Jobs

Jobs

Pictures
1. Describe the following jobs and say if you would like to do any of them. Why? Why not?
 
2. Put these jobs in order of difficulty and give reasons.
 
3. What qualities should these people have in their professions? Have you met anybody who wasn’t acting this way? Explain which one of these would you choose if you had to and why?
 
4. What are the professions of the people and what sort of activities they do during their working day? What qualities should they have?
 
5. Look at the pictures, compare the jobs and give the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. Which of the jobs do you value most and least? Why?
 
6. Looking at the pictures identify the jobs and give the positives and negatives of each job concerning necessary qualifications and skills, personal qualities, job satisfaction, pay. Is there a job you wouldn’t do at any cost?
 
Discussion
1. Divide jobs into groups and give examples.
2. Which job would you like to have? What do you expect from this job? What are its advantages and disadvantages?
3. What do you expect from a satisfactory job?
4. What salary would satisfy you?
5. What is your present idea of your future job?
6. Do heads and directors deserve their high salaries?
7. What should be done for jobless/unemployed people? What are the reasons of unemployment?
8. How would you describe the situation on a job market? /There are some areas with shortage of labour and great demand for skilled labour.- nedostatok práce, dopyt po kvalifikovanej sily/
9. Can you describe your parent’s jobs?
10.  What are the main reasons for changing jobs? /There are jobs with no future, they have got problems at work – coming late, working overtime, accidents, they cannot stand gossips, they are not offered a promotion, there are no opportunities for foreign travels, business trips, they are not allowed to study part-time when they want to improve their education./
11.  What qualities are necessary for a teacher?
12.  Which job would you like to have? What do you expect from this job? What are its advantages and disadvantages?
13.  Describe the process of looking for a job.
14.  Which of these would you prefer as for the working hours? – clock in/out, shift work, to be on a flexi-time, regular day work, freelance, self-employed
15.  Many people do not like the idea of working on a three-shift system. Would you like to do this kind of job? Why? Why not?
16.  Compare advantages and disadvantages of full-time and part-time job.
17.  Why do people look for a job abroad? What are the working conditions?
18.  What’s your opinion about very ambitious people?
19.  How does a career and family go together? Which of these would you prefer?
20.  Have you had a chance to try, even in a small way, the type of work you would like to do in the future? How has this made you think about your future job?
21.  What job did you want to do when you were a child? How old were you when you began to seriously think about your future career?
22.  Are you finding hard to decide what career to choose? What do you consider to be a good and interesting job?
23.  How important is the salary in choosing a job? Would you select a job based only on a high salary?
24.  Discuss the idea: “Work is a blessing, not a curse.“
25.  What do you think about the high unemployment problem in western countries?
26.  What are the pros and cons of having one’s own business and being self-employed?
27.  What are the pros and cons of working for a company?
28.  How do you imagine a good boss – what qualities should he or she have?
29.  What would be the ideal work time for you?
30.  What is important to you – to earn a lot of money or to have a job which you really like?
31.  Is it possible to say which job is the easiest/most difficult? Tell us your top five of each.
32.  What kind of job would you like to have in the future? Do you think you have the right qualities for the job? What kind of qualification will you need?
33.  What information about yourself would you give if you applied for a job?
34.  Have you ever had a part-time job or done any voluntary or community work? If so, give a short description of your duties, working hours and why you liked or disliked the job. If not, would you like to have some? Which one and why?
35.  What jobs could you take after finishing your secondary school? Which would be the best for you? Why?
36.  Name as many kinds of professions as you can according to the place where they can be found.
37.  Which jobs do you find exciting/boring/dangerous/well-paid?
38.  Do you like your parents´ jobs? Why?
39.  What do you want to be? Where would you like to work? Are you influenced by your parents?  Have you had a chance to try, even in a small way, the type of work you would like to do in the future?
40.  Can the problem of unemployment be ever solved? What are the main reasons of unemployment?
41.  How long do you think women should stay at home with children? Do you agree with that when they prefer their career to their family life?
42.  Are you finding hard to decide what career to choose? What do you consider to be a good and interesting job? What do you want to be? Are you influenced by your parents?
43.  When and where do people usually look for a job? What questions would you be asked as a job applicant /at a job interview/?
44.  How would you describe a good /bad boss?
45.  What influences the decision making of young people in choosing their career? What problems might they face when start working?
46.  Sum up the steps which must be taken in process of looking for a job.
47.  What do you think is the cause of unemployment in Slovakia? How might the problem be solved?
48.  In your opinion, is social care in our country sufficient?
49.  Does the Slovak government benefit enough those who are in need / single mothers, retired  people, unemployed etc.?
 
