Unit 13 Jobs and Careers 13.1 Who should we short-list? Listening & note-taking A. Before you listen to the recording, look at this advertisement and decide what kind of person the advertiser is looking for. Highlight the important points in the ad. B. You’ll hear three telephone messages. Each of the speakers has held interviews with applicants for the job. Listen and take notes. You’ll need to pause the recording frequently. Compare your notes with the notes in the Answer Key. Decide which of the job applicants sounds most promising: which of them will you put on the short list for a second interview in London? Which of the three candidates do you rate most highly, judging from what you’ve heard about them? If possible, compare your views with another student who has done this exercise. 13.2 Have a nice day Reading Read this article and then fill each gap below with one word. Many workers in service industries are _________ badly and their work is __________. Service firms with large numbers of low-paid workers often have a high staff _________. Cole National conducted a __________ among its staff, because they wanted to recruit and __________ better workers. Staff replied that they wanted their managers to show that they were __________. Marriot discovered that customers are happier when the staff are __________ and _________ motivated. They found that most of their workers were __________ mainly motivated by pay. For most US shop workers pay is the _________ most important reason for job satisfaction. 13.3 Employment Vocabulary Fill the gaps in these sentences. In American English, you ___________ an application form. She’s going to make engineering her __________. Are we going to __________ a new sales manager? He was the most promising __________ for the job. The past tense of seek is ___________. All our production workers are paid top __________. The applicants will be interviewed by the __________ of directors. Mr and Mrs Smith supplement their __________ by renting out rooms. A well-prepared __________ will do well at any interview. The applicants were interviewed by a __________ of three managers. If you’re __________ you’re your own boss. Could you explaining to me what the __________ of the job are? How much __________ will I have to pay? What is your present annual __________? A company car, subsidized meals or low-interest loans are all __________. 13.4 On … Prepositional phrases Fill the gaps in these sentences with a suitable prepositional phrase from the list below. They produce this kind of material on a large scale so they should be able to supply us quickly. You will fond our new product __________ at our showroom. We have a sales engineer _________ who can fix the fault this week. We can supply samples and demonstration equipment __________. We have had the goods __________ for three months, but they haven’t arrived yet. We accepted delivery of the goods as undamaged, but __________ we find that five of the components are unusable. I spoke to him __________ last week about this. We can have the goods for four weeks __________. Then we can return them or pay for them. The goods arrived __________. He traveled to England __________ but managed to do a little sightseeing while he was there. I’m afraid Ms Smith is __________ till the end of the month. Can I help you? We can offer you the job __________ that you start work on the first of next month. This candidate doesn’t look very good __________ but she is very impressive in person. You can’t keep this permanently, but you may have it __________ till the end of the month. She signed the letter __________ her boss. Our relocation plans are proceeding __________ and we will be making the move on January 1 next year. 13.5 High-flyers Listening You’ll hear part of a broadcast about high-flyers ---- people who will be given special training and experience to make them into the top managers of tomorrow. Answer these multiple-choice questions about the information and opinions given in the recording. According to the presenter … 1) High-flyer schemes are _____ found in all kinds of companies. most common in multinational companies. common in large companies. 2) In a large company _____ only a high-flyer can climb the promotion ladder more quickly. a bright person can quickly climb the promotion ladder even if there is no high-flyer scheme. the career structure is normally quite flexible. 3) A member of a high-flyer scheme will _____ obtain wide experience in different departments. already have wide experience in different fields. become a specialist in his or her chosen field. According to Rod Scott … 4) BP _____ is the world’s largest multinational company. has about 130,000 employees worldwide. has about 130,000 employees in the UK. 5) There are _____ people participating in BP’s “individual development program”. a. 130 b. 180 c.260 6) BP’s high-flyers join the scheme when _____ they have just joined the group. they have been with the group for ten years. they have already shown their potential. According to Heather Stewart … 7) A high-flyer scheme may _____ produce a management team who can work well together. lead to a lack of flexibility in the management team. prevent the business from changing. 