TOPIC 2.

JOD AND CAREER PROSPECTS

In this topic you should cover the following issues:

 problems of choosing a future career
 promotion prospects
 education requirements
 types of jobs (full-time, part-time, flexitime)
 personal skills and qualities required to do a particular job
 payment
 work environment
 job conditions

TOPICAL VOCABULARY

Read the topical words and phrases below. Explain their meaning in English. Then
look them up in the dictionary to check their translation if necessary. Give an
example of the situation in which these words and phrases can be used.

Employment Vocabulary: Unemployment Vocabulary:

employee joblessness
employer to be unemployed
worker to be out of work
apprentice to be on the dole
trainee to fire somebody 
career to dismiss somebody
full-time job to sack somebody
part-time job to make somebody redundant
flexitime job to hand in one’s notice
manual work to resign
mental work to quit
shifts period of notice
overtime unemployment benefit
occupation job centre
profession employment agency
to earn your living to cut workforce
promotion
maternity leave
wage
salary
job interview
a letter of application
CV (curriculum vitae)
READING I
Task 1. Read the following carefully and locate the main idea in each paragraph as
you go along.

Job and Career Prospects

Sooner or later all of us face the problem of choosing a career when we are to decide
what we are going to be in future. Choosing a career is not a simple matter — in fact, it can be
one of the most important in our life. You don't need to hurry making a decision. You
should examine thoroughly your abilities and character, take a realistic view of your strengths
and weaknesses, pay attention to your parents' and friends' advice and take into account your
own preferences. The last point in the list is particularly important because there are many
examples when people make great mistakes choosing their future profession. Sometimes they
either simply follow in the footsteps of their parents or relatives or just blindly follow their
advice. Your choice should be mostly based on your own opinion. Family traditions are good,
but your turn of mind may be quite different. So, never base only on other people's opinion.
Having thought carefully about what sort of person you are, try to work out a list of
your occupation requirements. Nowadays there is a great variety of jobs to any taste. Choosing
a future career, we should consider the following things.
Pay. Is the size of your salary or wage important? Generally speaking, it is important. Of
course, there may be various situations, but if you are going to be independent, successful and
wealthy, you have to find a well-paid job. Moreover, if you are going to have a family, you
should be ready to support it, to be a breadwinner. Naturally, you'd like to live in good
conditions, and your children to study at good schools, and then to enter prestigious
universities, to travel all around the world and so on. Now you understand why you should
take money into consideration when choosing a job.
Further training, promotion prospects and job conditions should also be kept in
mind. Just after graduating it is very difficult to find a plum job which will respond to all your
preferences. It is usually a monotonous, tedious clerical job, but if you are a capable and hard-
working person, you will certainly be offered an opportunity to climb the ladder.
Place of work. You ought to decide whether you want to work indoors (cashier,
chemist, librarian, secretary, etc.) or outdoors (driver, firefighter, estate agent, etc.). Your
choice may be based on your lifestyle or health condition.
 Full-time, part-time, flexitime jobs. There is no set pattern to part-time working. It
may involve a later start and earlier finish time than a full-time position, working mornings or
afternoons only, fewer working days in a week for less salary. It is a perfect variant for
students who want to juggle their studies and work, as well as flexitime jobs. Employees
decide by themselves when to begin and end their working day.
Communication with different people. Meeting and dealing with people doesn't
appeal to every person. Some people are not very sociable; on the contrary, they are timid, shy
and diffident. Frankly speaking, it is a great talent to have communication skills. If you think
you have it, you may choose a profession involving close contacts with people, such as a
doctor, a journalist, a lawyer, a guide, a teacher.
Business trips. You should keep in mind that some professions imply travelling all over
the world, such as tour guides, scientists, actors, journalists, pilots and so on. It's not always
fun. Business trips may last a week, a month and even more. You may be sent to London for a
few days, then you'll spend only a few hours in Paris, and right after that, without any rest,
you'll have to go to Berlin. Sometimes it turns out that you don't have even an hour for
yourself just to relax and see the town you've come to. Such trips may be very exhausting and
stressful. However, if you are young, ambitious and full of energy, you will be able not only to
do your job successfully but also see the world.
Aspiration for creative work. If you are a creative person, it's a must for you to find
such job. It can be a job of an artist, a tailor, a designer or a stylist.
Jobs connected with risk. Such jobs are usually well-paid, but very dangerous.
A police officer, a fireman, a bodyguard, a lifeguard — these are the names of jobs
which imply risk. Those, who want a rewarding but demanding job and who are
ready to devote all their lives to it, may choose this kind of work.
But finding a proper job isn’t enough nowadays. Because of the economic crisis, a
lot of companies are cutting their workforce. Workforce cutbacks were common in
the early 1990s. In response, career experts developed strategies for holding on to a
job:
 Make sure everyone knows you. Being a good worker is sometimes less important
than making sure that people know you are a good worker. Volunteer for new
responsibilities, push your ideas, and generally make yourself visible.
 Learn everything that could help you do your job better. If the company buys
new computers, learn how to use them. If learning more about marketing could help
you, take a short course in marketing.
 Make sure you know everything about the company. And use this knowledge. If
you find out that sales is becoming the most important department, try making a
move to sales.
 Be positive. People who find things to complain about are a lot less popular that
people who find things to praise.
 Improve your speaking and writing skills. Having good ideas isn’t enough. You
need to be able to communicate your ideas.
 Impress your boss. You can often impress a boss by arriving early and working late
and by dressing in a businesslike way even if others dress casually.
In the end, it all comes down to one basic strategy: Make yourself so valuable
that the company won’t want to lose you.
Analyzing all these points will help you not to make a wrong choice at the very
beginning of your career and keep your gob. In case you are an aspiring, responsible,
creative, optimistic, reliable person, who is ready to learn and be laborious, who is not
afraid of any difficulties of the future and ready to solve any problem with a smile, the
world of jobs and careers will be open to you. Work should bring real satisfaction;
otherwise your whole life will become dull and monotonous.
(based on http://www.alleng.ru/engl-top/646.htm)