Role-plays and simulations
1. You want to get an attractive job. What rules should you keep to be accepted? And describe how you have to write your CV correctly. /Simulation/
 
2. Imagine you want to become an actor/actress and your parents are strictly against it. They would like to have a doctor. Try to find all the pros of being an actor/actress and persuade them. /Role-play/
3. You have just passed your graduation exam. Your parents want you to go on studying at university, but you’ve decided to open a clothes shop in your home town. What are your arguments to persuade your parents? Think about their arguments as well. /Role-play/
 
4. Imagine that you have just opened up a shop selling either sports equipment or records and CDs. You need a shop assistant. Prepare a radio advertisement. /Simulation/
 
Zamestnanie
- typy povolaní /fyzická a duševná práca/, voľba povolania, motivácia
- trh práce /ponuka pracovných miest a nezamestnanosť, žiadosť o zamestnanie, profesijný životopis, prijímací pohovor/
- pracovný čas a voľný čas /zdokonaľovanie práce, nové technológie/
- pracovné príležitosti doma a v zahraničí, pracovné podmienky /mzda, sociálna starostlivosť/
- kariéra a rodinný život, zamestnanosť žien /materská dovolenka/, rekvalifikácia, dôchodcovia

 
JOBS, OCCUPATION
A.
Job is an important part of life. Everyone should do anything. He shouldn\'t stay at home and do nothing. We have to work, because money is very important for living.
And people have to live on it. We can carry out our dreams and reach something in our lives. Everybody should have a profession that he or she likes because it gives the right meaning to his or her life, not only a large sum of money.
In childhood and even later as teenagers, we do not think hard about how important it is to decide about our future job. We want to be pop singers, actors, actresses or even top sportsmen. As we grow up, we become wiser, gain more knowledge about ourselves and the society we live in, and we gradually have an idea about what we would like to do and what job would be appropriate for us. The time for this final decision to be made is during secondary school. We finally decide whether we want to do a manual job or a better paying job that requires more qualifications.  Young people nowadays want to be lawyers, economists, managers, computer analysts, teachers and doctors. But if you want to do any of the above mentioned jobs, you have to have higher education. Apart from the proper qualifications, you also need certain qualities or character traits. For instance, if you want to become a doctor, you need determination, patience, flexibility and sensitivity. You should be good at dealing with people and be prepared to work long hours – even weekends. On the other hand, a teacher should be friendly, good at dealing with people, good at explaining thing and have a strong sense of fairness.

How do we divide jobs?
There are many kinds of jobs and professions you can choose according to your ability, hobbies or your idea of a salary.
Jobs can be divided into typically men and women jobs, traditional and new ones, physical and mental jobs. /Give examples. /
We also can divide jobs according to the place where they work. People  usually work  in an  office as  clerk, accountant, typist, policeman, fireman, secretary,  receptionist,  librarian,  in  the  shop  as milkman,  butcher, shopkeeper,  jeweller, grocer,  florist,  baker, chemist,  confectioner,  fishmonger,  bookseller,  stationer, ironmonger, newsagent, shop assistant, shopkeeper, salesman, saleswoman,  at  school as secretary, cleaning lady, cook, teacher,  headmaster, deputy headmaster,  caretaker, in hospital as  general practitioner, dentist, paediatrician,  orthopaedist,  specialist for  internal diseases,  urologist,  ophthalmologist, gynaecologist, obstetrician, surgeon, nurse, cook, cleaning lady, at the  farm as farmer, gardener, ploughman,  tractorist, in  the transport  as sailor,  pilot, train conductor,  bus driver, taxi  driver, lorry driver,  in  the  culture or  arts  as  musician, singer,  artist, dancer, actor,  producer,  painter,  sculptor,  at  the  services  as tailor, carpenter, turner, plumber,  welder,  apprentice, mechanic, hairdresser, optician and others.

Advantages and disadvantages of your dream job
Each job has its own advantages and disadvantages. It can be interesting, exciting, motivating, funny, boring, hard or dangerous. But you have to be responsible, dependable, hard-working, highly motivated, sociable, experienced, skilled, confident, flexible, and talented.

Business
In these days a lot of people work in the business. The job  of a business  man  is  an  traditional  job, in the past the  women didn\'t go  to the business. But now they go. An executive woman is always very well dressed.  She wears very expensive designer clothes, especially suits. She has very smart hair cut, usually quite short. She doesn\'t wear a lot of make-up and jewellery. Her image is smartness and efficiency. A business man is efficient, smart and very punctual. It means that if his work started at 9.oo a.m. he will arrive at 5 to 9 and he works just after 5. He wears 3 piece pin-stripes suit, black well-polished shoes, and bowler-hat and carries briefcase and umbrella. He looks very smart. The young business men are called Yuppies. They are born and brought up in the city. They wear similar clothes to business men.  They are dynamic, normally intelligent and bright. They earn a lot of money in the short time.

B.+ C.
Going to work
In most English-speaking countries young people often have a part-time job but they do not start work properly until they are sixteen. If they take some form of “further education”, they start work later than that. The usual age for retirement is now 65. In our country, young people usually start working at the age of 18 and the usual age of retirement is 62.

The Labour Market
Some people who already have a job also do moonlighting /have a second job/. In most families, the man is still the breadwinner, but the number of women in employment has more than doubled since the 1960´s. Discrimination is, of course, illegal but still most top jobs go to men. Women also have to do the second shift /to spend the evening cooking and cleaning/ even though most men believe in the principle of sharing the housework.  People find jobs through advertisements in newspapers or at “Job centres”. Some unemployed people register with an unemployment agency. Many people choose to be self-employed /to have their own business/ or to work freelance for several employers.

