New employment ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS IN USE (ADVANCED)

ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS IN USE (ADVANCED)

UNIT 12

New employment

A	Discussing job applicants Guy: So which of these applicants do you think we should interview? They all seem to fit the job description quite well to me. It’s quite a daunting task to narrow the list down to just one person. Lisa: I agree. So, lets start by taking up references for these ten people. Guy: OK. So why did you pick these ten out of the fifty who applied? Lisa: Well, these ten all seem to be people who realise the importance of working as a team. They’ve all shown that they are capable of mastering new skills. And they’re all clearly comfortable with taking on responsibility. Guy: Did you automatically eliminate the two who’d previously taken industrial action1? Lisa: One of them – I’d also heard rumours about his involvement in a professional misconduct case. He was certainly relieved of his duties2 at ARG under mysterious circumstances. But the other was standing up for a woman who’d been wrongfully dismissed3, even though he knew he might lose his own job. So he sounded good to me. Guy: Fair enough. He must have strength of character to risk losing his own livelihood. Lisa: That’s right. So could we pencil in a meeting for considering the references? And then I’d better leave you and go and clear my desk4 before I go home. Guy: Yes, sure. How about Friday at 10? 1 gone on strike 2 (formal) dismissed 3 (formal, legal) unfairly dismissed 4 deal with all the papers on one’s desk (also used when someone is clearing their desk because they are leaving their job) Common mistakes If workers refuse to work, they go on strike or stage a strike, NOT make a strike.
B	Conversation about a new job Alexa: I hear your brother’s landed a fantastic new job1. David: Actually it’s not as good as he hoped. He’s got a terribly heavy workload and that means working some very unsocial hours. He also complains about having to do lots of menial tasks around the office, running errands for his boss. Alexa: But he’s paid well? David: Not really. He just about gets a living wage2. And all the overtime is unpaid. Alexa: He’ll just have to throw a sickie3 from time to time. David: Yes, I suggested he did that too, but he says he’s afraid of getting the sack4 if he does. He feels there might be some prospects for him there eventually, even if he is just being used as sweated labour5 at the moment. Alexa: Well, with any luck he’ll eventually find that he can realise his potential6 there. David: I hope so. But they have a very high turnover of staff and it won’t be easy for him to stay the course7. Alexa: No, but he’s very determined, isn’t he? So let’s hope it all works out. 1 (informal) got a new (and usually a good) job 2 enough money to live on 3 (informal) take a day off work pretending to be sick 4 (informal) being dismissed 5 workers who are paid very little and work in very bad conditions 6 achieve all that he is capable of 7 remain there until he is successful

EXERCISES

12.1	Find a collocation in A that matches each definition. 1 to make a provisional date for a meeting 2 an alarmingly difficult task 3 to become skilled at doing new things 4 to request statements from referees 5 to have the skills required for a job 6 unfairly sacked 7 to be deprived of your source of income 8 behaviour unacceptable for someone in a particular job
12.2	Complete this paragraph using words from the box in the appropriate form. be fit land run sweat take Charlotte was surprised but happy to (1) ________________ a job on her local newspaper as soon as she left university. She was surprised because she didn’t feel that she (2) ________________ the job description, but she was happy because she had always dreamt of working as a journalist. So she didn’t really mind when she found that she was spending much of her time (3) ________________ errands for the editor. Her brother said she was just being used as (4) ________________ labour but she felt confident that there (5) ________________ good prospects for her there. She was sure she would soon have the chance to (6) ________________ on more responsibility.
12.3	Complete each conversation using a collocation from the opposite page to make B agree with what A says. 1 A I think that Adam will leave his new job before the year is out. B Yes, I agree. I don’t think he’ll ___________ either. 2 A Had you heard that they may fire some members of staff? B Yes, I did hear a rumour that some people might ___________. 3 A Inflation is so high that I don’t seem to earn enough to live on any more. B No. I don’t feel I earn ___________myself 4 A Has the HR manager been removed from his job? B Yes, he was ___________yesterday. 5 A I hope the workers don’t decide to go on strike. B Yes, it would be very unfortunate if they decide to ___________. 6 A It’s going to be hard to decide which of the job applicants to shortlist. B Yes, I don’t know how we are going to ___________.
12.4	Answer these questions about your own work or ask someone else these questions and write down the answers. 1 What kind of menial tasks does your job involve? 2 Do you think this job will allow you to realise your potential? 3 Do you ever have to work unsocial hours? If so, why? If not, why not? 4 Does there tend to be a high turnover of staff at your workplace? 5 If you do overtime, is it paid or unpaid? 6 Have you ever thrown a sickie? If so, why? If not, why not? 7 Have you ever taken or would you ever consider taking industrial action? 8 In your job is it necessary to work as a team? 9 Do you have a heavy workload?
	Over to you It will probably be particularly useful for you to learn work collocations that relate to your own professional life. Look on the internet for information in English about the job that you do or are interested in doing in the future. Make a note of any interesting collocations that you come across.

ANSWER KEY

12.1 1 to pencil a meeting in 2 a daunting task 3 to master new skills 4 to take up references 5 to fit the job description 6 wrongfully dismissed 7 to lose your livelihood 8 professional misconduct 12.2 1 land 2 fitted (US English: fit) 3 running 4 sweated 5 were / would be 6 take 12.3 1 stay the course 2 get the sack 3 a living wage 4 relieved of his duties 5 take industrial action / stage a strike 6 narrow the list down 12.4 Author’s answers: 1 I suppose that copying materials and collating pages could be called menial work. 2 I certainly hope that it will. 3 As someone who does a lot of freelance work, I work a lot of unsocial hours. I get up early to work at my computer, for example. But it is my own choice and not imposed on me by an employer, so I don’t mind it. The plus side is that I can have a long lunch with a friend whenever I want to. 4 When I was working at a language school, there was quite a high turnover of staff as teachers often used to go off and work in different countries. 5 When I was teaching in a language school, I often did overtime – taking students on excursions and so on. It was paid. 6 No, I haven’t. I feel superstitious about it. I worry that if I pretend to be ill then I will soon become ill in reality. 7 I haven’t taken industrial action but I think I might consider it if colleagues were being wrongly treated. 8 Yes, it is. Getting a book ready for publication is very much a team effort. 9 As a freelancer I sometimes have a heavy workload and sometimes I don’t. It can be quite difficult to spread my work in a balanced way.