JOBS AND OCCUPATIONS

THE WORLD OF WORK

Today we are going to speak about The world of work. What do you think of when you hear the word
WORK? Do you think of some unpleasant activities? Unfortunately people have to work for a living.
For example your parents have to work daily to get money, because they have to pay the bills, have
to buy food and give you pocket money, right? A lot of people don’t like their job and others do. If
you like your job, there isn’t any problem. Do you like working? (helping your parents at home or in
the garden, for ex.) What would you like to do/ be when you finish school? Have you got any
dreams? And why? Why would it be good to be a ……? What is more important for you, to choose a
job (occupation) that you like doing or one that is well-paid? (for example doctors are well-paid but I
wouldn’t like to be a doctor, because they have a lot of responsibilities and they have a difficult job.)
- What kind of occupations do you know in English?

Look at the work areas. Try to think of an occupation from each area.
Construction Manufacturing
Education Media
Entertainment Medical care
Fashion and design Office work
Sales and marketing Transport/ travel
Tourism

accountant (bookkeeper), actor, architect, astronomer, baby sitter, baker, banker, barber, bookseller,
builder, cameraman, captain, carpenter, cleaner, coach, computer programmer, cook (chef), delivery
person, dentist, designer, doctor, driver, dustman, economist, electrician, engineer, farmer, fashion
designer, fireman, fisherman, florist, football player, forester, gardener, glazier, hairdresser,
headmaster, hotel receptionist, hunter, jeweler, journalist, judge, kindergarten teacher, lawyer,
librarian, lifeguard, make-up artist, mechanic, miner, model, monk, musician, nanny, newsreader,
nun, nurse, optician, painter, pharmacist, photographer, pilot, plumber, policeman, politician,
postman, priest, prison officer, reporter, roofer, sailor, scuba diver, secretary, security guard,
shepherd, shoemaker, shop assistant, singer, social worker, soldier, surgeon, tailor, taxi driver,
teacher, translator, travel agent, vet, waiter, writer.

Which of these jobs do you think:

- is part-time/ full-time
- requires experience
- sounds exciting
- requires a university degree
- you can do indoors/ outdoors
- requires creativity
- is challenging
- is fun to do
Part. Matching the statements in Column A with their corresponding occupations in Column B.
Column A Column B
 He/she manages a restaurant or hotel 1. Salesperson
 This person writes and edits newspapers 2. Supervisor
 This person paints buildings and houses 3. Translator
 He / she plays some instruments 4. Manager
 He or she fixes cars, buses, etc. 5. Cashier
 He or she repairs things at home 6. Journalist - Reporter
 This person sells cars, clothes, shoes, etc 7. Waitress
 His / her job is to supervise people 8. Repairperson
 He or she takes care of elderly people 9. Waiter
 He/she translates from one language to another one 10. Painter
 This person uses a cash register at his/her work 11. Health care aide
 He serves food at the restaurant 12. Musician
 She serves food at the restaurant 13. Veterinarian
 This person is a doctor for animals 14. Mechanic
 He or she gives haircuts and shaves 15. Barber
What do they do?/ Where do they work?
Job What do they do? Where do they work?

