General topics.

Employment; Finding a job; Job interview; Payment

IT topics. IT Professions; Job hunting

Frank is a college student who badly needs some extra income. He is trying to find a part-time
job so he often buys a newspaper with classified ads where he can read about IT jobs. He
finds some posts like network operator, system administrator and help desk operator, which
are tasks for an undergraduate too. Now he can see how clever he was when he took his
English exam because most companies want the candidates who can speak English. He knows
that he needs a CV so he has to write it in English too. He will write about his studies as a
web designer and he will write about his programming skills too. He will have to ask a
teacher at college to write him a reference letter and he will have to find time for the job
interviews. He is quite excited when he gets the first positive answer and he starts dressing up.

Dialogues

1. Judy and Frank in Frank's room.

- You look very well-dressed. Where are you going?

- I'm going to a job interview. I sent an application letter to an IT company and they wrote an
email saying they wanted to see me. Do I look all right?
- You look super! But I don't understand why you have to be so smart? It is only work!
- You are too small. You don't understand! It is very hard to find a well-paying part-time job.
The market is full of IT experts!
- You sound very serious! How much money do you want to make?
- I don't know. It depends on the tasks and the working hours. You know that I can work only
in the afternoons and perhaps at weekends.
- Do you want to work at weekends too? Then you won't have time to spend your money!
- You are stupid, Judy! Just get out of my room, I am in a hurry!

2. Human Resources Manager - Frank in the interview room.

- So I see you are still an undergraduate. What exactly do you study?

- I specialize in web design but I am quite good at programming too.
- What programming languages do you know?
- Pascal and C. Unfortunately Java is not my favorite.
- Well, we actually don't need programmers. We need some helpdesk operators for our
Internet service in the evenings and a network operator for the night shift.
- I'm afraid I cannot work full-time, but weekends would be OK with me!
- Have you got any ideas about the financial conditions? I'm afraid at the beginning your pay
would not be too high. We can pay you by the hour. Of course, if we see you perform well, in
three months we can give you a rise.
- How much would that be per hour?
- € 4.
3. Frank - Peter on the phone.

- How did it go yesterday?

- I'm afraid I won't be a millionaire this time! They want to pay € 4 per hour. The job itself
sounds OK, I have to work as a helpdesk operator and I can work in the evenings or at
weekends.
- Will you accept it?
- Well, this is the first offer. I think I will make some phone calls and send some more
applications. But I have to be realistic. I don't have any experience, I don't have a degree and I
am not especially good at any special subjects like programming or data security. Now I see
that we have to find a special field and start e-learning. Otherwise we will be just one of the
thousands of young people who try to offer their services on the labor market.

Comprehension Check
1. Decide whether the following statements are true or false.

a. Frank wants to work in his free time.

b. He tries to find a job for students.

c. English is an important skill for IT jobs.

d. Frank knows English is important so he decides to start preparing for a language exam.

e. He will write his CV in two languages.

f. He doesn't know what a reference letter is.

g. He knows that he has to be well-dressed for a job interview.

h. Judy doesn't really understand what a job interview is about.

i. Frank is going to a company whose human resources manager phoned him.

j. Frank thinks he can easily find a good job.

k. Frank doesn't exactly know how much money he can make.

l. The company needs some new staff for three shifts.

m. If Frank works well his pay will soon be better.

n. Frank will accept this offer because he knows he doesn't have much experience.

o. Frank tells Peter to start specializing if he wants to find a good job later.
2. Read the following story and fill in the blanks with the words from the reading
passage. The first character may help.

One day Peter read an a................(a) about a good p.......................(b) in an IT company.

They were looking for

a S..........................(c) Administrator for night s........................(d) The p...................(e) was

good but the f

........................(f) conditions were rather bad. They promised a pay r..........................(g) after
the first three

months so Peter decided to send an a...........................(h) letter to the Human

R...................................(i)

department. He wrote his CV and enclosed a r.........................(j) letter from his professor at
college. He was very

surprised when he got the invitation for a job i......................(k) for the following week.

3. Match the following words with the definitions.

1. degree a. part of a company whichchooses new

2. Human resources department workers
b. people who are available for work

3. financial c. learning with the help of electronic

4. labor markett material on a computer
5. skills d. the qualification you get after
6. pay rise finishing college or university studies
7. post e. working for fewer hours than around
8. undergraduate 40 per week
9. part-time job f. a student who is studying for a degree
10. E-learning g. related to money
h. the ability to do something well
i. to get more money for your work
j. a job, a place for work