WH AT DOYOUDO?

There are several ways to ask someone about the job that they do. Here are some of the most common with their corresponding answers: Whatdo you do? Whatdo you do for a living? Whatbusinessare you in? Whatcompan y do you workfor? Im a lawyer. Im an auditor. Im in sales / marketing /etc. I work for Mason Lydon & Associates.

Manage rs (department heads) are responsible for their different departments. The sales manager, for example, is in chargeof sales and the staff who work in the sales department. A PA (personal assistant) is a private secretary who works very closely with an important person. A secretary is responsible for doing administrative work for a particular person or office. A receptionist is a companys first contact with clients and visitors when they enter the building or when they telephone the company. A DAYS WORK In Great Britain the normal working day is from nine to five for people working full time . Some people, however, also work part time (less than eight hours); flexitime (workers work a fixed number of hours but can choose when they want to start and finish) and overtime (extra hours after their normal working day). There are also people who work shifts which means that one week they work during the day (day shift) and another week they work at night (night shift).

COMMONMISTAKES WE MAKE WH EN WE TALK ABOUTJOBS To talk about our job in general we use a or an before our profession. Shes a financial consultant. Im an IT specialist. Do not make this mistake: Im nurse. Im a nurse. Be careful not to confuse work and job. Work is a generalword we use to talk about: a. the place we work. b. a group of tasks we do. Work is an uncountable noun. Job is a specific word we use to talk about: a. our post or position in a company b. . b. a specific task. Job is a countable noun.

Do not make these mistakes: John has a good work. I have a lot of job to do today.

John has a good job. I have a lot of work to do today.

Do not confuse the expressions workfor, workin and work on. We work for a person, company or business We work in a place (office, factory, etc.) or department We work on a building site and we work on a project, thesis, etc. Do not make these mistakes: Sheila works with Henriks & Co. Sheila works for Henriks & Co. I work on accounts. I work in accounts. Do not confuse employe r and emplo yee: An emplo yer is the person who employs you. He or she is the person who gives you a job. An emplo yee is a person who works for another person. Do not make this mistake: How many employers does your company have? How many employeesdoes your company have? What hours do you work? I have what in Britain we call a nine-to-five job, which means that I work full time, that is eight hours a day from 9 to 5 with an hour for lunch. Until recently I worked part time for four hours a day. We have a flexitime system at this company, which means that the staff can organise their timetable according to their personal preferences or needs. The factory workers work shifts, that is they alternate between working during the day and at night. They are shift workers. We are very busy at the moment and have to do overtime most evenings.

Goingto the office

How we dress for the office, depends largely on company policy. Office workers usually wear more conservative style clothes, such as suits and ties for men, and skirts or trouse r-suits for women in solid colours such as grey and brown. The policy of Casual Fridays, which has been taken up by a lot of companies, allows office workers to turn up for work in more casualgear, such as poloshirts, chinos and even denim . pin-striped three-piece suit leather shoes tie

briefcase belt

Wo rking in a factory
Factory workers need to wear protective gear. These clothes are, therefore, usually made of tough and durable materials. People who work in factories are usually called blue-collar workers because of the colour of the material used to make the clothes that they wear. overalls / boiler suit tool belt safety helmet

gloves steel toe-cap boots

Going on a businesstrip
What clothes you take on a business trip will depend largely on your schedule and the type of atmosphere youll be in. If you are going to meet very important people in important places, dont forget to pack a three-piece suit and a pair of polished shoes. white shirt raincoat

blue / black suit lace-up shoes laptop computer

Types of work
Shift work A person who has a different timetable each week, is referred to as a shift worke r. Companies or institutions that offer a 24-hour service will need to have workers working at all times, so they have people who work morning shift, afternoon shift and night shift. Some examples of the kind of people who would do shift work are: policemen, nurses, doctors, factory workers, telephone operators and security guards.

Teleworking/ Telecommuting Some people choose to stay and work from their computers at home. They are called Teleworkers or telecommuters , and could be editors, writers, journalists, engineers, computer scientists. Teleworkers are usually paid for a piece of work rather than for a number of hours in an office. They communicate with the workplace by means of telephone, fax and modem. This may sound like a very appealing line of work, but it requires a lot of self-discipline to be able to meet deadlines (a date or time when a piece of work must be finished and submitted).