8) A company with a high-flyer scheme tends _____ to be less competitive. not to recruit senior staff from outside the company. to lose good managers, who leave to join their competitors. 9) High-flyer schemes tend not to recognize the importance of _____ academic qualifications. people who join the company later. the experience and knowledge of older people. 10) Women managers are excluded from high-flyer schemes because _____ they are expected to leave to have babies. they prefer to have babies instead of a career. this is the age they are most likely to have babies. 11) Other able, enthusiastic managers ____ consider high-flyers to be better than them. lose their motivation. leave the company if they aren’t selected as high-flyers. 12) In medium-size companies high-flyer schemes _____ are usually experimental. are unpopular. are unnecessary because the career structure is flexible. References 13.1 Who should we short-list? Suggested answers REPORT FROM: GUS MORRISON IN GLASCOW Best candidate: Duncan McCabe Age: 21 Education: Graduate of Edinburgh University (MA in modern languages) Languages: Speaks fluent French and quite good German Work experience: Publicity department of Glasgow City Council (about a year) Personality: Very pleasant, a bit shy when you first talk to him, but when you get to know him he has a lovely sense of humor Availability: Not available until September 1st Suitability: Very bright and eager and he’d fit in well with your people down in London Address: 145 Pentland Gardens, Glasgow, C5 8TG Phone: 041 667 8092 REPORT FROM: LAURA STEELE IN SHEFFIELD Best candidate: Mrs Slyvia Sabbatini Age: 25 Education: Paper qualifications not all that good: left at 16 to do secretarial course Languages: Speaks Italian fluently (father Italian, mother English) Work experience: Johnson Brothers in Marketing since leaving school Personality: Lovely personality ---- very cheerful and bright Availability: Husband has just got a job in London, so able to start work in London right away Suitability: Very intelligent young woman ---- she impressed me very much Address: 78 Pennine Avenue, Huddersfield, LS34 7QT Phone: 0484 078432 REPORT FROM: TERRY WILLIAMS IN CARDIFF Best candidate: Miss Emma Harris Age: 20 Education: Had right exam results to get into university, but decided to go into industry Languages: Speaks Spanish and French (not exactly fluent, but so confident this doesn’t matter) Work experience: Working in marketing for small light engineering firm, had become Export Marketing Manager. Firm taken over and she was made redundant ---- they decided to close her department. Personality: Full of confidence, makes friends easily Availability: No ties here, could start work next week if you wanted Suitability: Has really good potential ---- would work well in a team Address: 214 Gower Road, Swansea, SA2 4PJ Phone: 0792 98672 Transcript Gus Morrison: Good afternoon. This is Gus Morrison calling from Glasgow. Now, most of the people I’ve talked to today have been pretty hopeless. One of them was obviously lying when he filled in the application form. Do you know, he claimed to speak German, but when I started talking to him in German, he couldn’t understand! Well, now, the best of the bunch was er … where is it … er Duncan McCabe (that’s D-U-C-A-N M-c-C-A-B-E). He’s quite young, he’s only 21 and he’s graduate of Edinburgh …Edinburgh University. He’s got an MA and it’s in modern languages. Now, he’s been working for the publicity department of Glasgow City Council for about a year. He speaks fluent French and his German is quite good too. He’s a very pleasant lad, he seems a bit shy when you first talk to him, but when you get to know him he’s got a lovely sense of humor, and I think he’s very bright, he’s very eager and I think he’d fit in well with your people down in London. Now unfortunately he’s not available until September 1st. But if you want to contact with him, his address is 145 Pentland (I’ll spell that, that’s P-E-N-T-L-A-N-D) Pentland Gardens, Glasgow, and the postcode is G5 8TG, and his phone number is 041 667 8092. Laura Steele: Hello, this is Laura Steele, I’m calling from Shefield. I’ve spent this morning interviewing four candidates and the best one is a Mrs Sylvia Sabbatini (that’s S-Y-L-V-I-A S-A-B-B-A-T-I-N-I). Now, she’s 25, she’s married and has been working for Johnson Brothers, in Marketing since leaving school. She has a lovely personality ---- very cheerful and bright. She speaks Italian fluently (her father is Italian, her mother is English). Her qualification on paper are not all that good, she left school at 16 to do a secretarial course, but she’s very intelligent young woman ---- she impressed me very much. She’s been married for two years, no children, and her husband has just got a job in London, so she’d be able to start work in London more or less right away. Her address is 78 Pennine Avenue, Pennine (P-E-N-N-I-N-E) Avenue, Huddersfield (that’s H-U-D-D-E-R-S-F-I-E-L-D), and the postcode is LS34 7QT. Her telephone number is 0484 