13 Jobs and careers
13.2 Who should we short-list?
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.
Assistant Marketing Manager
We are a well-known international manufacturer, based in the UK, and
we are expanding our export marketing activities in our European
headquarters in London.
We are looking for a lively and intelligent person to join our team
as soon as possible. The work will involve working in our London
office, telephoning and corresponding with our overseas clients and
agents, and some travel, mainly to European countries. Applicants
should be fluent in at least one foreign language. Experience in
marketing would be an asset but not essential. The successful
applicant will be paid top London rates and provided with generous
removal expenses.
B You'll hear three telephone messages. Each of the speakers has held
interviews with applicants for the job.
1 Listen and take notes. You'll need to pause the recording
frequently.
2 Compare your notes with the notes in the Answer Key.
3 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.
REPORT FROM :
Best candidate: ______ Age:______
Education :______
Languages :______
Work experience:______
Personality:______
Availability :______
Suitability:______
Address :______
Phone :______
13.3 Abstract nouns Word-building
Use a dictionary to look up any unfamiliar words in these exercises.
A Verbs nouns
1 Abstract nouns can be formed from many verbs by adding -merit or tion.
Look at these examples:
-ment -tion
manage management connect connection
improve improvement classify classification
duplicate duplication
educate education
2 What are the noun forms of these verbs? Only write down the ones
which are unfamiliar or which you're unsure of.
acknowledge achieve agree announce arrange develop endorse judge
measure repay
adapt alter apply authorize cancel centralize confirm consult declare
determine devalue imagine modify recommend specialize
appreciate arbitrate calculate collaborate co-operate eliminate
fluctuate
integrate locate speculate
attract collect contribute correct deduct delete interrupt pollute
predict protect reduce
3 Abstract nouns are formed from some verbs by adding -al or -ance.
Look at these examples:
-al -ance
arrive arrival accept acceptance
withdraw withdrawal appear appearance
refuse refusal assist assistance
perform performance
B Adjectives nouns
1 Nouns can be formed from adjectives by adding -ness, -ence or -ity.
Look at these examples:
-ness -ence -ity
aware awareness negligent negligence able ability
bright brightness insistent insistence available availability
2 What are the noun forms of these adjectives? Only write down the
ones which are unfamiliar or which you're unsure of.
calm careless cheap friendly helpful late loud serious
confident intelligent patient different
capable flexible formal possible probable popular real reliable
scarce
sincere
13.4 Have a nice day
Read this article and then fill each gap below with one word.
Have a nice day
Hotel, shop and restaurant chains, which employ thousands of people
in low-paid, dead-end jobs, are discovering that high labour turnover
rates resulting from the indiscriminate hiring of "cheap" workers can
be extremely costly.
Cole National, a Cleveland-based firm which owns Child World, Things
Remembered and other speciality shops, declared a "war for people" in
an effort to recruit and keep better staff.
Employees were asked: What do you enjoy about working here? In the
past year, have you thought about leaving? If so, why? How can we
improve our company and create an even better place to work?
Employees replied they wanted better training, better communications
with their supervisors and, above all, wanted their bosses to "make
me feel like I make a difference". Labour turnover declined by more
than half; for full time sales assistants, it declined by about a
third.
Marriott Corporation, a hotels and restaurants group, has also
decided to spend more money on retaining employees in the hope of
spending less on finding and training new ones. In one year, it had
to hire no fewer than 27,000 workers to fill 8,800 hourly- paid job
slots.
To slow its labour turnover, Marriott had to get a simple message
accepted throughout its operating divisions: loyal, well motivated
employees make customers happy and that, in turn, creates fatter
profits and happier shareholders, hnpruved training of middle
managers helped. So did a change in bonus arrange- ments.
At the same time, Marriott became more fussy about the people it
recruited. It screened out job appli- cants motivated mainly by money:
applicants which the company pejoratively described as "pay first
people". Such people form a surprisingly small, though apparently
disruptive, part of the service-industry workforce. Marriott found in
its employee-attitude surveys that only about 20% of its workers at
Roy Rogers restaurants and about 30% of its workers at Marriott
hotels regarded pay as their primary reason for working there.