Actors Act in a play or a movie Work in a theatre

Bakers Bake bread and cakes Work in a bakery
Barbers Shave men’s bears and cut men’s hair Work in a barber’s (shop)
Barman Serve drinks Work in a bar or pub
Butchers Prepare and sell meat Work in a butcher’s shop
Chambermaids Clean and tidy rooms Work in a hotel
Chefs Prepare and cook food Work in a kitchen of a restaurant
Dentist Look after people’s teeth Work in a dentistry/ dentist’s office/
dentist’s surgery/ dental surgery/ clinic
Doctors Look after people’s health Work in a hospital or surgery
Flight attendants Look after passengers Work in an airplane
Hair dresser Cut and style people’s hair Work in a hairdresser’s salon
Nurses Look after patients Work in a hospital
Opticians Look after people’s eye sight Work in an optician’s
Porters Carry other people’s bags or luggage Work in a hotel or train station
Receptionists Meet and greet visitors Work in reception
Surgeons Operate on people who are sick Work in a hospital
Tailors Design, make, alter or repair clothes Work in factories and shops
Teachers Teach people Work at a school
Vets Look after people’s animals Work in a pets’ clinic
Waiters Serve people food and drink Work in a restaurant
Welders Weld metal to make things Work in factories or constructions
Identify them:
1. ....................................This is a person who acts in a movie or play.
2. ....................................This is a person trained to help a doctor, looks after the sick or injured.
3. ....................................This is a person who helps doctors with their work.
4. ....................................This person bakes cakes and bread.
5. ....................................He or she cooks at the restaurant.
6. ....................................This person delivers pizzas, and other kind of fast food.
7. ....................................This person designs buildings and houses.
8. ....................................He or she teaches subjects at school.
9. ....................................He or she drives a taxi.
10. ....................................He or she files documents at the library.
11. ....................................This person flies an airplane.
12. ....................................This person grows vegetables and works with animals.
13. .................................... He guards buildings.
14. .................................... A person that organises and sells holidays and flights for others.
15. .................................... A person who works for the army.
16. .................................... A person that works in a shop selling products.
17. .................................... A person employed in an office who types letters.
18. .................................... This person works with electric circuits.
19. .................................... A person that works with flowers.
20. .................................... A person that catches fish.
21. .................................... Someone who makes new reports in writing or through television.
22. .................................... A person that takes photos.
23. .................................... A person that repairs your water systems or pipes.
24. .................................... This person delivers mails to your house.
25. .................................... A person that corrects any problems with your sight.
26. .................................... A person that keeps gardens clean and tidy, takes care of the plants.
27. .................................... Someone who writes books or novels.
28. .................................... Someone who prevents crime.
29. .................................... A person you go to see when you are ill or have some health problem.
30. .................................... A person that collects trash from bins in the street.
31. .................................... A person that studies the stars and the universe.
32. .................................... This person saves lives where people swim (at a beach or swimming pool)
33. .................................... A person that reads the news, normally on television.
34. .................................... A person that makes things from wood including houses or furniture.

Fill in the gaps with words from the list: brave, dedicated, creative, courageous, funny, helpful, careful.
 Florists have to be ............................... .They make floral bouquets.
Clowns need to be ............................... to make people laugh.
Hotel receptionists have to be ................................ because they have to help people and
answer their questions.
You need to be ............................. to be a miner because it can be a dangerous job.
Policemen have to be .............................. because they often find themselves in dangerous
situations.
Glaziers need to be ............................... because they have to handle glass.
You have to be ............................... to be a surgeon because it requires many years of study.

Use the table below to make sentences, as in the example.

JOBS QUALITIES REASONS
politicians brave -
give people
information
teachers patient - make people believe
in them
fire fighters persuasive - help children to learn
things
telephone operators understanding - perform in front of
people
actors polite - face dangerous
situations
eg. Politicians need to be persuasive because they have to make people believe in them.

General questions about work:

- What do you do (for a living)/ What sort of work do you do?
(I am a.../ I work as a ...)
- Where do you work?
- Who do you work for?
(I am self-employed/ I work for myself/ I have my own business)
- Do you like your job/ boss/ colleagues/ the atmosphere in your workplace?
- Is your job stressful?
- Would you like to change anything in your job?
- Do you have to work overtime?
- Does your boss pay you more for overtime work?
- At what age do people in your country normally begin to work?
- At what age do they usually retire?
- At what age would you like to retire?
- What would you like to do after the retirement?
- What was your first job?/ Did you like it?
- When you were a child, what was your dream job?
- What is your dream job now?
- What do you think is the worst job?
- Does a university degree guarantee success in the future career?
- What is the most important in your job?
- Would you like to run your own business?
- Is it better to work for someone else or be self-employed?
- Should women and men be paid the same?
- Is/ was your boss a man or a woman?
- Who do you think make better bosses, men or women?

Employment status: (employ, employer, employee, employment)

 o I’ve got a part-time job
o I’ve got a full-time job
o I work from home
o I’m unemployed/ out of work
o I’m looking for work/ for a job
o I’m not working at the moment
o I’ve been made redundant
o I do some voluntary work
o I’m retired
o I’m training to be an engineer/ a nurse
o I’m a trainee accountant
o I’m on a course at the moment
Let’s speak about the advantages and disadvantages of a job (the positive and the negative sides of a
job). What do you think, which are the positive sides of a job?

