Many business professionals all over the world are preparing to enter a global workforce by enrolling in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Teachers for these ESL business classes should focus on words, phrases and skills that professionals will need in situations like interviews and board meetings, as well as skills for writing cover letters, resumes and applications.

The Interview
Divide the class into three groups. Each group will alternate being a committee of employers while the other two groups act as workers coming in for an interview. Choose a business field and the type of job the applicants are seeking (IT manager, hotel clerk, secretary, etc.) and then give each group 10 minutes to prepare. The hiring committee must prepare questions for the applicants as well as general information about the company and the job, while the applicants write down a short resume or list of their qualifications. Each applicant has five minutes in front of the committee to ask and answer questions. Afterwards, the committee confers for two minutes, then announces who got the job and why. Switch to allow a new group to be the committee, until each student has played both roles.

Cover Letter Match
Give each student a different resume template, such as a teacher resume, a chef resume, or an engineer resume. Students have 10 to 15 minutes to write a cover letter based on their resume, including an introduction, the body that explains their qualifications and a closing paragraph. Afterwards, gather all of the resumes and cover letters and shuffle them. Divide the class into two teams: employers and applicants. Give each employer a resume; this is the applicant he is looking for. Give each applicant a cover letter. Applicants travel from employer to employer, answering questions based on their cover letter, until they find their match. Switch so that each student has a chance to be both an employer and an applicant.

Charts and Graphs
Before class, prepare a couple of standard business charts and graphs, or print a few from the BogglesWorld ESL website. Spend 10 minutes of lesson time explaining to students how to read charts and graphs, and introduce English business terms like "peaked," "dropped" and "quarter." Divide students into groups or teams. Choose a chart and ask a specific question, such as "Were profits better in the third quarter or the fourth quarter?" The first group or team to answer correctly wins a point. Continue until one team reaches 10 points to win.