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personal skills acquired with the purpose of attracting potential employers.

Nevertheless, it’s very important for a candidate to have a good CV.

The candidate should arouse the employer’s interest. For example, under the entry ‘Professional experience’ – where he mentions his job experience – the candidate can briefly describe his professional and academic qualifications. He can cite examples of his qualifications for the position sought; mention special projects he worked on, especially if they have something in common with the future job.

A candidate could show off his research on the company and the industry, he is going to be involved in. He must find out who they are, what they do, their size and volume of their sales beforehand. And if he could research the company, then he could use this information to expand on his qualifications.

And the last but not the least important thing for a candidate to remember is the necessity to relate himself to the company where he applied for a job. Maybe he could provide some details as to why he should be considered, stressing that the company would benefit from hiring him. He could emphasize those his skills that can meet company’s expectations and, if possible, bring the examples of work he can be proud of.

Comprehension / interpretation

1.What types of failures do companies experience, according to the article?

2.How do employers recruit workers nowadays? How did they use to recruit them before? What qualities of potential employees are they most interested in?

3.What is the most essential thing for a person to do if he wants to be recruited?

4.What documents should a person present if he wants to get a job?

5.What can you say about preparing CV?

6.Why is it so important for a candidate to have a good CV?

7.How should a candidate behave at the interview?

Listening

You will hear David Smyth, the Personnel Manager of a major European insurance company, answering questions about the way he interviews and selects candidates.

1.In the first extract he talks about the four points listed below. Listen and number them in the order in which he mentions them.

a.the mistakes a candidate can make in an interview

b.the qualities a candidate must have

c.his advice to interviewees

d.the kinds of things a candidate is expected to know

2.Listen again and make notes on each point

3.In the second extract, David Smyth talks about the stages of an interview. Listen to what he says and write down seven stages David Smyth mentioned.

Language focus

1. Choose the correct alternatives to complete the text below.

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Employees who leave a company are not always replaced. Sometimes the company examines the (1) ____ for the post, and decides that it no longer needs to be filled. On other occasions the company will replace the person who resigns with the internal candidate who can be (2)____ (or moved sideways) to the job. Or it will advertise the position in newspapers or trade journals, or engage an employment (3)____ to do so. For junior management positions, employers occasionally recruit by giving presentations and holding interviews in universities, colleges and business schools. For senior positions, companies sometimes use the services of a firm of (4)____ , who already have the details of promising managers.

People looking for work or wanting to change their job generally read the (5)____

advertised in newspapers. To reply to an advertisement is to (6)____ for a job; you become an (7)____ or a candidate. You write a / an (8)_____ , or fill in the company’s application form, and send it , along with your (9)____ (GB) or resume (US). You are often asked to give the names of two people who are prepared to write a (10)____ for you. If you have the right qualifications and abilities, you might be (11)____ , i.e. selected to attend a / an (12)____ .

It is not uncommon for the (13)____ department or the managers responsible for a particular post to spend eighty or more working hours on the recruitment of a single member of staff. However, this time is well-spent if the company appoints the right person for the job.

2.Match the questions with the responses.

1.So what are you looking for in university graduates then?

2.You mean most business degree courses don’t include a traineeship?

3.And exam results are important?

4.What about the application itself?

5.And you only employ university graduates?

6.So what do you do with graduates then?

7.And then?

8.And after that, your recruits stay in one department?

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Responses

a.And then there’s a job rotation program that lasts 18 months, so that our new trainees move from one department to another and get to see all the different parts of the business.

b.More than anything, we like them to have some professional experience, but of course that’s very rare.

c.Not at all. We also employ a lot of young people who have done an apprenticeship or some form of vocational training. They have much more practical experience than most people leaving university. But of course, not many of them are high fliers or future top managers.

d.By no means. We like to have flexible employees, so we have a continuing training program. It’s not unknown for people to switch departments after several years with the company.

e.Not necessarily. We prefer candidates who have done other things besides studying, who can get passing grades while also doing something else, for example sports, especially team sports, traveling abroad, playing an active role in student associations, that sort of thing.

f.Unfortunately not. We also look for language abilities – French, German or Spanish, for example. Arabic, Russian, and Chinese are also very useful.

g.Well, we have our own in-company training course. This begins with a short induction period (introduction into a new job) in which we explain the company’s objectives and talk about our corporate culture.

h.Yes, that’s very important. A well-written and original motivation letter, which clearly shows that the candidate wants to achieve, is obviously an advantage.

3.What are the terms for the following? Use the terms from the exercise above.

1.A young person learning a skill by working in a company while also following some educational courses is an ____ .

2.A person with a university degree is a ____.

3.A person being trained is a ____.

4.A period of work experience is a ____.

5.A period during which new employees work in different departments is a ____

6.A young employee expected to rise to a senior managerial position is a ____ .

4.It’s a common thing that the employers look for three qualities in recruits: a. intelligence and ability b. emotional stability c. conscientiousness

Distribute the adjectives below under each heading. Explain your choice. What other words can you add?

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5. Translate the sentences into English using the following word partnerships:

1.“Охотники за головами” или фирмы по подбору кандидатур на руководящие должности специализируются на поисках нужного человека на конкретную должность.

2.Если компания желает принять на ответственную должность нового человека, она может воспользоваться услугами таких фирм.

3.Иногда фирмы по подбору кандидатур уже располагают списками людей с соответствующими профессиональными навыками. Фирмы также действуют как консультанты, организуя тестирование и собеседование с целью оценки кандидатов и подбора наиболее подходящего человека на должность.

4.В этом случае, преимущества работодателей заключаются в том, что им не нужно организовывать дорогостоящие и занимающие много времени рекламные мероприятия, подбор и проведение собеседований с подходящими

кандидатами.

5. Всё больше и больше компаний понимают, что внешний вид их служащих очень важен. Поэтому многие компании вводят определённую манеру одеваться для своих сотрудников.

6.Следуя манере одеваться, принятой в данной компании, кандидат на должность может произвести благоприятное впечатление на работодателя во время собеседования.

7.В случае несправедливого увольнения служащий может предъявить компании судебный иск, чтобы вернуть работу или получить финансовую компенсацию.

8.Если руководители компании позволяют своему персоналу отсутствовать на работе без уважительных причин, это отрицательно влияет на профессиональную дисциплину.

6. The letter of application

The letter of application can be as important as the CV in that it often provides the first direct contact between a candidate and an employer. If this letter is not well written and presented, it will make a poor impression. The letter of application normally contains four paragraphs in which you should:

1.confirm that you wish to apply and say where you learned about the job;

2.say why you are interested in the position and relate your interests to those of the company;

3.show that you can contribute to the job by highlighting your most relevant skills and experience;

4.indicate your willingness to attend an interview ( and possibly say when you will be free to attend).