3.

DESCRIBING OCCUPATION

Objectives

After studying this lesson, you should be able to:

 identify occupation
 describe occupation

Situation

After you finish your study from Polytechnic, you may be entering the world of
business. In your work, you will meet many different persons with variety of jobs.
Carol, John Ricky and Chenni are in a human resource development meeting. During the
break time, Chenni tries to know about their jobs.

Chenni : Carol, what do you do?

Carol : I’m described as a sales representative. I visit different companies perhaps
up to four or six a day when I’m traveling. The rest of my time is spent in
the office, writing sales reports, planning the next trip and answering
enquires. My trips often last three to four days a week. But I work under
the supervision of a sales manager.
Chenni : What do you find rewarding about the sales area?
Carol : Well, I suppose you could say that I get paid to travel a lot around this
country and to meet different people.
Chenni : Is the pay good?
Carol : Yes, quite generous.
Chenni : Do you sometimes find the work frustrating?
Carol : Well, when some customers keep me waiting for hours, I must admit that I
hate waiting. But that’s part of the job.
Chenni : What’s about you John? What do you do?
John : I’m a credit-controller. My responsibilities are to handle banking matters,
credit issues, to open and close bank accounts, and to maintain good
relationship with other companies. Another responsibility is to manage my
staff to work as a team.
Chenni : What is the most enjoyable part of your work?
John : Well, I like to make decisions at a low-management level. I am responsible
for making sure that my decisions result in profits for the company. I also
have a right to cease operating with a company which is black-listed.
Chenni : And what’s the most annoying part about the job?
John : Well, some companies are very bureaucratic. And some companies are
very slow in paying.

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Questions

1. What is Carol’s job?

2. What is John’s job?
3. What does Carol do?
4. What does John do?
5. What does Carol find rewarding?
6. What does John find enjoyable?
7. What does Carol find frustrating?
8. What does John find irritating?
9. Ask your partner which of the occupation in the conversation he/she would like
the most to be when he/she finishes his/her study in Medan State Polytechnics?
Ask for the reasons.
10. Which would he like the least to be? And why?
11. Fill in the table below about Carol’s and John’s occupations and responsibilities
using the following chart.

No Occupation Responsibilities

Attention

To ask someone’s occupation/job:

 What do you do?

 What’s your job/occupation/profession?

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To ask someone’s work place:
 Where do you work?
To ask likes and dislikes about a job:
 What do you find rewarding about your/ the job/ work?
 What do you find frustrating/irritating/ annoying about your/ the/ job/work?

Worksheet 1

To ask someone’s occupation

For example:

A : Where do you work?

B : I work at a hotel
A : Oh, so you are a waiter, aren’t you?
B : No. I am a credit-controller, I handle credit issues and banking matters.

Now, hold similar conversation, using the prompts below. Each time say exactly what
your occupation is in the company.

1. hotel/waiter?/credit controller
2. bank/teller?/sales marketer
3. supermarket/easier?/personnel manager
4. PT. TELKOM Indonesia company/secretary?/Computer programmer
5. TVRI/announcer?/Secretary
6. Garment factory/financial controller?/ owner
7. bank/computer programmer?/teller
8. Computer company/programmer? money collector
9. SCTV/receptionist?/reporter
10. ASTRA/ sales representative?/quality controller

Worksheet 2
There are a lot of different places of work and occupations. Fill in the tables below.

No Place of Work Occupations

1. HOTEL receptionist, bellboy, manager, cook, chef, etc.
2. HOSPITAL nurse, physician, dentist, psychiatrist, nutritionist,
etc.
3. BANK
4. SCHOOL
5. AIRPORT
6. BUS STATION
7. RAILWAY STATION

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 8. RESTAURANT
9. UNIVERSITY
10. ZOO

After completing the tables, describe three occupations of each places of work.
What is receptionist?
What is bellboy?
What is cook?

Activities:

1. Guessing Game
Procedures: Pair/Individual work
a. A student acts as a mystery guest.
b. The mystery guest decides what he/she wants to be (secretary, bank-teller,
marketing manager, computer programmer, TV announcer)
c. The other students act as competitors
d. The competitors take turns to guess the occupation of the mystery guest by
proposing as many questions as possible.
e. Competitors are only allowed to propose yes/no questions, for examples:
- Do you work in the land/sea/air?
- Do you work outdoor/indoor?
- Do you work in a team?
- Do you use your hand when working?
- Do you wear uniform when working?
- Do you make much money?
- Do you work with hand?
- Do you need people when working?
- Do you need assistant when working?
- Etc.
f. When you are sure, you can guess the name of the occupation by proposing
yes/no question or statement, for example
- Are you a teacher?
- Do you work as a teacher?
- You are a teacher.

2. Work in pairs. Take turns to ask and answer questions about your partner’s
education, career if any, its rewards and its frustrations.

3. Occupation Prestige Rank. Below is the list of deferent occupations with

different salaries and responsibilities, and different levels of prestige.

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 a. Rank them from the most prestigious to the least prestigious in column A by
giving number 1 for the most prestigious and 20 to the least prestigious.
b. Interview five students to find fact about their ranks and fill in the other
columns.
c. Find also the reason for the most and least prestigious.
d. After analyzing the interview, write the report telling the most and the least
prestigious occupation, and the reason to decide the most and the least
prestigious.

Ranking
Occupation Yours A B C D E
Receptionist
Super Market Cashier
Civil Servant
Money Lender
Lawyer
Air-hostess
Lecturer
Debt Collector
Credit-Auditor
Computer Programmer
Hotel Manager
Teacher
News Reporter
Small Business Owner
Bank teller
Bank manager
Judge
Sales manager
Policeman
Small Restaurant Owner
Taxi Driver
Pilot
Cook
Carpenter
Army
Gardener
Nurse
Physician/Doctor
Psychiatrist
Maid

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Daily Journalist
TV Announcer
Postman
Shop-Assistant
Fireman

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