Many middle managers in service industries are more comfortable
coping with demands for more money than with demands for increased
recognition and better communica- tions. They will have to change
their ways. Surveys say that when 13,000 employees in retail shops
across America were asked to list in order the 18 reasons for working
where they did, they ranked "good pay" third. In first place was
"appreciation of work done", with "respect for me as a person" second.
1 Many workers in service industries are ______ badly and their work
is______
2 Service firms with large numbers of low-paid workers often have a
high staff______
3 Cole National conducted a ______ among its staff, because they
wanted to recruit and ______ better workers.
4 Staff replied that they wanted their managers to show that they
were______
5 Marriott discovered that customers are happier when the staff are
______ and ______ motivated. They found that most of their workers
were______ mainly motivated by pay.
6 For most US shop workers pay is the ______ most important reason
for job satisfaction.
13.5 Employment
Fill the gaps in these sentences, then add the words to the puzzle
below.
13.6 On ...
Fill the gaps in these sentences with a suitable prepositional phrase
from the list below.
1 They produce this kind of material on a large scale so they should
be able to supply us quickly.
2 You will find our new product ______ at our showroom.
3 We have a sales engineer ______ who can fix the fault this week.
4 We can supply samples and demonstration equipment ______
5 We have had the goods ______ for three months, but they haven't
arrived yet.
6 We accepted delivery of the goods as undamaged, but ______ we find
that five ot the components are unusable.
7 I spoke to him ______ last week about this.
8 We can have the goods for four weeks ______ Then we can return them
or pay for them.
9 The goods arrived ______
10 He travelled to England ______ but managed to do a little
sightseeing while he was there.
11 I'm afraid Ms Smith is ______ till the end of the month - can I
help you?
12 We can offer you the job ______ that you start work on the first
of next month.
13 This candidate doesn't look very good ______ but she is very
impressive in person.
14 You can't keep this permanently, but you may have it ______ till
the end of the month.
15 She signed the letter ______ her boss.
16 Our relocation plans are proceeding ______ and we will be making
the move on January 1 next year.
on a large scale on approval on behalf of on business on closer
inspection
on condition on display on loan on order on paper on the phone on
request on schedule
on the spot on time on vacation /on holiday
13.7 High-flyers
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 ...
a) found in all kinds of companies.
b) most common in multinational companies.
c) common in large companies.
2 In a large company ...
a) only a high-flyer can climb the promotion ladder more quickly.
b) a bright person can quickly climb the promotion ladder even if
there is no high-flyer scheme.
c) the career structure is normally quite flexible.
3 A member of a high-flyer scheme will ...
a) obtain wide experience in different departments.
b) already have wide experience in different fields.
c) become a specialist in his or her chosen field.
According to Rod Scott ...
4 BP...
a) is the world's largest multinational company.
b) has about 130,000 employees worldwide.
c) has about 130,000 employees in the UK.
5 There are people participating in BP's 'individual development
programme'.
a) 130 b) 180 c) 260
6 BP's high-flyers join the scheme when ...
a) they have just joined the group.
b) they have been with the group for ten years.
c) they have already shown their potential.
According to Heather Stewart ...
7 A high-flyer scheme may ...
a) produce a management team who can work well together.
b) lead to a lack of flexibility in the management team.
c) prevent the business from changing.
8 A company with a high-flyer scheme tends ...
a) to be less competitive.
b) not to recruit senior staff from outside the company.
c) to lose good managers, who leave to join their competitors.
9 High-flyer schemes tend not to recognize the importance of ...
a) academic qualifications.
b) people who join the company later.
c) the experience and knowledge of older people.
10 Women managers are excluded from high-flyer schemes because ...
a) they are expected to leave to have babies.
b) they prefer to have babies instead of a career.
c) this is the age they are most likely to have babies.
11 Other able, enthusiastic managers ...
a) consider high-flyers to be better than them.
b) lose their motivation.
c) leave the company if they aren't selected as high-flyers.