Workingfreelance Freelance workers are different from teleworkers. A freelance worker is usually not associated with or loyal to only one company, but may choose to work at different times for a number of different companies, usually in the same line of business. Some examples of freelance workers are language teachers, long-haul drivers, designers, journalists, photographers and gardeners.

Self- employment One common feature of business today, according to analysts, is that the number of self- emplo yed people will increase in the very near future. Self-employed people own the companies from which they work. They literally employ themselves.

Workingnine to five Despite the fact that routines usually become somewhat boring, many people are still quite happy to work full time doing a standard nine-to-five job. In this type of job, workers clock in to start and clock out to finish, usually at the same time every day. Sometimes, however, they may be asked to work overtime, which usually means working a few extra hours a week due to a particularly busy period within the company.

Note also these expressions: to work part time (less than eight hours) and flexitime (workers work a fixed number of
hours but can choose when they want to start and finish)

Peopleat work
Staff
The people working for a company or business are called its staff.

The number of staff has increased by 8% this year.

Note that the word staff can be considered singular or plural. We can, therefore, say: The staff are asking for a pay rise or The staff is asking for a pay rise.

Boss,supe rvisor andforeman The boss is the person who is in charge of or responsible for the staff working in a company and its running. Bosses often appoint or name someone to be a supe rvisor or a foreman , who in turn are usually in charge of observing and directing someone elses work. Hurry, get back to work. The boss is coming

Workmatesandcolleagues Workmates or colleaguesare the people you work with. Often they are friends that we see outside of work, too. Although, if this is the case, we usually end up talkingshop (talking about work) most of the time. I really enjoy my work because I have a great bunch of workmates .

If youre going to talk shop , Im going home; I dont even want to think about work tonight.

Many trades , such as carpenters, electricians and mechanics, hire apprentices . An apprentice is a person who is learning a trade from a skilled employer during a period of time (called an apprenticeship ) and at lower wages than other workers. In professional jobs, such as law or accountancy, we usually call these people trainees .

The new apprentice electrician is learning the tricks of the trade very quickly.

Hows the new trainee coming along?

Adjectives that we use to describejobs

Work means different things to different people. Some jobs force you to work very long hours; you might be stuck for long periods of time in a dark, cold or lonely place or behind a desk all day; or you may even be repeating the same procedure and task over and over again. Other jobs are quite varied and adventurous, never knowing what will happen or where youll be the following day. Here are some adjectives we can use to describe our jobs: POSITIVE Challenging Exciting glamo rous rewarding secure well-paid worthwhile boring dange rousdeadenddemandingirregularmechanicalstressful NEGATIVE

Protecting a countrys Prime Minister is a very dangerousjob.

His parents were always telling him that working in a restaurant was a deadend job, but he enjoyed it and saw a future in it. Food packaging in factories is a very mechanical job.

Excavating and finding ancient cities must be a very challengingand exciting profession. Fashion models have a glamo rous job; they are also very well-paid and get to visit many different countries.

It is difficult these days to land a secure job because of the current economic crisis throughout the world.

Asking someone that you havent seen for a while

Whatare you doing thesedays? Im workingin a bank.

Are you still (teaching English)?

Actually, no, Im in anotherline of worknow.

Yes, real estate is always a good business to go Haveyou madeyour first million?

Whatare you up to?

Nothing much, Im still looking for a job.

Whe re do you work?

When answering the question Wheredo you work?, be careful to use the correct preposition: workin + place I work in a bank. Im a bank clerk. work at + the name of the company I work at Henry Davids Consultants. Im a market analyst. Do not make this mistake: I work in Henry Davids Consultants. I work at Henry Davids Consultants. work for + the name of the company or your boss I work for Vibehouse Pacific. Im the Director of the Company. I dont work for anyone. I own the company. Note the following uses of work with in and on: The verb work + in can also refer to being employed in a specific field. I haveworkedin education for the past 17 years. The verb work + on refers to working in ones specific job in order to achieve a result or objective. Shes workingon a new design for the outdated model.

