Unit 4a Book

1. Introduction

Unit 4a deals with a very important topic: looking for a job. It may seem hard for you to imagine yourself in a role of a job applicant, as you are currently in the first year of your studies. You are studying hard to get all the necessary knowledge and skills to get your dream job in the future. However, possessing these skills is just part of success. You also need to know how to apply this knowledge and skills and apart from that, be aware of some conventions related to the process of seeking a job successfully. And this is what this unit can help you with.

Contents:

• Revision: The Present Perfect tense for talking about recent or unfinished events:

I have worked/ I have been working for the Transformers Company for five years but now I would like to broaden my experience, especially in the area of…

• Revision: The Past tense for providing details about finished events happening at specified time in the past:

From 2010 to 2015, I worked/I was working for the Transformers Company, testing transformers insulation, but now I…

• Vocabulary used to describe personal qualities:

One of my strengths is my flexibility and ability to work under pressure.

I am flexible and able to work under pressure.

• CV and cover letter layout and conventions

2. Warm-up: Listening and Forum

Unit 4 deals with looking for a job and job-related issues. The problem is that the current rapid pace of our technological development significantly influences the job market. Some positions are no longer necessary, while some others have emerged. As a result, teachers have hard time preparing students for their future careers because they need to prepare them for working with technologies and systems that have not yet been invented. In this context, there is one important question: What are the top job-related skills current and future employers are looking for? Watch the video, which discusses this topic. Do you agree with the ideas presented there? Give your opinion in this forum.

3. Vocabulary: Personal Qualities and Job Advertisements

In order to get an idea what your future employer will probably require, it is a good idea to look at some job adverts. When you do that, you will see that the area of job seeking is packed with some specific vocabulary that can be divided into the following categories: information about the company, personal qualities and experience, type of contract, salary and benefits, application and interview. In this task, you will study short extracts from job advertisements and divide them into the categories listed above according to the information they contain. This will help you absorb the basic job-related vocabulary. This follow-up task will then be more specific, focusing on vocabulary useful for describing your personal qualities and abilities. Basically, there are two ways to talk about your personal traits: either you can use nouns or adjectives. Therefore, the following task will focus on noun-to-adjective conversions. This is closely related to verbs these expressions are associated with. For example, the phrase “be able to” is followed with a verb, “have” needs a noun, and “be” needs to be followed with an adjective. Try to distinguish between these categories in this task. Finally, this task gives explanations of some other job-related vocabulary and this one focuses on some common adjective-noun collocations.

4. Reading: A Real Job Ad, and CV

Now that you know the basic vocabulary necessary for understanding the process of looking for a job, it´s high time to look at an authentic job advertisement, CV and a cover letter. First, look at this job offer and complete the related tasks. After you finish, discuss some questions related to the job advert in this forum. Then study this curriculum vitae and put its headlines in the correct places in the document. After that, do this follow-up task. Finally, based on the tasks you have completed so far, try to generalize what you know about CVs and complete this further practice task.

5. Reading: A Cover Letter

Once you have completed your CV, you need to write your cover letter. Here you have a model one which you can follow when preparing yours. After you finish completing gaps in the cover letter, study its structure in more detail while doing this task. Then, in order to be absolutely clear about the layout of a formal letter, study this document. Finally, as in the CV section above, use the knowledge on cover letters you have gained so far to complete this more general task.

6. Writing: Your CV and Cover Letter

Now, it´s your turn to write your CV and cover letter. Follow these steps:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

1)      Go through the word lists available in the last section of this Moodle unit. Have these lists at hand when writing your assignment.

2)      Search some job servers on the Internet and find an advertisement for a job you would like to apply for. The ad must be written in English.

3)      Write your CV and find out whether you are a suitable candidate for the position advertised.

4)      If your CV matches with the position, write a cover letter and persuade your possible employer that you could be the right person for them.

Submit the entire task in one Word (or Open Office) document. This means that it should have a copy of the job advert, followed by your CV and cover letter. Submit your document here

7. Word Lists

This time, there are no interactive drilling exercises for drilling vocabulary. Instead, the key terms related to the topic of Unit 4a can be found in these documents:

1)      AEL3U4a_V_Action_Verbs.doc – a list of action verbs suitable for cover letters

2)      AEL3U4a_V_Cover_Letter.doc – a list of phrases suitable for writing cover letters

3)      AEL3U4a_V_Job.doc – a list of job-related vocabulary

4)      AEL3U4a_V_Personal_Qualities.doc – a list of nouns and adjectives used for describing your personality traits

8. A printer-friendly version of Unit 4a

A printer-friendly version of Unit 4a exercises and the keys to these exercises can be found here.