Task 2. Read the text again and answer the questions. Substantiate your point of view
using the information from the text.

1. What aspects should you examine thoroughly to choose a career?

2. Why do many people make great mistakes choosing their future profession?
3. Is the size of you salary important? Why?
4. What personal skills and qualities should you have to climb the ladder?
5. What work conditions do you prefer?
6. Who may be particularly interested in opportunity for creativity at work?
7. Is the recognition of achievements important for any person? Why?
8. Would you choose a job connected with risk?
Task 3. Fill each gap with one word. Then reread the text if necessary.
1. Sooner or later all of us _________ the problem of choosing a career.
2. Sometimes people either simply _________in the footsteps of their parents or
relatives or just _______ follow their advice.
3. Having thought carefully about what sort of person you are, try to work out a list of
your occupation__________.
4. You should take money into ___________ when choosing a job.
5. Just after graduating it is very difficult to find a _______job which will respond to all
your preferences.
6. If you are a capable and hardworking person, you will certainly be offered an opportunity to
climb the_______.
7. You should keep in mind that some professions ______ travelling all over the world.
8. If you are a creative person, it's a _________ for you to find such job.
9. Those, who want a _______ but demanding job and who are ready to ________all
their lives to it, may choose jobs connected with risk.
10. In case you are ready to learn and be_______, the world of jobs and careers will be
open to you.

READING 2
Task 1. Before reading the text, answer the following questions.
1. Have you ever sought for a job? What was the reason?
2. What steps did you take to get a job?
3. What job position did you apply for?
4. Did you prepare any special documents? What were they?
5. What difficulties did you come across while seeking for a job?
Is Your Job-Seeking Behavior Proactive or Just Plain Desperate?
If you’ve been unemployed for a while, you may be feeling a little desperate. But
letting that feeling show during your job search can be the kiss of death. So what
exactly distinguishes desperate job search behavior from proactive behavior and how
can you avoid the former? “When candidates are feeling desperate, negative or cynical,
the employer can smell it a mile away,” says Ford Myers, author of Get the Job You
Want Even When No One’s Hiring. “Desperation is a total turnoff. Instead of opening
more doors for the job seeker, these behaviors close doors to new opportunities.” We
asked hiring managers and others to share their experiences with desperate job seekers
and offer tips on how to avoid crossing the line.
Blatant Self-Promotion
A 2009 La Salle University graduate got a lot of media coverage by handing out
his resume to people passing in cars in Philadelphia. Bad idea, Myers says. “Don’t
spread a resume around like confetti,” he says. “It will give the impression that you’re
begging for any job. And what sort of hiring manager wants a candidate like that?”
Instead, Myers advises job seekers to approach their search by changing the
conversation from “I need a job” to “I can solve problems for your business.” Stymied
job seekers would be wise to step back and take stock of their true value in the working
world. “This boosts the confidence of candidates, and positions them to behave more
professionally and appropriately,” he says. “If job seekers are unable to identify and
articulate their value, a good career coach can help prepare and package them for a
much more effective search experience.”
Extreme Follow-Up
Jeff Vaught, president of Transition Essentials, a career consulting firm in Orion
Township, Michigan, remembers being hounded by a desperate job seeker a few years
ago. “Only a few hours after setting up the interview, the candidate called to confirm,”
he recalls. “And then again at midnight that same day, leaving a voice mail that they
were ‘too excited to sleep.’ It didn’t end there, though they also called again at 7:30
a.m. the next morning.” Vaught canceled the interview and didn’t reschedule. “The lack
of common sense of appropriate business etiquette made it difficult to imagine them
working for the company,” he says. “The desperation raised a lot of red flags.” A better
approach would have been to make one follow-up call to confirm the interview –
ideally, first thing the morning of the appointment. “That would have shown a better
sense of etiquette as well as a concern for my schedule,” Vaught notes. “Overall this
would have shown an individual who was being professional and enthusiastic about the
position without crossing the line to desperation mode.”
Crazy Talk at the Interview
When you do meet potential employers, be mindful of how you present yourself,
cautions Richard Laermer, CEO of New York City-based RLM PR. “Language is
everything,” he says. “People act as though they are being cute, and so they say what
they think we want to hear instead of what distinguishes them from the crowd. It’s all
the adorable ways folks say ‘I’m so perfect for you.’ I can’t take them seriously.”
Here are some lines Laermer has heard over the years:
• “If you hire me, I’ll do anything and I mean anything to make this work!”
• “It’s true that every journey starts with a cute pair of shoes and I have that pair!”
• “My whole life has been leading to this job. Let’s do it.”
• “I’m a future star – why shouldn’t you have the advantage first?”
What he does take seriously, though, is straight talk. “If you know why you’re
good, show me, don’t tell me,” he says. Provide quantifiable examples of how you
could help the business meet goals. “Those who explain themselves in a cool and
deliberate way get my attention,” he says.
Toeing the fine line between being proactive and seeming desperate can be tough,
but staying on the proactive side is crucial to job search success.
“It’s a fact that the assertive rule the day, and especially in hard times,” Laermer
says. “But, man, some of the things people do to get attention are shocking. And I
wonder who taught them that. You can already see how much training they’re going to
need to get into shape. Why would we call them in?”
(Lester M. Is Your Job-Seeking Behavior Proactive or
Just Plain Desperate?[Електронний ресурс] / M .Lester. –
Режим доступу : http://career-advice.monster.com/job-search/getting-started/)

