/01
“You say yes, and then stand in front of a till you cannot open.”
Asking while he is still there
The questions you do not ask in the first two minutes become the questions you cannot ask at all. Knowing which ones matter is most of the skill.
Your first shift, rehearsed out loud
1
person runs this conversation
5 min
The shortest conversation
The till, the fridge log, and three other things needing him. You have about ninety seconds of his attention and then you are on your own.
B1 · workingB2 · confident
What actually happens
Five things people say before they start.
One of them is usually the real reason. What sits underneath it is what actually gets scored.
/02
“You have three instructions and remember the first.”
Repeating the instruction back
So the fridge log is every two hours, in the book by the door. Ten seconds, and it is the difference between being told and knowing.
/03
“You would rather guess than ask twice.”
Saying you did not follow
On a first shift this feels like an admission. It is the opposite: it is the only thing that stops the mistake that actually gets noticed.
/04
“You take every shift you are offered because asking is worse.”
Asking for a change
A shift swap, a different day. A separate conversation and a harder one, and there is a scenario for exactly it.
Not the situation you need?
Bring the real thing: the job description, the date on the letter, the words the school used. Everyone who runs your first shift will work from what you actually walked in with.
How a first conversation worksWho you will be talking to
Your first shift, with 1 of these 1.
In whichever order helps. The first 5 minutes with a free partner cost nothing, so you can talk to two of them before you choose.
5 min freeYour first shiftWhat it costs
One price a minute, whoever you talk to.
A harder conversation simply runs longer. The shortest way to rehearse your first shift is 5 min.
You pay for the seconds you talk, and the minutes come off a balance you already hold. Nothing renews, and you are never sent a bill. Plans and refunds.
B1 · working
9 min
is how long a conversation at this difficulty runs
A friendly manager who is genuinely busy and explains things once.
- Minutes of talking in total
- 54
- What that costs here
- $24
- The same minutes with a tutor
- $300
- You do not spend
- −$276
At $50 an hour, rounded up to the 60-minute booking nobody will sell you less than.
Your first 5 minutes
What 5 free minutes are for.
01
Free, eight minutes
Frank is one of the warm doors into the catalog and the session costs nothing.
The terms, in full
- Free
- 5 minutes
- No card asked for
02
Ask three questions
Decide which three before you start. The scenario is written around exactly that pressure.
Paid for out of your free minutes
- Asking while he is still there
- Repeating the instruction back
- Saying you did not follow
- Asking for a change
Questions
What people ask before they start.
Nearby
What people open next.
The rest of Everyday life first, then everything else at the same difficulty.
All the situationsBehind the counter
B1 · workingB2 · confidentAn order said once, at full speed, with two modifications and a queue.1 personfrom 5 minThe neighbour
B1 · workingB2 · confidentWarm, fast, and impossible to escape without saying something.1 personfrom 6 minYour child's school
B2 · confidentC1 · advancedTen minutes with a teacher, and everything you did not ask is a year of their schooling.2 peoplefrom 8 min
B1 · workingB2 · confidentAn order said once, at full speed, with two modifications and a queue.1 personfrom 5 minThe neighbourB1 · workingB2 · confidentWarm, fast, and impossible to escape without saying something.1 personfrom 6 minYour child's schoolB2 · confidentC1 · advancedTen minutes with a teacher, and everything you did not ask is a year of their schooling.2 peoplefrom 8 min