12 In medium-size companies high-flyer schemes ...
a) are usually experimental.
b) are unpopular.
c) are unnecessary because the career structure is flexible.
13.8 Relative clauses
A Study these rules and examples before you start the exercises.
There are two types of relative clause in English:
1 Identifying relative clauses identify a person or thing in the
same sentence. Notice the lack of commas:
You seem a bit upset - why is that?
- Well, you see, I applied for a job that I saw advertised last month.
But you didn't get it?
- No, I phoned first and then I wrote a long letter. And the letter
that I got back was just a photocopy! It said that the job that I
wanted had already been given to someone inside the company.
But you thought that it was still vacant?
- Yes, the person who spoke to me on the phone told me the post was
vacant.
How annoying!
Instead of that we can use which - and instead of who we can use that.
If, and only if, the subordinate clause (in italics in the examples)
has a subject within it, we can omit who or that:
Is everything OK with our order?
- No, the documents (that/which) you mailed to us last week haven't
arrived.
Can I discuss the matter with someone else, please?
- No, I'm afraid the person who/that knows about this is not
available right now.
2 Non-identifying relative clauses give more information about a
known person or thing. They are more common in writing than in speech.
Notice the use of commas.
Alex Brown, who wrote to you about this, is no longer with our firm.
Getting a good job, which everyone has a right to, is not easy.
The application form, which is enclosed with this letter, must be
returned to us by April 24.
Please telephone Ms Kurtz, whose extension number is 666.
Mr Gray, to whom you spoke yesterday, is our Personnel Manager.
Notice that whom is more common in formal writing than in
conversation:
We might write: but we'd say:
The person to whom you spoke was ... The person you spoke to was
The people with whom I am working ... The people i'm working with
The man from whom I received the letter ... The man/got the letter
from
Complete each sentence, using your own ideas. Add any commas that are
necessary.
1 The qualifications that are mentioned in a job advertisement
give you an idea whether you shoule apply for the job -NO COMMAS
2 An interviewer who tries to frighten the candidate ______
3 On the other hand, an interview which is too relaxed and friend]y
______
4 My friend Nick who feels very nervous at interviews ______
5 A handwritten letter which many companies prefer to a typed one
______
6 A CV which gives too much information ______
7 Your curriculum vitae which you should always send a copy of ______
8 Your application for the post which was mailed on 4 May ______
9 Unfortunately, the envelope in which your documents were sent
______
10 Mrs Mary O'Farrell with whom you have been corresponding ______
C Fill the gaps in these sentences with a suitable relative pronoun.
Add any commas that are missing.
1 The person who impressed me most was Mr Wright. - NO COMMAS
2 Mr Wright ______ application form we received yesterday is a very
promising candidate.
3 His CV ______ you showed me yesterday is most impressive.
4 He has excellent references from his present employers ______ are
ACME Engineering.
5 He was working in Norwich ______ they have their HQ.
6 His qualifications ______ you commented on are excellent.
7 The personnel officer ______ interviewed him says that he's
available at once.
8 The thing ______ impressed her most is his personality.
D Make each of these pairs of sentences into a single sentence, using
a relative pronoun.
1 She told us about her experiences in India. This was interesting.
She told us about her experiences in india, which was interesting
2 I heard about the vacancy from a friend. This friend works in
Personnel.
______
3 She gave me some information. This information was supposed to be
confidential.
______
4 I heard about this from a colleague. This colleague assured me it
was true.
______
5 Apparently, we sent the forms to an address. This address was wrong.
______
6 I had to fill in a six-page application form. This was very timeconsuming.
______
7 I applied for a job. I saw this job advertised in the newspaper.
______
8 You gave a person's name as a reference. This person is unwilling
to comment on you.
