UNIT2 “Work and jobs”
I TEXT
People and workplaces The people who work for a company, all the people on its payroll, are its employees, personnel, staff, workers or workforce. But these words can mean just the people carrying out the work of a company, rather than those leading it and organizing it: the management.
A company's activities may be spread over different sites. A company's most senior managers usually work in its head office or headquarters (HQ). Some managers have their own individual offices, but in many businesses, most employees work in open-plan offices: large areas where many people work together. Administration or, informally, admin, the everyday work supporting a company's activities, is often done in offices like these by administrative staff or support staff. For example, those giving technical help to buyers of the company's products are in technical support.
Jobs: Accountants - More Than Bean Counters. Wherever money is made or lost, accountants are needed to manage the books. Accountants are found in every industry--from the government to manufacturing to corporations. They are not bean counters or bookkeepers, but manage money, finances, and taxes and give valuable business advice. Accountants perform audits and prepare, analyze, and verify financial reports and taxes for many clients. They also give advice to corporate executives and help them make business decisions. All accountants should be analytical, creative self-starters with strong communication and computer skills.
Administrative Assistant - A Respected Career Administrative assistants do more than answer telephones, type, and get coffee-the field is becoming a highly specialized and quickly growing career opportunity for people of all backgrounds. With corporate downsizing, administrative assistants are taking on more responsibilities and contributing more to the success of a company. They are not just doing "grunt" work; in fact some are relied upon for their computer and financial skills, and are responsible for hiring and managing people.
Human Resources - The Personal Touch The human resources professional is an important part of a successful company. They have a wide variety of responsibilities, including hiring new employees, dealing with labor disputes, and training employees--just to name a few! They also act as counselors, offering assistance to employees dealing with personal issues, so they need to have a personal touch as well. Human resources professionals do more than hire people--they are responsible for continuing education, training and certification of employees, staffing needs, performance appraisals and reviews, compensation and benefits programs, and union and labor relations.
Market Research Analyst - In the Know How do companies know if a new package will boost product sales? How does a state choose the advertising that will bring in the most tourists? How does a company get an idea of consumer response to a new product before it's officially released? How do they do it? They call a market research analyst. Market research analysts collect, analyze, and interpret data which companies use in marketing their products.
Stockbroker - Buy Low, Sell High! Does anyone really know what the stock market will do next? Since even the experts don't agree, most people with money to invest want some advice before they decide where to put their savings. They call a stockbroker. Stockbrokers act for clients in the buying and selling of stocks. Most brokers also deal with bonds, shares in mutual funds, certificates of deposit, insurance annuities, and other financial products, so the term "securities sales representative" is really more accurate.
Ways of working can differ:
- I'm an office worker in an insurance company. It's a nine-to-five job with regular working hours. The work isn't very interesting, but I like to be able to go home at a reasonable time. We all have to clock in and clock out every day. In this company, even the managers have to, which is unusual!
(Note: You also say clock on and clock off.)
- I'm in computer programming. There's a system of flexitime in my company, which means we can work when we want, within certain limits. We can start at any time before eleven, and finish as early as three, as long as we do enough hours each month. It's ideal for me as I have two young children.
- I work in a car plant. I work in shifts. I may be on the day shift one week and the night shift the next week. It's difficult changing from one shift to another. When I change shifts, I have problems changing to a new routine for sleeping and eating.
I'm a commercial artist in an advertising agency.
- I work in a big city, but I prefer living in the country, so I commute to work every day, like thousands of other commuters. Working from home using a computer and the Internet is becoming more and more popular, and the agency is introducing this: it's called teleworking or telecommuting. But I like going into the office and working with other people around me.
Exercises
1. Translate in to Russian
to manage the books
to verify financial reports
administrative assistant
human resources
performance appraisal
to boost sales
to release a product
bonds
shares
certificates of deposit
insurance annuities
securities
payroll
headquarters
clock in/ out
flextime
to work in shifts
to commute
2. Explain
bean counters
to perform audits
corporate executives
self-starters
“grunt” work
personal issues
certification of employees
securities sales representative
open-plan offices
teleworking
3. Complete the following sentences
Accountants are needed…
Accountants should be…
Administrative assistants are an important part of a company…
Some administrative assistants can be relied upon…
Human resources professionals have a wide variety of responsibilities…
Market research analysts are called…
Stock brokers act…
Stock brokers deal with…
4 Answer the following questions
Who carries out the work of a company?
Who leads and organizes it?
Where do different employees work?
What are accountants( administrative assistants, etc) in charge of?
What sort of people should they be?
How can they contribute to the success of the company?
What are the old ( new) ways of working?
What are their advantages and disadvantages?
5 Which person (1-5) is most likely to do each of the five things (a-e)? Explain your choice.
1 A software designer in an Internet company. Has to be in the office.
2 An office worker in a large, traditional manufacturing company.
3 A manager in a department store in a large city. Lives in the country.
4 A construction worker on a building site where work goes on 24 hours a day.
5 A technical writer for a city computer company. Lives in the country.
a work in shifts
b work under a flexitime system
с telecommute
d commute to work
e clock on and off at the same time every day
6. Fill in the blanks
Manuel Ortiz is the founder of a Spanish computer sales company. Use the words from the text to complete what he says about it.
