Work Handout A

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THE WORLD OF WORK

pleasant working conditions recognition of achievement good remuneration opportunity for creativity helping others opportunity for personal development

SPEAK What’s your ideal job? Do you have a clear idea of what you want to do? III. LISTEN to a part of a radio report about a survey conducted in the UK, asking people what their ideal job would be, and mark the following statements T (true) or F (false). 1.

Most people are attracted to the idea of an exotic job, like being a journalist in New York. 2. Nursing and teaching were professions often regarded as dream jobs. 3. Men’s replies were very similar to those of women. 4. People in Ireland had more realistic dreams about jobs.

Creative

Manual

Blue-collar

Jobs & Professions Administrative

White-collar

V. In pairs, decide which of the adjectives below best describe the jobs and professions above. Give reasons. •fulfilling • arduous • mind-numbing • demanding •gruelling • rewarding • hazardous • glamorous •mundane • secure • stimulating • strenuous •stressful • motivating • physical • intellectual

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

How many young people are jobless? What are the employers in Birmingham looking for? How should a good application look like? What does a daily job search routine consist in? Why is it difficult to get a chemistry job? What does the economics graduate intend to do?

IV. LISTEN to a radio programme about unemployment, and complete the sentences. 1. The economic crisis has resulted in ..................................................................................... 2. Crescent Petroleum is the largest......................................................................................... 3. Katherina works at the ....................................................................................................... 4. Youth unemployment and ............................ are becoming global policy priorities. 5. In Europe, the young are first to ................. and last to ................... in the labour market. 6. In Africa, there is a youth .......................... and underemployment. 7. In Egypt, youth unemployment was a very important ........................................................ VI. Match A to B to form words describing different kinds of workers and professionals. Then, put them under the appropriate headings from the spidergram on the left. Some of the words could go under more than one heading.

A

B

refuse business computer graphic assembly-line talent plastic fire dental civil general sound

designer hygienist collector practitioner executive servant surgeon worker fighter programmer scout technician

Creative – Manual – Blue-collar – White-collar – Administrative –

SPEAK What kind of job you would like to do in the future? What kind of career you would never consider?

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     

II. LISTEN to a radio programme about job seeking, and answer the questions.

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I. Rank the following according to how important you think they are for a happy working life (1= most important, 6 = least important). Justify your choices.

USEFUL VOCABULARY job employment occupation the wizz the perfectionist the paper-shuffler the gossip the strirrer the workoholic the slave driver the yes-man the techno-freak

profession trade vocation

duty task project

raise award grant

to apply for a job unfair dismissal to land a job desk job to do/work overtime full/part-timejob maternity leave permanent job to be away on sick leave trade union unemployment benefit incentives to work shifts to perform one’s duties to be made redundant to be overworked to make/earn one’s living to quit one’s job

1/ Due to the unsafe conditions at the plant, the workers decided to (work to rule, go on the picket line, go on strike) until their demands for improvements were met by the management. 2/ Many employees were (expelled, laid off, removed) as a result of the economic crisis. 3/ Not only are we appreciated for what we do but we also receive (perks, benefits, bonuses) at Christmas and Easter. 4/ Not too many years ago, miners and factory workers would have to line up outside their employer's office ever Friday to collect their (salary, profits, wages). 5/ On arrival at the military base, the new (trainees, apprentices, recruits) were told to report to the registration area. 6/ I've just been transferred to this (head office, department, boardroom). Could you tell me where my cubicle is, please. 7/ If there is any hope of meeting this deadline, we'll have c work (part-time, overtime, flexitime) all next week. 8/ For us to consider you for the position, you'll need to provide us with at least two (credentials, references, applications).

COLLOCATIONS IX. Match the words in the box with the appropriate headings.  mate • satisfaction • title • load • place •shop  description • bench • market • hunter • station  centre • prospects • horse

WORK

JOB

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1. He’s terribly ................... . He always wants to win. (COMPETITION) 2. This way of working is terribly ..................... . We must change it (EFFICIENCY) 3. Some of our most important ...................industries are in decline. (MANUFACTURE) 4. Tell me what you think about the commercial ................... of the proposed project (VIABLE) 5. I believe that Keynes is the greatest ................... to have ever lived (ECONOMICS) 6. We had a very ................... day today. We got an awful lot done. (PRODUCTION) 7. I hate the way he always ................... the conversation (MONOPOLY)

VIII. Underline the correct words/phrases. Then use the remaining words to make up sentences of your own.

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WORD FORMATION VII. Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word in brackets.

