16. Work

Work

Part 1-style questions

Examiner: What do you do?
Sasha: I do a job-share with a friend in a boutique … I enjoy it … I like working with customers … unfortunately it’s only temporary work but one of the perks of the job is I get a discount on the clothes …

  • to do a job-share: to share the weekly hours of work with another person
  • one of the perks of the job: an extra benefit you get from a job
  • temporary work: work done for a limited time only

Examiner: Do you have any career plans yet?
Carly: Yes … I’d like to be my own boss one day … I’m interested in programming and I’d like to create apps for myself or for other companies … I know being self employed would be a challenge but the idea of doing a nine-to-five job doesn’t appeal to me at all …

  • to be self-employed: see ‘to be your own boss’
  • to be your own boss: to have your own business
  • a nine-to-five job: a normal job that consists of an 8 hour day (approximately)

Examiner: What do you see yourself doing in 10 years time?
Marie: I’d hope to be working … not a high-powered job … but I’m quite a creative person so something where I can work with my hands would be nice … as long as I’m not stuck behind a desk doing something boring  in a dead-end job I’ll be happy …

  • a high-powered job: an important or powerful job
  • to be stuck behind a desk: to be unhappy in an office job
  • a dead-end job: a job with no promotional opportunities
  • to work with your hands: to do manual work

Part 2-style task

Describe your ideal job. You should say:

  • what this job is
  • whether you would need any qualifications
  • whether it would be easy to find work

and say why you would enjoy this job in particular.

Max:  I’ve always loved watching wildlife programmes on TV and often thought how much I’d enjoy working with animals … perhaps in a safari park … something like that … you’d probably need a degree to have any chance of being called for an interview and whether there are many full-time jobs I don’t know … I’m sure a lot of parks rely on voluntary work so it might not be easy … and it probably wouldn’t be well-paid either but money isn’t everything … I’d get so muchjob satisfaction … I can’t imagine it being the kind of job where you get stuck in a rut … and I think I’d be good at it as well … I’d love to work with animals I enjoy manual work and I’m a good team player … so even though the working conditions might not be the best I think that would be my ideal job …

  • to be called for an interview: to be invited to attend an interview
  • a good team player: somebody who can work well with other people
  • full-time: the number of hours that people usually work in a complete week
  • to be well paid: to earn a good salary
  • working conditions: the hours, salary and other entitlements that comes with the job
  • manual work: work that requires physical activity
  • to be/get stuck in a rut: to be in a boring job that is hard to leave
  • voluntary work: to work without pay

 

 

Part 3-style questions

Examiner: If there are a limited number of jobs available who should be given priority, young people or older people with more experience?
Anna: Things are so different these days … a few years ago older employees would often take early retirement or go onto part-time contracts and there were always opportunities for younger people but now jobs are so scarce … I think younger people need to be given the chance whenever possible …

  • to take early retirement: to retire early (retire: to reach an age when you are allowed to stop working for a living)
  • part-time: working less than full-time

Examiner: What are some of the important things a candidate should find out before accepting a job?
Ali: Well  … you’d need to know about your area of responsibility … and your salary of course and then there are things like holiday entitlement … maternity or paternity leave … if you’re thinking of having children … and what the situation is regarding sick leave … that kind of thing …

  • holiday entitlement: the number of days holiday allowed
  • sick leave: time allowed off work when sick
  • maternity leave: time off work given to a woman about to have a baby

Examiner: What are the advantages of having your own business rather than working for someone else?
Julie: Well … unfortunately being an employee at the moment is very stressful … people have very heavy workloads … they’re always under pressure to meet deadlines … running your own business isn’t easy … but I do think it would be far more satisfying …

  • a heavy workload: to have a lot of work to do
  • to meet a deadline: to finish a job by an agreed time
  • to run your own business: see ‘to be your own boss’
  • job satisfaction: the feeling of enjoying a job

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