Unit 1:

CAREERS
 STARTING UP
Past you – Present you – Future you
When I was a child, I wished that I
would…

But now I …

In 10 years’ time, I would be…

 Your
career

Which of the following would you

prefer to do?
a)working for one company during
your career
b)work for several different
companies
c)work for yourself
B. Match each activity (1-7) to its corresponding
area of work (a-g). Which of these areas do you
like to work in? Why?
1. Making/manufacturing things a. Sales and Marketing

2. Being in charge of people and b. Finance

running the organisation
3. Selling products or services c. Management

4. Dealing with clients/consumers d. Human Resourses

(HR)
5. Working with figures e. Production

6. Dealing with employees and f. Research and

training Development (R&D)
7. Investigating and testing g. Customer Service
C. What should you do to get ahead in your
career? Choose the four most important tips.
1. Change companies 5. Be energetic and
often enthusiastic at all
times
2. Use charm with 6. Be the last to leave
your superiors. work every day

3. Attend all meetings 7. Find an experienced

person to give you
help and advice
4. Go to your 8. Study for extra
company’s social qualifications in your
functions free time
VOCABULARY
Career moves
A. Matching
1. career move a. chances to start/improve your career
C
2. career break b. ideas you have for your future career
D
3. career plan c. an action you take to progress in your
B career
4. career d. period of time away from your job to, for
opportunities example, look after your children
A
5. Career path e. a series of levels or steps in your working
life
F
6. Career ladder f. The direction your working life takes
E
B &C. Listening:
Listen to 3 people talking about their careers.
Person 1: Middle
Person 2: Beginning
Person 3: End

Person 1: Career break; career

move
Person 2: Career opportunities;
career path
Person 3: Career plan; career
ladder
D. Complete the sentences
climb decide have make offer take

1. ha
Employees in large multinationals………. excellent career
opportunities if they are willing to travel.
2. tak ve
Some people ………… a career break to do something
adventurous like sailing round the world or going trekking in
India. e
3. make
One way to ………..a career move is to join a small but rapidly
growing company.
4. off
Certain companies………….career opportunities to the long-
term unemployed or to people without formal qualifications.
5. erdeci
Ambitious people often………….on a career plan while they
are still at university.
6. de cli
In some industries, it can take a long time to………….the
career ladder.
mb
E. Cross out the noun or noun phrase
which doesn’t go with the verb
1. Make: a fortune / progress / a living / a
training course
2. Get: progress / a promotion / a bonus / fired
(AmE) / the sack (BrE)
3. Earn: commission / a part-time job / money /
40,000 per year
4. Do: part-time job / a mistake / a nine-to-five
job / your best
5. Take: a pension / an opportunity / time off / early
retirement
6. Work: flexitime / anti-social hours / overtime /
an office job
F. Complete the sentences
1. make a fortune
In banking, you can…………………………with the big
bonuses and retire at 35.
2. When you…………………..,
work flexitime you can arrange your own
schedule, so this is very convenient when you have
children.
3. People who work in sales often have the opportunities
to………………………….on
earn commission top of a basis salary.
4. Luke is ambitious and does not want to be a sales
get a promotion
assistant all his life. In fact, he hopes to……………….
and become Assistant Manager very soon.
5. Many students………………………..when
do part-time work they are at
university because it fits in with their studies.
6. Goran is 59, but he does not want to……………………..
take early retirement
in fact, he is taking on more work!
READING

Be aware of your
online image
Pre-Reading

1. What social-networking sites do you

know and use?

2. Why do you use them?

B. Scan the article quickly

1.What percentage of employers research

candidates online?
70%

2. Which social-networking sites are

mentioned?
Facebook; Twitter

3. Who do Peter Cullen and Farhan Yasin

work for? Peter Cullen – Microsoft
Farhan Yasin – Careerbuilder.co.uk
C. Choose the best headline

a. Complaining about your job could

lose your job
√ b.Facebook profile “could damage job
prospects”
c. Ambition is key to a successful
career
D. How can social-networking sites
make or break your career?

They can make your career because a
strong online image could help you
land your dream job. They can break
your career because a huge number of
employers take action against staff for
writing negative comments on their
social-networking page.
Post-reading

Pair work: Write a short list of things you

should not do on your social-networking
pages (5 minutes)

Group work: Should staff be allowed to use

social-networking sites during the working
day?
Listening!
A. Melissa Foux is the Financial Director of CSC
Media Limited, a television company.

