Vocabulary

-job security
business assurance that you will be able to work in your job as long as you please and will
not become unemployed

-redundant
Something that is redundant is no longer needed because its job is being done by
something else or because its job is no longer necessary or useful.

-promotion
the action of raising someone to a higher position or rank or the fact of being so raised.

-increment
a regular increase in salary on an incremental scale.

-unsociable hours
they work late at night, early in the morning, at weekends, or on public holidays.

-steady job
steady job/work/incomea job or work that will definitely continue over a long period of
time

-adverse working conditions

difficult working conditions

-unemployed
without a paid job but available to work

-repetitive strain injury

a condition in which the prolonged performance of repetitive actions, typically with the
hands, causes pain or impairment of function in the tendons and muscles involved.

-sick building syndrome

a condition affecting office workers, typically marked by headaches and respiratory
problems, attributed to unhealthy or stressful factors in the working environment such as
poor ventilation.

-perks
include various types of non-wage compensation provided to employees in addition to their
normal wages or salaries.

-workaholic
a person who compulsively works hard and long hours

-incentive
a thing that motivates or encourages one to do something...

-downsizing
make (a company or organization) smaller by eliminating staff positions.
(of a company) eliminate staff positions.

-job satisfaction
Job satisfaction or employee satisfaction is a measure of workers' contentedness with their
job, whether or not they like the job or individual aspects or facets of jobs, such as nature
of work or supervision.

-incentive scheme
used to promote or encourage specific actions or behavior by a specific group of people
during a defined period of time. Incentive programs are particularly used in business
management to motivate employees and in sales to attract and retain customers.

-commission
to formally choose someone to do a special piece of work, or to formally ask for a special
piece of work from someone

-union
an organized association of workers formed to protect and further their rights and
interests; a labor union.

-stress
a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding
circumstances.

-resign
leave a job or other position.

-salary
a fixed regular payment, typically paid on a monthly or biweekly basis but often expressed
as an annual sum, made by an employer to an employee, especially a professional or white-
collar worker.
-sick benefit
money that is paid by the government to someone who is too sick to work.

-demanding
requiring much skill or effort.
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-semi-skilled
(of work or a worker) having or needing some, but not extensive, training.
-of or doing manual work that requires only limited training...

-self-employed
working for oneself as a freelancer or the owner of a business rather than for an employer.

-Full time
Full-time employment is employment in which a person works a minimum number of hours
defined as such by their employer.

-part-time
for only part of the usual working day or week.

-freelance
working for different companies at different times rather than being permanently
employed by one company

-salary & wage

The person receiving a salary is not paid a smaller amount for working fewer hours, nor is
he paid more for working overtime. Someone who is paid wages receives a pay rate per
hour, multiplied by the number of hours worked.

-white collar
relating to the work done or those who work in an office or other professional
environment.

-blue collar
relating to manual work or workers, particularly in industry.

-service industry
a business that does work for a customer, and occasionally provides goods, but is not
involved in manufacturing.

-unskilled
An unskilled worker is an employee who does not use reasoning or intellectual abilities in
their line of work. These workers are typically found in positions that involve manual labor
such as packager, assembler, or apprentice, or farm worker.
 RECRUITMENT & SELECTION

1.
A| Recruitment

The process of finding people for particular jobs

is recruitment or, especially in American English, hiring.
Someone who has been recruited is a recruit or, in
American English, a hire.
The company employs or hires them; they join the company. A company may recruit
employees directly or use outside recruiters, recruitment agencies or employment
agencies. Outside specialists called headhunters may be called on to headhunt people for
very important jobs, persuading them to leave the organizations they already work for. This
process is called headhunting.

2.
B| Applying for a job

Fred is a van driver, but he was fed up with long trips. He looked in the situations
vacant pages of his local newspaper, where a local supermarket was advertising for van
drivers for a new delivery service. He applied for the job by completing an application
form and sending it in.

Harry is a building engineer. He saw a job in the appointments pages of one of the national
papers. He made an application, sending in his CV (curriculum vitae - the 'story' of his
working life) and a covering letter explaining why he wanted the job and why he was the
right person for it.

Note: Situation, post and position are formal words often used in job advertisements and
applications.
 3. C| Selection procedures

Dagmar Schmidt is the head of recruitment

at a German telecommunications company.
She talks about the selection process, the
methods that the company uses to recruit
people:

'We advertise in national newspapers. We

look at the backgrounds of applicants:
their experience of different jobs and their
educational qualifications. We don't ask for handwritten letters of application as people
usually apply by email; handwriting analysis belongs to the 19th century.

We invite the most interesting candidates to a group discussion. Then we have

individual interviews with each candidate. We also ask the candidates to do
 written psychometric teststo assess their intelligence and personality.

After this, we shortlist three or four candidates. We check their references by writing to
their referees: previous employers or teachers that candidates have named in their
applications. If the references are OK, we ask the candidates to come back for more
interviews. Finally, we offer the job to someone, and if they turn it down we have to think
again. If they accept it, we hire them. We only appoint someone if we find the right person.'

ACTIVITIES
 Fill the gaps in the sentences below.

1. The process of finding people for particular jobs is or, especially in

American English, .

2. A company may recruit employees directly or use outside , recruitment

agencies or employment agencies.

3. He for the job by completing an and sending it in.

4. He made an application, sending in his (curriculum vitae - the 'story' of his

working life) and a covering explaining why he wanted the job and why he
was the right person for it.

5. We look at the of applicants: their of different jobs and their

educational .
6. We invite the most interesting candidates to a group .

7. We the job to someone, and if they down we have to think

again. If they it, we them.

