance of an idealised native speaker.
Should I memorise my answers word for word?
Memorise the examples and the key phrases, not whole answers. Follow-up questions test interaction, and a memorised text breaks down when the panel interrupts.
What we know and what we do not
The CEFR descriptors come from the Council of Europe’s 2001 framework and 2020 companion volume. The Council of Europe’s website blocked our requests, so we used the documents on its document server. The LPE rules come from the UN’s language pages and their 2026 eligibility document. Neither source gives advice on preparing for an interview, so the preparation steps and phrases above are our own, built on the CEFR’s descriptions. We found no official equivalent between the CEFR levels and UN Level III, so we give none.