When do we have to look for a job?
Many young people have to look for a job when they have finished their school, because they need money to live on it. But it is very hard to find a job. The companies are usually looking for people with 2 to 5 years of practice. The finding of the job depends on age, education, possibilities and years of practising.  People are looking for a job  in these situations : when they have finished the school, when  they want to change the work, when  their work  was boring,  when they  had earned  a small  salary or  they had to travel  a lot a got  no chance to live  normally  with their  family. They can find the job in the newspapers; they can go to the local job centre and ask for a free job. There is a career advisor and he can give some advice about the job.

Job interview and the contract
After collecting and evaluating information about a would-be job one has to write an application. An inevitable part of the application form is curriculum vitae.  The aim of the application is to get an interview. The interview is very, if not the most, important stage in the procedure of getting a job. An applicant can either gain or lose a lot. If the applicant is really serious in their effort to get a job they must be very careful not only about what they wear and what first impression they make but also what and how they communicate to the interviewer. There are a lot of guide books where applicants can find some useful information on how to ´survive´an interview. Those applicants who are lucky, or rather good enough and get the job become employees of a company. The employee and employer sign a work contract which clearly states the job description, duties and responsibilities, working time, salary and conditions of promotions. The job may include several fringe benefits /extra advantages such as company car, luncheon vouchers/. These are also called perks /perquisites/.  First two weeks in the company are very hard. They have  to learn everything again,  what  you  have  to  do,  have  to  get  on  well  with  your  collaborator, with your boss, the rhythm of the work.

Curriculum Vitae
-  When do we write it? –  when you are applying for a job, a school
-  How to write it? – logically divided, structured, well-defined, brief
-  What to write there?
A CV should include the following information:
¨ Contact information – name, address, telephone number, mobile phone, e-mail
¨ Personal information – date of birth, place of birth, country of origin/citizenship/nationality, gender
¨ Optional personal information -  marital status, spouse’s name, children
¨ Education – secondary  school, university graduate school  /often in reverse chronological order, include dates, details of degrees/
¨ Employment history – work history, positions, training /often in reverse chronological order, include dates,  positions and details – responsibilities, and accomplishments/
¨ Qualifications - certificates and accreditations
¨ Other skills – languages, computer skills, driving licence
¨ Awards, publications, books, memberships
¨ Interests

A letter of application
Salutation – Dear Sir or Madam, - Yours faithfully, Dear Mr Smith, - Yours sincerely,/
1. reason for writing – say where you saw the advertisement and why you are writing
2. why you are interested in the job
3./4. give details why you are suitable for the job – personal qualities and qualifications
5.conclusion, give details about anything enclosed in the letter

Pay conditions
In offices people have a five-day week and are often said to have a nine-to-five job. Many also work flexitime, a system that lets them decide their own hours. In our country people work 38, 5 hours per week, often more, and are usually not paid for the 30 minute lunch break. Benefits certainly add to the value of a job and most employees are interested in them before sitting for an interview. They include pension plans, childcare allowances, discounts on goods produced by the company, and profit-sharing schemes /paying employees more money when the business does well/. Slovak employees get a four-week vacation. Employees who have worked for a company for a long tie may get more vacation.

Unemployment
The labour market in Slovakia is very flexible, that means it is very easy to hire and fire people. Many companies react quickly to economic problems by downsizing and laying off employees. Unemployment is not a new problem in our society. A lot of people  are out  of work  /unemployed, on the  dole, jobless/, because  the  company  has  given  them  a  notice /they were  sacked, company has to let somebody go/. They get only living wage.  It is given by government and everybody must get at least, no employer can pay than living wage.  But it is very hard to live on.

What should be done for jobless/unemployed people?
These people should look for vacancies at the unemployment agency. They should take a job on probation. They should do some casual /príležitostné/ jobs.
Vocabulary
People can earn a bare  living = very little salary. People can make a decent living = they are satisfied. When people are not satisfied, with the salary, they can ask for a rise.
Big shot = are also called well-known people.

Useful vocabulary
the labour market, workforce, work ethic, breadwinner, employment agency, to be self-employed, to work freelance, flexitime, work overtime, be paid by the hour, a minimum wage, benefits/perks /paid holidays, sick pay, pensions, company mobile phone, company car, luncheon vouchers/, allowances, discounts, health insurance, paid leave, to be made redundant, to have job satisfaction, unemployment figures, the rate of unemployment, job seeker’s allowance /podpora v nezamestnanosti/
salary, promotion/demotion, job security, a challenging and interesting job, good working conditions, motivation by money, paying productivity bonuses, to be in charge of, to inspire employees, submit a copy of a CV

Useful collocations
What do you do for living? It’s hard to make a living as a freelance/writer/. , to do shift-work, to work shifts, to be on flexi-time, to work nine-to-five, to go/be on strike, to get the sack, to be fired, to be made redundant, to give up work, to be on/to take maternity/paternity leave before/after the birth of a baby,  to be on/take sick leave, to take early retirement, to be a workaholic, to be promoted/demoted, to apply for a job