078432. Terry Williams: Hello, this Terry Williams calling from Cardiff. I’ve just finished a very frustrating day interviewing people for you. There were really only two applicants that you should have invited for interview and I discovered after half an hour that one of them isn’t available: he’d already accepted another job but decided to come to the interview anyway! So the only person I have to tell you about is Miss Emma Harris (that’s E-M-M-A H-A-R-R-I-S). She is only 20 but she has really good potential. She had all the right exam results to get into university when she left school, but decided to go into industry. She speaks Spanish and French, though she’s not exactly fluent in either, but she’s so confident I don’t think that matters. She’s been working in marketing for a small light engineering firm and she had just become their Export Marketing Manager when the firm was taken over and she was made redundant because they decided to close her department. She is full of confidence, makes friends easily and she would work well in a team. She has no ties here, and she could start next week if you wanted. I think she’d be a real find and you should get in touch with here right away. Her address is 214 Gower Road (that’s G-O-W-E-R), Swansea (S-W-A-N-S-E-A), SA2 4PJ. Her phone number is 0792 98762. All right. Ah, cheerio them. 13.2 Have a nice day 1. paid unrewarding / dull 2. turnover 3. survey keep 4. appreciated 5. loyal well / highly not 6. third 13.3 Employment 1. fill out 2. career 3. appoint 4. applicant 5. sought 6. wages 7. board 8. income 9. candidate 10. panel 11. self-employed 12. responsibilities 13. tax 14 salary 15. fringe benefit 13.4 On … 2. on display 3. on the spot 4. on request 5. on order 6. on closer inspection 7. on the phone 8. on approval 9. on time 10. on business 11. on vacation / on holiday 12. on condition 13. on paper 14. on loan 15. on behalf of 16. on schedule 13.5 High-flyers Presenter: 1) c 2) a 3) a Rod Scott: 4) b 5) c 6) c Heather Stewart: 7) b 8) b 9) c 10) c 11) b 12) b Transcript Presenter: … the first high-flyer schemes were introduced in the 1960s and now many sectors of commerce, industry and the civil service pick out their most promising younger managers as “high-flyers”. You find schemes of this kind mostly in large companies or groups of companies, where the fairly rigid career structure can only be broken by by-passing the normal steps in the promotion ladder. It can take a company many years to develop a top-level manager, if he or she joins them straight from university. Such people must obtain wide experience in different parts of the company and this can take up to 20 years. This means that someone who joins the firm from university works for the company in different capacities, and is identified as a high-flyer, can expect to reach top management at around the age of 40. Rod Scott has been looking at what is called the “individual development program” at BP. Rod Scott: BP is one of the largest multinational companies in the world. It employs 130,000 people. It has 260 managers involved in its own “individual development program” who will compete for 180 senior positions in the group. They don’t join the scheme until they are in their late 20s, by which time they will have established themselves in their special field, they will have built up their professional reputation and they will have a record of high performance. While they’re on the scheme (and this lasts 5 to 10 years), their progress is supervised by a committee of 15 senior managers. One of the main purposes of the scheme is to provide them with experience outside their own field ---- in finance, working in an overseas division, or experience in information technology. Presenter: But high-flyer schemes have their drawbacks, according to Heather Stewart, a management consultant. Heather Stewart: One weakness is that you may be creating a management team who think and act in the same ways. That means, if your business changes, they may not be able to meet the challenges. As outsiders tend to be excluded as senior recruits, the company may be cutting itself off from a pool of talent which their competitors can draw on. Another problem is that late-starters are also excluded ---- not everyone is at their peak in their 20s and such qualities as experience and in-depth knowledge may be undervalued. Another weakness is that women are often excluded from high-flyer schemes, since schemes identify high-flyers at the very time when women are most likely to have children: they are forced to choose between career and family. Worst of al though is the resentment that high-flyers create among other managers who aren’t chosen to be high-flyers. Developing a sort of elite, a chosen few, within an organization is quite simply bad for company morale ---- it makes everyone else feel they are being undervalued and takes away their enthusiasm and dedication ---- and clearly this is counter-productive. This is particularly noticeable in medium-sized companies, where high-flyer schemes seem to be particularly controversial and divisive. There have been various experiments …