Advantages (pros) + Disadvantages (cons) -

you can meet new people it can be tiring
the salary is quite good/ it’s a rewarding job it isn’t well-paid
it can help you to feel more self-confident you work shifts
you can travel to a lot of beautiful places you have to work long hours
you can help sick people it’s a job full of responsibilities
it’s not boring, it’s interesting it can be boring after a while
you can get extra money/ tip you have to walk all day long
you can educate and teach children it can be dangerous
it’s comfortable because you work in an office it is difficult
it’s a job without responsibilities it is stressful/ depressing
it’s a creative job it’s dirty

How could you write an essay about the pros and cons of a job?
Explanation: We usually divide an essay in four parts. In the first part we mention the job/ occupation
we write about. In the second part we write about the pros, while in the third one about the cons of
the job. And finally in the last part we summarize and give our opinion.

The pros and cons of working as a flight attendant

Some people see it as an ordinary job while others think it is an exciting and interesting career.
Whatever your views, there is no doubt that working as a flight attendant is a demanding job with
many advantages and disadvantages.
There are several arguments in favour of working as a flight attendant. To begin with, it is a very
exciting job because flight attendants are able to travel to lots of places. For instance, they could be
in Spain one day and Iceland the next. In addition, it is an interesting job because flight attendants
get to meet lots of different people from different countries every day.
However, there are also a number of disadvantages to being a flight attendant. Firstly, it is a
stressful job as flight attendants have a lot of responsibilities. For example, they must always be
prepared to deal with any number of situations that may arise. Furthermore, it is a tiring job because
they often have to work long and unsociable hours.
To conclude, I believe that, although being a flight attendant can be difficult at times, it is worth
it. It is exciting to travel to lots of different places and meet lots of interesting people.
 Working mothers have positive effects on the family

Nowadays, more and more women work outside the home, causing many people to wonder
whether this is a positive change. Germaine Greer, the Australian feminist, said, “Most women still
need a room of their own and the only way to find it may be outside their own homes.” If this is true,
can it be done without having a negative effect on the family?
One point in favour of mothers working is that their children often learn to be independent
from an early age, which can only help them in the future. Also, in many families, the man’s salary
alone is not enough to cover all household expenses. Thus, the need for extra income arises, and the
woman has to work. Moreover, working outside the home gives a woman a sense of her own
personal identity and self-confidence. A woman who stays at home will always be known as “John’s
wife” and not as a person in her own right.
On the other hand, child care is expensive. Therefore, a large proportion of the money a
working mother earns will be spent on childcare. What is more, if both parents are out working all
day, they only see their children for a few hours in the evening. This can have a negative effect, as
children may start to see their parents as strangers. Finally, a working mother usually has to look
after both the children and home in her spare time, so she is actually doing two jobs instead of one,
which can be very tiring. She may also miss out on important events in her children’s lives, such as
their first steps and first words.
To sum up, there are many arguments both for and against mothers working. Every family is
different and what is good for one family may not necessarily be good for another. Talking everything
into account, it should be left to the individual mother to decide whether working or not is
something that she wants to do.

Write a short essay about the pros and cons of a job.

The cook

Giles Mildmay, 24, has been a professional cook for three years. Gils and his father talk about his
choice of carreer.
Giles: I think I’ve always been interested in food. My grandparents (on my mother’s side) lived in a
huge old house in Lincolnshire and they had a wonderful cook. She made fantastic standard English
food. I used to love going down to the kitchen and watching her work, and I picked up a lot of
cooking tips from her. I realized that I wanted to be a cook when I was about 12. I went to a boarding
school and when other boys chose to do sport, I chose cookery. By the time I was 15, I had taken
over the cooking at home for my parents’ dinner parties, and I had started to make up my own
recipes. I knew my parents would not approve of cooking as a career, so I decided to introduce them
slowly to the idea. I told them that I wanted to do a cookery course for fun, and I went for a month to
a hotel in Torquay. I enjoyed it so much, I knew I couldn’t put off telling my parents any longer, so I
brought the subject up one night over dinner. At first there was silence, and then my father asked me
why. I explained that cooking was like painting a picture or writing a book. Every meal was an act of
creation. I could see that my father was not convinced, but he didn’t get angry, he just patted me on
the shoulder and smiled. My mother kissed me. And now that I have opened my own restaurant, I
think they are very proud of me. However, my grandfather (on my father’s side) is not so kind, he
thinks I’m mad to have given up farming.
The gardener