I founded Computadoras Creativas 20 years ago. We started with a small(1)________in Madrid. Our (2)______ ______, our (3)_________________is still here, but now we have sites all over Spain, with about 500 employees. Manyof the offices are (4)_____-_____: everyone works together, from managers to(5)_______________ _______, as well as people selling over the phone, and people in technical (6)__________giving help to customers over the phone. Recruitment is taken care of in Madrid, by the (7)_________ _____________ ________or (8)____.
7. Translate the sentences
Работниками компании считаются все те , кто выполняет работу компании и включен в платежную ведомость. Различныеспециалисты работают на компанию. Услуги бухгалтера нужны в любой области, т.к.он не только распоряжатся финансами, но и помогает руководству принимать правильные деловые решения. Советы опытного бухгалтера всегда очень ценны.
Успех компании во многом зависит от работы отдела кадров. Отдел кадров отвечает за прием на работу и увольнение сотрудников, за подготовку работников и осуществление связи между ними и профсоюзом. Он также дает оценку выполняемой работы и разрабатывает систему поощерений. Работники отдела кадров должны быть хорошими психологами, т.к. им приходится разрешать производственные конфликты и помогать работникам с их личными проблемами.
Компания не может обойтись без услуг маркетолога, который отбирает и анализирует данные, необходимые для сбыта товаров. Он может определить , что поможет увеличить объем продажи, и даже как покупатель оценит новый товар еще до того, как его выпустят в продажу.
Руководители компании в своей работе опираются на помощь секретарей-референтов, которые берут на себя все больше обязанностей. Им доверяют не только работу с компьютером, но и прием на работу. На них также полагаются в решении финансовых вопросов.
Если вы хотите выгодно вложить деньги, вам следует обратиться к биржевому маклеру. Он занимается акциями, облигациями,вкладными, сертификатами, страховыми взносами и другими финансовыми операциями.
Обычно сотрудники работают с 8 до5 ч., иногда им приходится регистрироваться , когда они приходят и уходят с работы. Те , кто трудится в сфере производства, работают по сменам. Они могут работать в дневную, затем в ночную смену. В некототорых компаниях у сотрудников гибкий рабочий график, в других они выполняют работу дома и связываются с офисом через интернет. Эта форма работы становится все более популярной.
II DIALOGUES
1. a) Read the following dialogue and try to explain the idioms in bold (See Language focus, ex. 10).
Boss: Please sit down, Peter. I understand you want to 1) get something off your chest, so tell me quickly because I've got a very busy schedule this morning.
Peter: Well, sir. It's about your choice of applicant for the position of medical director, Jefferson. You know I'm not 2) a nosy Parker, sir, but I couldn't help noticing at the interview that he was a bit of 3) a dark horse, so I decided to do a bit of investigating.
Boss: And...?
Peter: Well, I spoke to his previous employer, a Mr Todd, and found out that he has a tendency to 4) lose his head when faced with a difficult situation and also that he has a strong dislike of authority - apparently he has a 5) chip on his shoulder because he's never held a senior position himself. It seems that he 6) has a very short fuse as well, as he ended up hitting a patient who had disagreed with him. Of course, they fired him after that, and as Mr Todd told me, Jefferson reacted badly to that by screaming and shouting and threatening that he would 7) get his own back! Anyway, basically I think you should offer the position to Smith instead.
Boss: Smith! But he's such 8) a wet blanket! Don't you remember him refusing to come to last year's Christmas party because he thought it was silly?
Peter: Ah, but he's 9) as straight as a die sir, and you know we need someone reliable for this position.
Boss: Yes, I 10) take your point, but how are we going to give Jefferson the bad news?...
b. Reproduce the dialogue using the idioms.
c. In pairs, discuss the results of the interview.
2. A) Read the following dialogues and say which of the 2 candidates will be appointed for the post of a new adverting manager. Explain your choice.
(In John Martin's office.)
JOHN MARTIN: O.K., Sally. I'm ready to see the applicants for the new job. Let's have the first one in. Who is it?
SALLY: It's a Mr. Windsmore.
JOHN: Ask him to come in, will you?
SALLY: Mr. Windsmore.
JOHN: Ah, how do you do, Mr. Windsmore.
WINDSMORE: How do you do.
JOHN: Do sit down.
WINDSMORE: Thank you.
JOHN: Now, let me explain the job. We plan to increase our advertising quite considerably. At the present moment a firm of advertising agents handles our account, but we haven't been too pleased with results lately and we may give our account to another agency.
■
WINDSMORE: What would my work entail?
JOHN: You'd be responsible to me for all advertising and to Mr. Grant for public relations. You would brief the agency, whoever it is, on the kind of advertising campaign we want. You would also be responsible for getting our leaflets, brochures and catalogues designed.
