Nature of work

2.1. Which person (1-5) is most likely to do each of the five things (a-e)?

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

c telecommute

d commute to work

e clock on and off at the same time every day

2.2. Look at the words and expressions in B and C opposite.

Five people talk about their jobs. Match the jobs (1-5) to the people (a-e) and put the words in brackets into the correct grammatical forms.

1. accountant

2. postwoman

3. attendant flight

4. software developer

5. teacher

a. Obviously, my work involves …………..(travel) a lot. It can be quite physically ………..(tire), but I enjoy…………… (deal) with customers, except when they become violent. Luckily this doesn’t happen often.

b. I like …………….. (work) with figures, but my job is much less ……………..(bore) and routine than people think. The work …………….(involve) a lot of human contact and teamwork, working with other managers.

c. Of course, it involves getting up quite early in the morning. But I like ……………(be) out in the open air. And I get a lot of exercise!

d. You’ve got to think in a very logical way. The work can be mentally…………….(tire), but it’s very satisfying to write a program that works.

e. I love my job. It’s very …………………. (stimulate) and not at all …………(repeat): no two days are the same. It’s good to see the children learn and develop

Over to you

If you work…

Do you have a nine-to-five job?

Do you have to clock on and off? Is there a flexitime system in your organization? Are there people who do shiftwork in your company?

Could you do your job working from home? If so, would you like to?

If you don't work...

What sort of working hours would you like to have if you worked?

Would you like to work from home?

EMPLOYMENT

Answer these questions.

Have you ever worked in any of these places? If not, would you like to?

A a shop B a restaurant C a hotel D an office

Listen and match the speakers to the correct industry. Write your answers in the second column. In the third column, write the adjectives the speakers use to describe their job.