Hugo Grantchester, 26, has been a gardener and a tree surgeon for four years. Hugo and his
mother talk about his choice of career.
Hugo: When I was 11, we moved to a large house in East Anglia which had three acres of garden. We
had a gardener who lived in a little cottage. I used to spend hours watching him work and talking to
him. I think I picked up a lot about gardening without realizing it, because one summer when I was
still at school, I took a job at a garden centre and I knew all the names of the plants, and I could give
people advice. Then I went to university and it was a disaster. After a term I told my parents that I
was going to give it up and go back to work in the garden centre. They were furious, we had a terrible
row, and they didn’t speak to me for months. But I knew it was a waste of time to carry on studying
archaeology, and the moment I started gardening again, I knew I’d made the right decision. I’ve
enjoyed every moment of the last four years and my parents have learnt to accept what I do, not
only because they can see how happy I am, but also because a lot of my university friends have found
it difficult to find good jobs or have been made redundant. Sometimes people are quite taken aback
when they find out that their gardener went to university, but I think it makes them respect my
opinion more when I’m helping them plant their gardens.

My First Job
My first job actually was working at a restaurant. I was a dish washer. I was fifteen years old and,
actually, I thought the job was pretty cool. All I had to do was wash dishes. I worked alone in the back
of the kitchen and the restaurant was not too busy. It was an Italian restaurant. It was pretty easy
and I had a big machine to help clean the dishes and I think I made like two dollars an hour. I made
no money but the job was pretty easy. I think I had that job for one year and I liked it.

My Current Job
Well, right now I am an English teacher. I've been an English teacher now for thirteen years on and
off. I started teaching when I was twenty-three and now I am thirty-six, and I first started teaching in
Thailand, and I taught there for a while and then I went back to America and I taught in San
Francisco. Then I stopped teaching for a while and then I moved to Japan and I've been teaching in
Japan for six years. I really like teaching English. It's a fun job. I like being with students and I probably
will be in teaching for the rest of my life.

My Future Job
Well, like I said before, I think I will be in teaching forever but now I really enjoy computers and I
enjoy materials development so I think in the future I will try to make multi-media and books and
materials for students, so I will still be involved in education, but I would like to start my own
business and do something outside of teaching as well.

My Best Job
Well, the easiest job I ever had, and the funnest job, was being a bartender. I was a bartender for
two years. I took a two-year break from being an English teacher and I was a bartender and it was a
lot of fun. I did not have to be at work until five. I got to go home at midnight or one, and I was paid
to just sit and talk with people and give people drinks, and watch sports on TV and eat good food. I
worked at a Thai restaurant and the staff was really nice, so I really enjoyed being a bartender. The
only thing I didn't like about being a bartender was dealing with drunk people. I didn't like having to
deal with drunk people, but besides that, it was a good job.

The Worst Job

OK, the worst job I've ever had was I used to be a painter. I painted houses and 1), I was not very
good at it, and 2) it was pretty hard work. Every day you have to smell the paint, and the paint smells
really bad, and you get paint all over your clothes and you have to climb really tall latters and paint
really tall buildings and it's dangerous, and sometimes it's cold outside, so I did not like painting at all.

My Dream Job
OK, if I could have any job in the world, I would be a professional baseball player. I would play for the
New York Yankees. I would want to be a position player, though. Like, I would want to play in the
outfield. I would not want to be a pitcher because a pitcher only pitches every five days, so he has to
sit and watch a lot of games. So, if I was a baseball player I would want to play every day. I think the
best thing about being a baseball player, would be you get to travel a lot, go to lots of different cities,
and you have the fun of competition and playing a sport you love. Actually, I would make a lot of
money, but the money would not be very important to me.

A teacher's job is to teach someone - to help someone learn about something. Many teachers
work in schools - (primary/prime) schools, middle schools, and high schools. At
the university/college (level/area), teachers are known as
(professors/deans). Teachers often have to create tests/exams for their students. This is a good
way of (monitoring/metering) ( = following) their students' progress. Teachers
often (grade/value) their students, based on how well or poorly the students
(performance/perform). A good teacher should be (patience/patient),
and should be able to explain things in a clear way. In North America, teachers have to be
licensed, which usually means that they have to (finish/graduate) from
college/university and (compel/complete) a teacher training
(program/ritual) before being able to teach.