______
13 Jobs and careers
13.2 Who should we short-list?
Suggested answers
REPORT FROM: GUS MORRISON IN GLASGOW
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 humour
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, G5 8TG
Phone: 041 667 8092
REPORT FROM: LAURA STEELE IN SHEFFIELD
Best candidate: Mrs Sylvia Sabbatini Age: 25
Education: Paper qualifications not all that good: left school 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, L534 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 (:lose 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 98762
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-N-C-A-N M-c-C-A-B-E). He's quite young, he's only
21 and he's a 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 humour, 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 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 Sheffield.
I've spent this morning interviewing four candidates and the best one
is a Mrs Sylvia Sabbatini (that's S-Y-L-V-1-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 qualifications on paper are not
all that good, she left school at 16 to do a secretarial course, but
she's a 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 is 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's 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 her right away.
Her address is 214 Gower Road (that's G-O-W-E-R), Swansea (S-W-A-N-SE-A), SA2 4PJ. Her phone number is 0792 98762. All right. Ah, cheerio
then.
13.3 Abstract nouns Word-building
A2
acknowledgement achievement agreement
announcement arrangement development
endorsement judgement measurement repayment
adaptation alteration application authorization
cancellation centralization confirmation consultation
declaration determination devaluation imagination
modification recommendation specialization
appreciation arbitration calculation collaboration
co-operation elimination fluctuation integration
location speculation
attraction collection contribution correction
deduction deletion interruption pollution prediction
protection reduction
B2
calmness carelessness cheapness friendliness
helpfulness lateness loudness seriousness
confidence intelligence patience difference
capability flexibility formality possibility
probability popularity reality reliability scarcity
sincerity
13.4 Have a nice day Reading
1 paid unrewarding/dull 2 turnover 3 survey keep
4 appreciated 5 loyal well/highly not 6 third
13.5 Employment Vocabulary
13.6
2 on
3 on
4 on
5 on
6 on
7 on
On ...
display 10 on business
the spot 11 on vacation/on holiday
request 12 on condition
order 13 on paper
closer inspection 14 on loan
the phone 15 on behalf of
8 on approval 16 on schedule
9 on time
13.7 High-flyers
Presenter: 1c 2a 3a
Rod Scott: 4b 5c 6c
Heather Stewart: 7b 8b 9c 10c 11b 12b
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 'highflyers'. 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. Suc 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 programme' at BR
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 programme' 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 all 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...
13.8 Relative clauses Grammar review
B Suggested answers Notice that commas are not required in sentences
2, 3, 6 and 9.
2 An interviewer who tries to frighten the candidate is abusing
his/her superior position.
3 On the other hand, an interview which is too relaxed and friendly
may not find out how a candidate reacts to stress.
4 My friend Nick, who feels very nervous at intervievs, finds it hard
to put himself over.
5 A handwritten letter, which many companies prefer to a typed one,
can show the reader more of 3'our personality than a typed one.
6 A CV which gives too much information may not be read carefully.
7 Your curriculum vitae, which you should always send a copy of, is a
document you can use over and over again.
8 Your application for the post, which was mailed on 4 May, did not
arrive till after the deadline for applications.
9 Unfortunately, the envelope in which your documents were sent
contained your letter and photograph, but not your CV.
10 Mrs Mary O'Farrell, with whom you have been corresponding, is no
longer working with our firm.
C Notice that commas are not required in sentences 7 and 8.
2 Mr Wright, whose application form we received yesterday, is a very
promising candidate.
3 His CV, which you showed me yesterday, is most impressive.
4 He has excellent references from his present employers, who are
ACME Engineering.
5 He was working in Norwich, where they have their HQ.
6 His qualifications, which you commented on, are excellent.
7 The personnel officer who interviewed him says that he's available
at once.
8 The thing that impressed her most is his personality.
D Notice that commas are only required in sentences 4 and 6.
2 I heard about the vacancy from a friend who works in Personnel.
3 She gave me some information that/which was supposed to be
confidential.
4 I heard about this from a colleague, who assured me it was true.
5 Apparently, we sent the forms to an address which/that was wrong.
6 I had to fill in a six-page application form, which was very timeconsuming.
7 I applied for a job that/which I saw advertised in the newspaper.
8 The person whose name you gave as a reference is unwilling to
comment on you.