Lesson 6

Task 1. Complete the text with the words in the box.

1. abilities	5. employment situation	9. values	13. work experience	17. in the search
2. leadership	6. suitably	10.presentation	14. competing	18. be involved in
3. Job application	7. graduates	11. interview	15. pretending	19. additional
4. Job seekers	8. needs	12. a suitable career	16. scientific skills	20. prospective employers

Finding a job

Not so long ago almost any student who successfully completed a university degree or diploma course could find a good career quite easily. Companies toured the academic institutions, ( 14 ) with each other to recruit ( 7 ). However, those days are gone, even in Hong Kong, and nowadays graduates often face strong competition ( 17 ) for jobs. Most careers organizations highlight three stages for graduates to follow in the process of securing ( 12 ): recognizing abilities, matching these to available vacancies and presenting them well to ( 20 ).

( 4 ) have to make a careful assessment of their own ( 1 ). One area of assessment should be of their academic qualifications, which would include special skills within their subject area. Graduates should also consider their own personal ( 9 ) and attitudes, or the relative importance to themselves of such matters as money, security, ( 2 ) and caring for others. An honest assessment of personal interests and abilities such as creative or ( 16 ), or skills acquired from work experience, should also be given careful thought.

The second stage is to study the opportunities available for employment and to think about how the general ( 5 ) is likely to develop in the future. To do this, graduates can study job vacancies and information in newspapers or they can visit a careers office, write to possible employers for information or contact friends or relatives who may already ( 18 ) a particular profession.

After studying all the various options, they should be in a position to make informed comparisons between various careers. Good personal ( 10 ) is essential in the search for a good career. ( 3 ) forms and letters should, of course, be filled in carefully and correctly, without grammar or spelling errors. Where ( 19 ) information is asked for, job seekers should describe their abilities and ( 13 ) in more depth, with examples if possible.

They should try to balance their own abilities with the employer's ( 8 ), explain why they are interested in a career with the particular company and try to show that they already know something about the company and its activities.

When graduates are asked to attend for ( 11 ), they should prepare properly by finding out all they can about the prospective employer. Dressing ( 6 ) and arriving for the interview on time are also obviously important. Interviewees should try to give positive and helpful answers and should not be afraid to ask questions about anything they are unsure about. This is much better than ( 15 ) to understand a question and giving an unsuitable answer.

Task 2. Match each of the words or phrases on the left to an appropriate definition.

1 advertisement d	a) the total amount of money that needs to be spent by a business
2 bonus g	b) the relation in value between kinds of money used in different countries
3 chief executive officer h	c) a person who is in charge of running a business, a shop or a similar organization or part of one
4 costs a	d) a piece of information in a newspaper, on television, etc. that tries to persuade people to buy sth, to interest them in a new job, etc.
5 exchange rate b	e) a chance to do sth that you want to do
6 human resources i	f) the money that a person receives (usually every month) for the work he/she has done
7 manager c	g) an extra amount of money that is added to sb's wages as a reward
8 opportunity e	h) the person with the highest position in a company or an organization
9 presentation j	i) the department in a company that deals with employing and training people
10 salary f	j) a meeting at which sth, especially a new product or idea, or piece of work, is shown to a group of people

Task 3. Fill in the blanks using the word combinations given below, translate the letter.

Letter 1.

Thank you for your letter of 27 March.

I am very sorry to ( f ) made with your order. I ( c ) and found that the mistake happened in the packing section.

( b ) it was not discovered before the goods were sent to you.

I have arranged for a repeat order to be sent to you today, and I hope this ( e ).

Once again, please ( a ) for the inconvenience caused.

I ( d ) of our new catalogue and I hope you find it interesting.

Please give me a call soon on 2358272 if you have any questions.

a) accept my apologies

b) unfortunately

c) have looked into this

d) enclose a copy

e) meets your requirements

f) hear about the mistake

Letter 2.

We are considering ( d ) on a training course on Customer Services. Do you have ( b ) available within the next few moths? If so please ( f ) and times plus costs.

If there isn’t a regular Pioneer course scheduled, can you tailor-make a course ( a )? We could hold it in our conference room.

Perhaps we ( c ) to discuss this – are you free next Friday 20 August at 11 am? I could come over to you, or you could ( e ). Please let me know.

a) specialy for our staff

b) a suitable course

c) can arrange to meet

d) sending some of our staff

e) come over to my office

f). let me have the dates

Task 4. Choose the correct variant.

1.This year the state California … 3 million $ in banking.

a) invested

b) got

c) imported

d) put

2. An effective employee responds to … as soon as possible.

a) correspondence

b) question

c) remark

d) reply

3.She isn’t … pretends to be.

a) such clever as

b) so clever as

c) as clever so

d) not clever as

4.He always … with my work.

a) is interfering

b) interfere

c) interferes

d) have interfered

5. The speaker … the problem of decreasing the wages today.

a) touch

b) touching

c) has touched

d) had touched

6. Reports are coming in that a train … near Dublin.

a) had crashed

b) crashes

c) has crashed

d) is crashed

7.Try … me, please.

a) understanding

b) understand

c) to be understood

d) to understand

8.I wouldn’t try my luck if I … you.

a) be

b) were

c) was

d) am

9.Would she have married him if he… poor?

a) is

b) have been

c) has been

d) had been

10.Everything seemed … in order.

a) be

b) to be

c) is

d) was