1. How does she describe her current company?

CSC Media ltd, part of the Chart Show Channels
Group, is the largest independent television
business in the UK. It has a mixture of 16 channels,
including music, children's and movie channels.
2. What was her previous job?
She was the Finance Director for a chocolate
pudding business.
3. Why is it easy to move from sector to sector in
the finance world?
Because the basic skills you need are the same.
B. Complete the extract
When I was a student, although I was
studying ………………,
chemistry I thought I would like
to do something…………………
different afterwards,
and I actually did a summer ………………
internship
with one of the big accountancy
……………… firms,
which was an excellent way to get an
………………… of what the job would be
understanding
like. I started off as an auditor, and it was
through that experience
…………… that I got my first
job.
C. Her advice
Number the points in the order in which
Mellisa mentions them
2 maintain clarity

3 be able to see the point and the key

decision you have to make

1 do not overcomplicate things

 D. Decide which was the interviewer’s
question

a. What was the most interesting question you

have been asked at interview?
b. What is the key difference between people
who work in finance and those who work in
research?
√ c. How would you advise people who are
starting their careers?
E. Discussion
 What do you hope to do in the future in your
career?
 Do you think there is an ideal career for you?
What is it? Why?
 What is the best advice you have been given
during your career or your studies?
LANGUAGE REVIEW
Modal 1: ability, requests and offers
 A. Rearrange the words to make questions
1. get / you / can / I / a drink / ? a) making a request
Can I get you a drink? (b) b) making an offer
2. email address / your / confirm / I / could / ? c) asking about ability
Could I confirm your email address? (a)
3. can / you / spreadsheets / use / ?
Can you use spreadsheets? (c)
4. speak / languages / any other / you / can / ?
Can you speak any other languages? (c)
5. about / tell / you / job / us / your present / more / could / ?
Could you tell us more about your present job? (a)
6. tell / your current salary / me / you / could / ?
Could you tell me your current salary? (a)
7. would you / as soon as possible / your decision / let us know / ?
Would you let us know your decision as soon as possible? (a)
8. start / you / when / can / ?
When can you start? (a)
9. like / tea / some more / you / would / ?
Would you like some more tea? (b)
B. Match the questions in Exercise (1-
9) to these interviewee’s answers (a-j)
a. It’s €60,000 a year. 6
b. Not very well, but I’m doing a course next year. 3
c. I can let you know next week. 7
d. Thank you. A cup of tea, please. 1
e. The address is correct, but I’ve got a new mobile
number. 2
f. I’d love some. Thank you. 9
g. Well, I’m currently supervising an HR project. 5
h. Yes, I can speak Korean and Japanese. 4
i. My notice period is two months. 8
SKILLS
Telephoning: Making contact

What useful telephone expressions

do you know?
B. Listen to three phone calls and
answer the questions
1. What is the purpose of each call?

Phone call 1 : To ask about a job advert

Phone call 2 : To tell Giovanna that he can't
make the training course
Phone call 3: To ask for a phone number

2. Do the caller know each other?

Phone call 1 : No
Phone call 2: No
Phone call 3: Yes
C. First call: Complete the expressions on the
right so they have the same meaning as the
ones on the left.
1 Can I talk to….? like speak
I’d...........to............to.......

2 Just a moment… Hold on

Thank you.......................

3 I’ll connect you. put you through

I’ll....................................

4 Am I speaking to Is that
Hello...............................
Corina Molenaar? Corina Molenaar?
5 Yes, it’s me. Speaking
..............................

6 The reason I’m phoning about

Yes, I’m........................
calling is…. your advert...
7 Can I have your Could you give me your
.................................
name and address? name and address, please?
 D. Second call: Complete the extract

A: Could I speak
Hello._________________ to Giovanna,
please?
B:_________I’m
_________
afraid she’s not here at the
moment. Can I _______ a take ___________?
message
A: Yes, pleasse _________ ___________
This is
Johan from Intec
Could _______ youtell
________ her I
won’t be able
make to ___________ the training course on
Saturday? She can _______
call
me ________
back
if there’s a
problem. I’m _______
on
0191 498 0051
 E. Third call: Underline the phrases the
speakers use
 Matt: Hello, Matt speaking.
 Karl: Hi, Matt. Karl here.
 Matt: Oh, hello, Karl. How are things / you? (1)
 Karl : Fine, thanks. Listen, just a quick word. / quick question (2).
 Matt : Yeah, go ahead.
 Karl : Do you think you could give me / let me have(3) the other number for
Workplace Solutions? I can’t get through to them. Their phone’s always
busy / engaged (4).
 Matt : I’ve got it here / right in front of me (5). It’s 020 7756 4237.
 Karl : Sorry, I didn’t hear / catch(6) the last part. Did you say 4227?
 Matt : No, it’s 4237.
 Karl : OK. Thanks. Bye.
 Matt : No problem. / Don’t mention it(7). Bye.
Role play:
THE PHONE CALLS

Student A: Turn to p.132

Student B: Turn to p.136