[Grammar] PPC

Will17 said:

Hello!

1-Is the use of the present perfect continuous correct in this case?:

"In a job interview, it's always good to show that you've been working before the job you're applying for". The PPC is OK but the sentence is a bit awkward. It's not very clear what you want to say.


2-Can we ever use a time reference in the past with the PPC?

For instance, can we say: "What have you been doing last week-end?" No.

Thank you.
W

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bhaisahab said:

.

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My first thought was that it is implausible for one to be performing a task just before they tell people about it in an interview. Having considered it twice, I realised it actually possible. Suppose a bloke wants to work for another company which happens to be situated beside his company. He can actually count the time and keep on working until the very last minute before rush out of his company and into the nrighbouring company. Then the bloke is able to use the OP's first sentence, just in time. Although I doubt anyone would practically want to do that.

And, this is probably not the sense of word work the OP meant in his sentence. By work, he probably wanted to mean to have a job or to be employed. The more experiences one has, the more likely the interviewers will be in favour this person.

Then again, the interviewees is usually expected to have knowledge in a specific field, as they apply for a position related to the field. In this case, a interviewee's only having had a job before the interview is not sufficient for him to sucure his seeked position, regardless of whether they still have a job in another place or not, and even how many years of experiences they have.

To make the sentence clear, it can be rewritten as following:

In a job interview, it's always good to show that you've been working in the same field as the position you apply for.

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cubezero3 said:

Hello, bhaisahab.

I've tried to work out what you thought before you replied here above. I fully understand that it's heavy labour to read every post, contemplate and put down replies. I spend three hours catching up with all the posts and am struggling to do so. And I merely need to read them all.

So what I expect here is only a quick affirmation or disapproval. If you can put down a few brief remarks, that will be so great.

So, here we go:



Thanks

Richard

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Will17 said:

In a job interview, it's always good to show that you've been working in the same field as the position you apply for.

Can't we use the present continuous in this case?

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bhaisahab said:

Yes, you can, if you want to say that you are currently working in that field.

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Will17 said:

I thougth the use of the present continuous would be necessary because we say "in a job interview", am I wrong?

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