UNUSUAL JOBS

I’m a female driving instructor for a fire brigade. I came from a family of hauliers in the North-East and after spending time at uni, in the Merchant Navy and running the family haulage business and driving tippers, I ended up with the fire brigade. I love my job. I'm a mother of a 5-year-old boy and can compare my job every day to seeing my son walk for the first time. Seeing new drivers driving fire engines successfully is so rewarding, it's fantastic. When I tell women what I do for a living, they nearly faint with envy. Recently, I went to a fire service conference where loads of fire brigade employed women from Britain had collected. There were cooks, cleaners, admin staff, as well as operational firefighters. I ran driving workshops in fire engines involving 40+ women. I only wish that I could have taken some of the women who normally work indoors and taught them to drive LGVs to a licensed standard. There were some talented drivers amongst them - they'll never realise their potential. Shame, apparently I have the patience of a saint. It's pretty much unheard of for me to yell. What have I discovered through my job with fire brigade driving school? Well you can call someone ugly, say they are fat and say that they smell but never, ever criticise someone's driving. Lesley Cuthbertson, Radlett, Herts I am a Clinical Perfusionist. It is my job to operate a heart-lung machine which replaces the function of the patient native heart and lungs during heart surgery in children and adults. As well as operating the heart lung machine (HLM). Perfusionist also monitor, test and control a range of patient parameters and organ function, such as arterial and venous blood gas status, kidney function, clotting and fluid balance, acid/ base status, temperature and heart cell protection. The types of operation that we are involved with are coronary artery bypass surgery, heart valve replacement, heart lung transplantation, congenital heart defect repair, artificial heart support (VAD), long term support for people with diseased or failing heart/ lungs to recovery or transplant. Perfusionists are also involved in other surgical areas such as orthopaedics, oncology and hepatic transplantation. There are around 300

When I was growing up in Devon I had a regular Christmas job plucking turkeys and chickens. We got a lot of feather cuts under our nails. By the end of the second day the tips of your fingers would be inflamed and very painful and don't even get me started about the smell! The money was good though (70p a turkey and 40p a chicken) so it kept us going back. Louise, Oxford, UK Once it was my job to pack wok sets used for cooking. I had to get a box, put in the wok, put in some chopsticks, put in a spatula, some other utensils, and finally a recipe book before sealing the box up and putting it on a pallet. After doing this about 1000 times it was beginning to grate a bit. So I started to write messages in the notes section of the recipe books, like "Hi there, this was written by the poor sod who has to pack all the things in this box, I bet you thought it was a machine, but its not, it's me." I would have liked to see the faces of some of the people who bought the wok sets. Paul, Oldham, UK In college, I worked at Taco Bell, refrying the refried beans, often 20lbs of them at a time. The worst time was after I'd been out drinking the night before and came to work with a hangover. The smell nearly did me in. Scott, Fairfax, Virginia, USA In the dim and distant past I was an animal keeper - doing parrot shows 5 times a day then scrubbing flamingo ponds or feeding vitamins in fish to dolphins at Windsor Safari park (now Legoland). Those were the days. Now work in an office - got more sense from the parrots than the humans I work with now. Berni, Slough I used to earn £2.50 a night as a chicken catcher. It was quite easy because, they went to sleep as soon as the lights were turned out. I've also worked as a daffodil picker. It was very similar to chicken catching but smelt nicer. Ed Heaver, Wrexham, Wales

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I am a "dep" singer for cathedrals and churches. If one of the regulars has something better to do (eg a solo concert), they book a "dep" to cover for them. The main requirement is good sight-reading, since rehearsals are generally short (often around 30 minutes). It doesn't pay well, but it's fun if you love singing, and the 30-odd (?) fee-paying church choirs in London can add up to a living. Most deps have other jobs - I do translation, and others I have met include several barristers, a policeman and a plasterer. Jason, London

accredited Clinical Perfusion Scientists in the UK. Most people think that I am a mis-spelt Percussionist, or something to do with testing perfume, and sometimes (usually dead beat tired at 3 am with a very sick patient and an irritable surgeon), I wish I was. Nigel Slade, Perth, WA

I used to test toothpaste for a living, and part of it was to do a taste test. Not quite so good as wine tasting, but I had the best teeth in town! Dave, York, UK

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I am a pest controller and have been for nearly 20 years. I now run my own business and employ four of the best people I know. We have a great time chasing all sorts of different creatures in so many unusual places. We get to meet such a diverse range of humanity in all types of abodes. Keith Prowse, Cheltenham, England