WINDSMORE: I presume you advertise in the national Press as well as the trade Press?
JOHN: Yes, we do.
WINDSMORE: Have you thought about advertising on television?
JOHN: We don't think it's a suitable medium for us. And it's much too expensive.
WINDSMORE: I can just imagine a scene with a typist sitting on an old-fashioned typing chair, her back aching, exhausted... Then we show her in one of your chairs, her back properly supported, feeling full of energy, typing twice as quickly...
JOHN: Before you get carried away with your little scene, Mr. Windsmore, I regret to have to tell you again that we are not planning to go into television.
WINDSMORE: That's a shame! I've been
doing a lot of television work lately and
It interests me enormously. John: …
(Mr. Windsmore has gone.)
JOHN: Sally, who's next?
SALLY: It's J.P.Harvey. The 'J' is for
Joanna. JOHN: Miss or Mrs.? SALLY: Miss. JOHN: Where's her letter of application? I
can't find it. Has she had any
experience?
SALLY: Here's her letter. The letter says that she's been an account executive for a year... (The interview has started.)
JOHN: How did you begin in advertising, Miss Harvey?
JOANNA HARVEY: I joined a training
scheme run by the Palmer & Vincent
Agency and stayed with them for a year.
JOHN: That was before you moved to your present agency?
JOANNA: That's right. And I've worked with them for the past three years. Last year I became an account executive.
JOHN: What exactly is your work at the moment?
JOANNA: Well, I handle quite a number of accounts. I plan the advertising campaign, co-ordinate the work of the visualiser, the copywriter, artists and typographers. I discuss the layout with the clients, check proofs and, sometimes, have to do the work of the specialists when there's a crisis, as there usually is!
JOHN: You seem to have had the right kind of experience. I think you'd do the work well, but... well, all the executives are men and... er...
JOANNA: And I always thought industry was so go-ahead and modern!
JOHN: I don't mind telling you you're quite high on my list, but.
III LANGUAGE FOCUS
1. Fill in the blanks.
I work…… a French supermarket company. (1)I work …… the development of new
supermarkets. (2) In fact, I …… the development department and (3) I ……
for a team looking at the possibilities in different countries. It's very
interesting. (4) One of my …… is to make sure that new supermarkets open
on time. (5) I'm also …… financial reporting. (6) I …… a lot of different
organizations in my work. (7) I'm …… planning projects from start to
finish. (8)1 work closely …… our foreign partners, and so I travel a lot.
2. Fill in with prepositions.
Rebecca lives in London and works in public relations. She leaves
home for work at 7.30 am. She drives (1).......................work.
The traffic is often bad and she worries about getting
(2).......................work late, but she usually arrives
(3).......................work at around nine. She finishes work
quite late, at about eight. 'Luckily, I'm never ill,' she says.
'I could never take the time (4).......................work.'
She loves what she does and is glad to be (5).......................
work. Some of her friends are not so lucky: they are (6).......................work.
3. Fill in with:
-
report to answer to supervise liaise with manage
Your job is to …… the six people at the front desk -you make sure they all know what they're doing and that they don't make any mistakes. You …… Simon, who's the head of customer services. He …… you and four other supervisors. He also …… the heads of the other departments so that they all know what everyone else is doing. And, of course, as I'm the boss, they all …… me.
4. Fill in with:
-
promote appraise demote perform train pass over
Every year we …… you -in other words, we talk to you about your work over the past year. If you're having problems, we …… you to deal with them. If you've done well, we try to …… you, although competition for the top jobs is tough so you could be …… over for promotion even if you have done well. And, of course, if you haven't …… well enough, we'll probably …… you, because in this company only the best is good enough.
5. Fill in with:
-
sack make redundant retire dismiss resign fire lay off
NOTICE
These are the only ways that you can lose your job at this company.
Employees who steal will be …… .
Anyone who contradicts the boss will be …… .
Salespeople who don't meet their targets will be …… .
When business is bad, the laziest workers will be …… .
And if the company goes bankrupt, everyone will be …… .
If you don't like any of these rules, you're free to …… and find
another job.
But if nothing goes wrong, you have a job for life and you can ……
happily at the age of sixty-five.
6. List the verbs in groups of similar meaning and speak about the manager’s responsibilities.
Oversee, improve, monitor, boost, sort out, lead, deal with, stimulate, increase, be in charge of, solve, clear up, keep an eye on check supervise, manage
7. Complete the sentences with the words and expressions.
Salesman, computer programmer, legal department, chief executive officer, self-employed, personnel manager
1 I'm а …… and work in the Export Sales department. I have to find new customers for our products.
2 I'm a lawyer and work in the …… I draw up contracts and advise the company on tax legislation.
3 I'm a …… and work in the information technology department. Basically, I design software applications and make sure our website is kept up-to-date.
4 I'm the …… and work in the human resources department. I handle both staff recruitment and training.
5 I'm a management consultant and I'm …… . I advise companies on their global strategy and investment policies.
6 I'm the …… and sit on the board of directors. I'm responsible for the company's strategic objectives and translating plans into action.