Task 3. Without looking back at the text, decide if the following statements are true
or false.
1. When candidates are feeling desperate, negative or excited, the employer can smell it
a mile away.
2. Spreading a resume around like confetti is a good idea.
3. Myers advises job seekers to approach their search by changing the conversation
from “I need a job” to “I can solve problems for your business.”
4. The lack of common sense of appropriate business negotiations made it difficult to
imagine a potential employee working for the company.
5. What an employer does take seriously, though, is straight talk.
6. It’s a fact that the assertive rule the day, and especially in hard times.

Task 4. Speak on the topic “A proper job-seeking activity” using vocabulary from
the text.
SUPPLEMENTARY READING 2
What Can You Do with Linguistics Major?
Linguistics majors study language – its structure, how it's acquired, how people
use it, its history, etc. As globalization continues as an emerging trend in business, those
with a linguistics background will become more valued in several fields.
Related careers: Anthropologists, archaeologists, computer scientists, interpreters,
linguists, speech-language pathologists and audiologists, translators, marketing, editors.
(a) A B.A. in linguistics provides a broad liberal arts education emphasizing the
study of language, treating language both as a fundamental human faculty and as a
changing social institution. (Linguistics is the discipline that encompasses all areas
related to the scientific study of the nature, structure, and function of language.)
(b) Such a degree would also provide a pre-professional major for certain fields.
Linguistics has been recognized as a valuable pre-professional major, for example, for
law, not only because it is methodologically varied, employs rigorous means of
analysis, and develops critical thinking, but also because linguistics has contributed to:
the evaluation of voice-print evidence, interpreting the complex language of statutes and
contracts, analyzing ambiguity and presuppositions (e.g., in testimony or in cross-
examination), elucidation of attitudes toward language, and attempting to interpret and
make uniform different states' laws covering the same area.
(c) It also provides preparation for advanced study in fields such as
Anthropology, Business, Communications, Computer Science, Education (Language
Arts and Language teaching), Journalism, Neurosciences (for the study of, e.g., dyslexia
and aphasia), Speech and Hearing Sciences, Philosophy, and Psychology.
(d) Along with preparing students for further study in areas mentioned under (c),
the major would also prepare students for careers in fields where the knowledge of
linguistics has proven essential, such as second language teaching in general and
teaching English as a second language (TESL) in particular or communication between
humans and machine using natural (including spoken) language (a task central to
artificial intelligence and robotics).
Jobs for linguistics majors could involve the following types of tasks: evaluation,
selection, implementation, and training of others in use of commercially available
linguistic tools for word processing, e.g., spelling checkers/correctors, grammar/style
checkers; using and training others to use commercially available speech processing
devices, including text-to-speech synthesis, automatic speech recognition systems;
constructing dictionaries, and glossaries for specialized purposes; computer aids for the
disabled (blind, paralyzed, deaf).
(http://ling.bu.edu/about/future)
Task 2. Read the text about job-seeking behavior. Pay attention to the parts the text
is divided into.