Unit 11 Work History 11.1 Finding someone a job (1) Grammar Complete this list of irregular verbs. Present Past simple Present Past simple  am  go   is  have   are  leave   become   made   began  said   came see   do  take    got  thought   (2) Grammar Read this text. Then fill in the blanks with the correct form of the past simple. Use verbs from the table in Exercise 1. What do you do if you have a castle on the west coast of France and no money to maintain it? Mme de la Sabliere (1) wasn’t short of ideas. In 1989 she (2) ________ on a management course, (3) ________ a bank loan and (4) ________ to Paris to fins a top chef. When she (5) ________ her business, many people (6) ________ she (7) ________ mad. They (8) ________ believe that she would be successful. But by 1999, her hotel and restaurant (9) ________ a turnover of 12 million francs. (3) Reading and Listening These sentences are a summary of Eliud Mbogua’s career. Put them into the correct order. a □ Took a management course after leaving Siemens. b □ Got his first job at Siemens. c □ The bank lent him money to start a business. d □ Worked for Siemens for five years. e □ Two months after he got the bank loan he left Siemens. f □ Left university in 1992. Now listen to Eliud Mbogue talking about his career and check your answers. 11.2 Talking about your career (1) Vocabulary Siobhan Murphy is writing her CV and has made some notes. Put these in the appropriate section of the CV to help her complete it. Business Studies, Dublin University Joined IBM Good computer skills Got a job at AIB Traveled in Australia for 9 months Part-time job at supermarket Studied French Speaks French and Italian Course in Information Technology   Curriculum Vitae Name Siabhan Mulphy Education Business Studies, Dublin University Work experience Other information   (2) Listening Listen to Siobhan at an interview. Check your answers to Exercise 1, and add the dates to her CV. (3) Writing Look at Siobhan’s answers, and then write your questions. YOU: _______________________________________________________________ SIOBHAN: I wanted to travel, so I went to Australia for nine months after I left university. YOU: _______________________________________________________________ SIOBHAN: I worked at a local supermarket at weekends and during breaks. YOU: _______________________________________________________________ SIOBHAN: I worked there for two years, from 1993 to 1995 YOU: _______________________________________________________________ SIOBHAN: I wanted a job with more responsibility. YOU: _______________________________________________________________ SIOBHAN: I started there in 1995. YOU: _______________________________________________________________ SIOBHAN: I can speak French and Italian, and took a course in Information Technology. 11.3 Describing your first job (1) Vocabulary Read these notes about Eileen Horne’s first job. Then decide whether they are about the hours (H), the people (P) or the work itself (W). 1 The work was very interesting. 2 I did a lot of overtime. □ 3 I learnt a lot. □ 4 I didn’t get on with my boss. □ 5 I sometimes had to work on Saturdays. □ 6 I worked with nice, interesting people. □ 7 I had a lot of contact with my colleagues. □ 8 It was hard work. □ (2) Vocabulary Find sentences in Exercise 1 with a similar meaning to these sentences. a I liked my colleagues. □ b The work was very demanding. □ c The training was excellent. □ d I occasionally worked at the weekends. □ e I often worked late. □ (3) Writing Complete this paragraph about yourself. I was born in ________________________________ (place) I went to school in ____________________________ (place) When I left school I ___________________________ (training). After that I _________________________________ My first job was as a __________________________ (position) I liked _____________________________________ (something about the job) because ____________________________________ (reason) I didn’t like _________________________________ (something about the job) because ____________________________________ (reason) now I work as a _____________________________ (position) References 11.1 1 Present Past simple Present Past simple  am was go went  is was have had  are were leave left  become became make made  begin began say said  come came see saw  do did take took  get got think thought  2 2 went 3 got 4 went 5 began 6 thought 7 was 8 didn’t 9 had 3 2b 3d 4c 5e 6a When I left school I went to university here in Nairobi. I studied electronics and communications. I finished studying in 1992 and then I got my first job. That was with Siemens. I stayed there for five years. With the growth of the Internet, I decided that I wanted to have my own business as a consultant to people wanting to set up websites. I went to the bank, and they loaned me some money. Two mouths after I got this, I left Siemens and took a management course at Kenya College of Communications Technology. This was a short course which taught me how to run my own communications business. My business is now doing very well, and I have five people working for me. 11.2 1/2 the completed CV should look like this: Curriculum Vitae Name Siabhan Mulphy Education 1998-1992 Business Studies, Dublin University 1994-5 studied French 1997-9 course in Information Technology Work experience 1995 Joined IBM 1993 Got a job at AIB 1988-1992 Part-time job at supermarket Other information Good computer skills Speaks French and Italian Travelled in Australia for 9 months  BRENDA: Hello, Siobhan, nice to meet you. SIOBHAN: Hello, nice to meet you, too. BRENDA: I'd like to start by going through your application form, and checking a few dates. I see that you did Business Studies at Dublin University. SIOBHAN: Yes, I was at university from 1988 to 1992. BRENDA: Fine. And I see that you've studied French and Information Technology at evening school. SIOBHAN: That's right. I studied French from 1994 to 1995. I already knew some French from school, but I needed it at work so I took a refresher course. I took a two-year part-time course in Information Technology from 1997 to 1999. BRENDA: I'm sure that it will be very useful！Now, tell me about your work experience. SIOBHAN: Well, at present I'm working for IBM. I started there in 1995. Before that, I worked at AIB—it was my first job after university. I worked there for two years and I really enjoyed it, but I wanted a job with more responsibility. BRENDA: But you left university in 1992. What did you do between university and AIB？ SIOBHAN: I wanted to travel, so I went to Australia for nine months after I left university. My parents helped me by paying for my flight, and I did some part-time jobs while I was there. It was a great experience! BRENDA: How interesting. I also see that you worked at a supermarket while you were at university. SIOBHAN: Yes, I worked at a local supermarket at weekends and during breaks. BRENDA: Fine. Do you have any other experience or skills? SIOBHAN: Well, in addition to French I also speak Italian, and I have good computer skills—you know, word processing and spreadsheets. BRENDA: Excellent. Now, could I ask you a bit more about… 3 Suggested answers 1 What did you do after (you left) university? 2 Did you do any part-time work when you were at university? 3 How long did you work at AIB? 4 Why did you leave AIB? 5 When did you join IBM? 6 Do you have any other experience or skills? 11.3 1 1W 2H 3W 4P 5H 6P 7P 8W 2 a6 b8 c3 d5 e2