Wh y arent you working?

In recent times, the prospects of finding or getting work if you are out of work have often been very poor. The job market has become more competitive and economic recessionshave made the whole work situation unstable. Queues at the dole office have become longer as the unemploymentfigures, or the number of people on the dole, have risen.

Industrial disputes, poor working conditions and government policies are reasons for workers going on strike. If there is a strike, workers often find themselves not working for long periods of time until their or their Trade Unions demands are met and an agreement reached.

Losing your job is not one of the most pleasant experiences to have to go through. There are several possible reasons for this happening. One of the reasons why a worker could be made redundant is an economic or financial crisis which forces the company to make staff cuts. You can be laid off for the same reason. In either case, the situation is out of the hands of the workers, since it is the position or the job post itself that disappears. However, if you are sacked or fired, the position you held doesnt disappear, but your services to the company are no longer required Sometimes the reason for not working is because you choose to stop working; that is you give up work.

After working for many years in a repetitive job, for example, people might decide to give up work and move to another country to study another language. In Australia, for instance, public servants are entitled to a years paid leave after ten years of service.

There are also a number of other reasons for asking for time off work: workers about to be parents can take mate rnity or paternity leave , before and after their baby is born; when we are suffering from illness, we can take or be on sick leave and some companies force workers to take early retirement , usually at around 55, instead of retiring at the normal age of 65.

10 usefulexpressionsconnectedwith work
Here are our top 10 useful expressions connected with work: 1. Apply for a job: to ask for a job or position either by filling in an application form or by submitting your CV (curriculum vitae) Ive appliedfor a dozenjobs since graduating from university. 2. 3. Be turneddown : your application has been rejected Hes having very little luck, he has been turned down by a number of firms.

Get an offer: a company or person shows interest in hiring a person Ive got an offer to work in their head offices in Chicago. Its going to be an important career move for me. 4. On-the-job training : training received during working hours to be able to do your job I didnt have a clue when I started, but thanks to the on-the-job trainingIm getting, I now know what Im doing . 5. Fringe benefits/ perks: some extras you get for working at a company, e.g. company car, lunch vouchers, travel expenses, clothes allowance, etc. She decided to take the job mostly because of the perks that came with it. 6. Be on doubletime : double the hourly rate, usually for working on Sundays, or public holidays Youd be on doubletime if you worked on Sunday nights. Right, so instead of 3 an hour, Id be making 6. 7. 8. Knockoff: (informal) means to finish work What time are you knockingoff?Oh, about 5 oclock.

Put in for a rise: to ask for an increase in your salary Now is the best time to put in for a rise; the boss seems to be very pleased with the way you handled the client yesterday. 9. To skive (off): an informal expression that means to stay away from work or leave early with no justified reason John skivedoff again last week. Hed better be careful, if he gets caught, hell be in real trouble. 10. To enter into negotiations : to begin to talk about resolving conflictive issues Union officials earlier today entered into negotiationswith the Transport Minister in an effort to resolve the conflict that has grounded aeroplanes for the last two weeks.

COMPLETE THE GAPS The number of ..has increased by 8% this year in the company John .. again last week. Hed better be careful, if he gets caught, hell be in real trouble Now is the best time to. ; the boss seems to be very pleased What time are you ..off ?Oh, about 5 oclock. Youd be on .. if you worked on Sunday nights. Right, so instead of 3 an hour, Id be making 6. She decided to .. the job mostly because of the perks that came with it. Hes having very little luck, he has been .by a number of firms. Ive ..fora dozenjobs since graduating from university. Excavating and finding ancient cities must be a very and exciting profession. Fashion models have a . job; they are also very . and get to visit many different countries. His parents were always telling him that working in a restaurant was a , but he enjoyed it and saw a future in it. Food packaging in factories is a very . job. Protecting a countrys Prime Minister is a very job If youre going to. , Im going home; dont even want to think about work tonight.

TRANSLATE Estar de baja Jubilacion anticipada Ser despedido Turno de noche Pedir un aumento Estar en paro becario