- •Job hunting
- •1 Make sure you know the following words.
- •2 Read the text.
- •CVs and Covering Letters in English
- •1 Check the words and phrases.
- •2 Read the information that will help you to write a covering letter.
- •Your cv/Resume
- •1 Check the words and phrases.
- •2 Read the text and learn how to write resumes in English.
- •3 Read Louisa’s cv and tick the topics in the text which are included.
- •4 Find words or phrases in Louisa’s cv that mean the following.
- •A formal telephone call
- •The job interview
- •1 Check the words and phrases.
- •2 Read the text and be ready to answer the following questions:
- •A job interview
- •4 Listen and repeat.
- •Contracts
- •3 Find in the text the synonyms of the following words:
- •1 Listen to the dialogue. The first day in the office.
- •What's 'In' and 'Out' on the Job Hunt
- •Improving Your Professional Skills
- •The Hard Truth about Soft Skills
- •1 To your mind, what the text is about according to the title? Scan the text to check your ideas.
- •2 Read the text and find the answers to the following questions:
- •6 Find the job that is the odd man out.
- •Markus initiates negotiations
- •1Make sure you know the words and phrases.
- •2 Read the dialogue.
- •3 Prove the following ideas (use the text if necessary):
- •A Business meeting
- •1 Listen to the dialogue.
- •2 Listen and repeat.
- •3 Watch the video and be ready to find the right answer:
- •Improving your problem-solving skills
- •1 Check the words.
- •2 Choose the right variant(s).
- •A Letter of Complaint
- •1 Make sure you know the words.
- •3 Read 5 top tips for writing effective letters of complaint.
- •4 Rewrite the letter of complaint to make it effective.
- •Have you got what it takes?
- •Unemployment
- •1 Check the words and phrases.
- •2 Read the extract.
- •3 Answer the questions.
- •Doing Something Different
- •1 Check the words and phrases.
- •2 Read about three people and answer the following questions for each person.
- •3 Listen to the three people describing how it happened and answer the questions.
- •4 Mark the following statements true or false. Then listen again and check.
- •5 Discuss the following questions in groups.
1 Make sure you know the words.
to complain
customer service
to refund
to book
in advance
to point out
apology
substantial amount
reply
formal note
to receive
2 a In this extract businesswoman Ruth Lee talks about an occasion when she had to write a letter of complaint. Before you read the extract think about a time when you had bad service. Did you complain about it? What was the result? Compare your experience with Ruth’s.
The last letter of complaint I wrote was about three months ago. My company uses a taxi company quite regularly when people have to travel to the airport. On this occasion, I had booked a taxi about a week in advance to take two members of the staff to the airport because they had to fly to France for an important meeting. However, when they came back from France, the two staff members told me that the taxi had never arrived. In the end, one of the two men picked up his colleague in his own car and drove to the airport himself. They almost missed the flight. So I wrote a two-page letter to the taxi company, pointing out how much business my company gives them and telling them that we wanted some kind of compensation otherwise we’d take our business elsewhere. The next day, I received a full apology, along with a substantial amount credited to our taxi account to cover the next taxi journeys booked by my company.
b In your own words, describe the problem which made Ruth write to the taxi company. What two things did the taxi company give to Ruth after they received her letter?
3 Read 5 top tips for writing effective letters of complaint.
Many companies aim to give very good customer service. Sometimes, however, things go wrong and then the ability to complain effectively is important. There are usually two reasons for writing a letter of complaint about bad service. You may want the company to do something about the problem – for example, you may want them to refund your money. On the other hand, you may simply want them to know that you are not happy.
Here are 5 top tips that will help you to learn how to write effective letters of complaint.
1 Set a formal tone at the beginning of the letter (remember to begin your letter with ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ if you don’t know who will deal with it).
2 Tell the reader why you are writing. A good way to do this is to use the phrase ‘I’m writing to complain about…’
3 Give as factual and clear description of what happened as possible.
4 Say what you want to happen as a result of your letter. Do you want a refund or a letter of apology? You may simply want to tell the company how you feel. Phrases such as ‘As you can imagine, I’m very disappointed by this poor service. It is not what I expected from your company’. Finish this section by telling the person reading the letter that you expect a reply: ‘I look forward to receiving your reply’.
5 End on a formal note. If you started your letter ‘Dear Sir/Madam’, end it ‘Yours faithfully’ then sign your name. This is normal for any formal letter.