 Complete the sentences with the words and word combinations below.
1. I phoned to check on my application, but they said they'd already ________ someone.
a) recruited
b) offered

2. This job is so important; I think we need to ________ someone.

a) headhunt
b) hired

3. The selection process has lasted three months, but we're going to ________ someone next
week.
a) appoint
b) accepts

4. I hope she ________, because if she ________ the job, we'll have to start looking again.
a) turns down / accepts
b) accepts / turns down

5. That last applicant was very strong, but I understand he's had two other ________ already.
a) offers
b) appoints

6. They've finally ________ a new receptionist.

a) offered
b) hired
7. Computer programmers wanted. Only those with UNIX experience should ________.
a) hired
b) apply

Choose the right words for each question.

1. What a company personnel department does?
a. offer
b. hire
c. recruit
d. appoint
e. apply
f. accept
g. headhunt
2. What a person looking for work does?
c) apply
d) hire
e) appoint
f) turn down
g) accept

Replace the phrases in italic with correct forms of words and expressions from A, B and C
opposite.

1. Fred had already refused — — two job offers when he went for a discussion
to see if he was suitable for the job — an . They looked at his driving license
and contacted previous employers Fred had mentioned in his application —
his . A few days later, the supermarket asked him if he would like the
job — — him the job and Fred said yes — .

Harry didn't hear anything for six weeks, so he phoned the company. They told him that
they had received a lot of requests for the job — . After looking at the life
stories — — of the people asking for the job — —
and looking at what exams they had passed during their education — their ,
the company had chosen six people to interview, done tests on their personality and
intelligence — had six people and given them tests — and they
had then given someone the job.
 SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

A| Education and training

Margareta: The trouble with graduates, people who've just

left university, is that their paper qualifications are good, but
they have no work experience. They just don't know how
business works.

Nils: I disagree. Education should teach people how to think,

not prepare them for a particular job. One of last year's
recruits had graduated from Oxford in philosophy and she's
doing very well!

Margareta: Philosophy's an interesting subject, but for our

company, it's more useful if you train as a scientist and qualify as a biologist or chemist
— training for a specific job is better.

Nils: Yes, but we don't just need scientists. We also need good managers, which we can
achieve through in-house training courses within the company. You know we have put a lot
of money into management development and management training because they are very
important. You need to have some management experience for that. It's not the sort of thing
you can learn when you're 20!

Note: In American English, you also say that someone graduates from high school (the school
that people usually leave when they are 18).

B| Skilled and unskilled

A skill is the ability to do something well, especially because you have learned how to do it
and practiced it.

Jobs, and the people who do them, can be described as:

• highly skilled (e.g. car designer) • semi-skilled (e.g. taxi driver)
• skilled (e.g. car production manager) • unskilled (e.g. car cleaner)

You can say that someone is:

C| The right person

These words are often used in job advertisements. Companies look for people who are:

• self-starters, proactive, self-motivated, or self-driven: good at working on their own.

• methodical, systematic and organized: can work in a planned, orderly way.
• computer-literate: good with computers.
• numerate: good with numbers.
• motivated: very keen to do well in their job.
• talented: naturally very good at what they do.
• team players: people who work well with other people.
 ACTIVITIES

 Complete the sentences below.

1. The trouble with graduates, people who've just left university, is that
their are good, but they have no .
2. One of last year's recruits Oxford in philosophy and she's doing very well!
3. For our company, it's more useful if you a scientist and a
biologist
4. We also need good managers, which we can achieve through courses
within the company.

 Choose the right word in these sentences about Ravi, using words from A opposite.
1. At 18, Ravi decided to stay in full-time ________ and went to Mumbai University.
a) training
b) education

2. Ravi ________ three years later with a degree in philosophy and politics.
a) qualified
b) graduated

3. He taught for a while, but didn't like it. He decided to ________ as an accountant at
evening classes.
a) educate
b) train
4. He qualified ________ an accountant and joined a big accountancy firm in its Mumbai
office.
a) for
b) as

5. When he started, he needed to develop other skills, which would come

through ________ .
a) experiments
b) experience

6. He received ________ training to help him develop these skills.

a) management
b) managers’

Are these jobs generally considered to be highly skilled, skilled, semi-skilled, or unskilled?
Each expression is used twice.
1. teacher
a) unskilled
b) skilled
c) semi-skilled
d) highly skilled

2. office cleaner
a) skilled
b) unskilled
c) highly skilled
 d) semi-skilled

3. brain surgeon
a) highly skilled
b) semi-skilled
c) unskilled
d) skilled

4. labourer (someone doing basic work on a building site)

a) semi-skilled
b) highly skilled
c) skilled
d) unskilled

5. car worker on a production line

a) semi-skilled
b) highly skilled
c) skilled
d) unskilled

6. bus driver
a) unskilled
b) skilled
c) highly skilled
d) semi-skilled
 7. airline pilot
a) unskilled
b) highly skilled
c) skilled
d) semi-skilled

8. office manager
a) skilled
b) semi-skilled
c) unskilled
d) highly skilled

 Complete these extracts from job advertisements using words and word combinations
below.
• numerate • talented • self-starter
• self-motivated and self- • motivated • team-playeR
driven
• computer-literate
• organized, methodical
• proactive
and systematic

1. You'll need to be , as you'll be working on financial budgets.

2. As part of our sales team, you'll be working independently, so you have to be .

3. We're looking for someone who can work on ten projects at once. You must
be .

4. We need journalists who are very good at their job and

extremely to find out as much as they can.
5. You'll be researching developments on the Internet, so you have to be . You
must be , able to work on your own initiative, and a . But as part of
a team of researchers, you need to be a good too.