Similar to some of the other posters here, as a student I worked on a factory line. My job was to stand next to the onion chopping machine and make sure that the onions were the right way up as they went in. Stunning boredom, too noisy to talk to my colleague (yes apparently this demanding task required two people!) and the constant sting of onions in your eyes. Ben, London I'm a freelance visualiser in advertising. I draw scenes, people, situations etc in a vaguely comic-book style for clients to see what their advertising agency has in mind, before they go to the expense of having a photographer take the final pictures. I really enjoy it, even if a lot of the work involves doing the same old scenes for different agencies. The money's good, but the work could be a little more regular, and you don't get any of the perks of fulltime employment, like holiday pay or benefits. I sort of fell into the job after leaving art college, previously I had no idea such a role existed. Rob, London UK

I'm a fully qualified Engineer, Builder and Accountant, I've done telesales, shelf stacking, filling boxes, delivering yellow pages, administration, grounds keeper, credit control, administration for the MOD, water purification, labouring, pot washing, customer services, worked in a petrol station, worked in a ladies lingerie store, barman and now work for a multi billion dollar company debt collecting and now thinking of leaving and going into bar management. But I'm not yet decided on what career path i really want to take, but my options are open i like to think. Spencer, Surrey

One summer I worked as a DVD tester. This involved watching DVDs, so as a film buff I was in seventh heaven. The only problem was working night shifts and having to stay awake for film after film. By the mornings I couldn't even remember what I'd seen. Dan, Aberdeen I am a mind-reading, clairvoyant who can acquire new skills without training - instantly, multi-task and survive on half to a third of the salary of my co-workers. Yes, I am a school secretary! Judith, Bury, Lancs The reactions I get when I tell people what I do are always amusing. As a female construction manager I get the full range of reactions from the 'she must be a lesbian' look to the 'oh dear watch out for the feminist' scared look from men. Ok so I have to wear ugly shoes and a very bad looking hat, but I spend my day outside and one day is never the same as the next. I couldn't see myself as an office monkey, even if you do get heated offices in the winter and indoor toilets! Jill, Scotland During my student days I used to make candyfloss for tourists on Weston's Grand Pier. It was fun, meeting lots of people but when the hot weather set it, mixed with high winds, the spun sugar would be blown into the face, hair, nostrils and eyes and stick, leaving me pretty uncomfortable. But after a hard day, you still left smelling sweater than when you went in! Ben Whitwell, Weston-super-Mare In my time in the RAF one of the regular duties was to polish a VC10 in preparation for a Royal Flight. This involved climbing all over a rather large aeroplane with a duster and bottle of cleaning fluid; we even had to wear dusters on our feet (rather daunting when you realise how slippy this can be and how far down the floor is!). This was invariably carried out at weekends so as not disturb ground crew in the hangar too much. It was about the same time that I decided to leave for civvy street and that we would be much better off as a republic. Darren, Cannock

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When I was at university I worked one summer in a cucumber-growing greenhouse just outside Hull. It was mind-numbingly boring, always too hot and the cucumber plants were spiky and left little plant-like splinters in your hands. The pay was £3.50 per hour (this was only about 5 years ago) but all the permanent staff stayed there because they thought the money was 'so good'. Awful. Eloise, Essex

Before joining the civil service, I spent a few months working in a maggot farm in Dumfries. The stench was appalling and my wife insisted on me having two baths every night. That was the worst job I ever had... the civil service is paradise by comparison! Bill Stitt, Edinburgh, Lothian

While at school I had a Saturday job in a bridal shop. The worst part of which was after brides-to-be tried on the dresses, pins, threads and other bits of fluff would fall off them on to the floor. I used to have to cover my hands in Sellotape and crawl round the floor banging my sticky hands on the carpet to make sure they had all been picked up. Jude, Edinburgh, Scotland

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I used to pick mushrooms. Mushrooms do not require light to grow, they require hot, humid, dark damp conditions. Oh, and some baked pig dung. The mushrooms were grown stacked in massive trays up to twelve foot high with just enough room to get your arm down to pick them. Each mushroom then needed grading into sizes using a template. Anyone who has passed a mushroom farm on the road knows what they smell like from miles away, you can't imagine what they smell like inside, or imagine the dark, hot humid uncomfortable conditions. I used to smell terrible at the end of the day. Needless to say I always managed to find an empty table at the pub on the way home when downing a well earned pint. Jason, Cheddar