Unit 4bc Book

1. Introduction

Unit 4bc deals with the same topic as unit 4a: looking for a job. However, it discusses the follow-up stage of seeking for a job, after being shortlisted for further consideration. If this happens, you will probably be invited to come for an interview. This unit is going to provide you with useful phrases that you might hear at interviews and also some tips on what to do and not to do during an interview, so that it is success. You will also revise some grammar points, namely wh-questions, the Past Simple and Present Perfect tenses, “going-to” future and comparatives of adjectives. This is because during interviews, you are going to be asked lots of questions, and you should also ask questions yourself in order to show interest in the job. In addition, you will probably talk about your studies and internships you completed in the past, and, if you currently have a job, you will need to describe your recent and current duties in this position as well as your plans for the future. All this is necessary in order to make a good enough impression to get the job.

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…

• “Going-to” future to talk about intended activities:

Next month, I am going to build another robot.

• Describing improvements using comparatives of adjectives and comparison and contrast phrases

The new design is more accurate and less expensive. It is straight, whereas the standard shape is conical.

• Questions typical of an interview + dos and don´ts of an interview

Where are you working at the moment?

2. Warm-up: Forum

In order to make your interview a success, it is a good idea to spend some time getting ready for the interview. For example, it is advisable to think about the questions the interviewer will probably ask you. Suggest some of these questions in this forum. Then do this task to see a list of other good and also bad tips for job interviews.

3. Listening: Interview, Interview Questions and Related Grammar

Listen again to recording 13 that comes with your coursebook (Bonamy, D. (2011). Technical English Level 3 Coursebook. Pearson Longman). You will hear part of an interview Reme Gomez has for a new job. As you listen, choose the correct option from the drop-down list to complete the interviewer's notes of the interview. After you finish, complete the related questions, using the same list of words. (Alternatively, you can alternatively read the transcript on p. 120 in your textbook).

In the previous task, you could see these two questions:

1)      How long have you worked in this position?

2)      How long did your apprenticeship last?

Why is the first sentence in the Present Perfect tense, while the other one is in the Past Simple tense? Well, if you studied material of Units 1a, 2a and 3a carefully, you probably have the answer. The Present Perfect used in the first sentence indicates that Reme Gomez started working for the company in the past and is still working for the company at present. However, she completed her apprenticeship in the past and is no longer studying at the school. Therefore, the Past Simple tense is used in sentence 2. Study some more examples illustrating the difference in these two tenses in the table below:

Now, practise this grammar point in this exercise. Your task is to complete questions based on answers provided. If you think that the task showed you might need to brush off the grammar related to the Present Perfect and Past Simple tenses, go back to Units 1a, 2a and 3a in this Moodle course.

However, the Present Perfect tense and the Past Simple tenses are not the tenses you may come across at interviews. You may also hear the Present Simple tense to talk about your regular duties in your position and the Present Continuous tense for describing your current activities (perhaps in contrast with the past and future activities). These tenses were covered in Unit 2a of this course, so you should have no problem completing this matching task. The tasks give illustrative examples of all the tenses mentioned above and some other questions and answers typical of an interview.

4. Practice: Your Interview

Now that you know the basic phrases and grammar typical of an interview, it is time to role-play your interview. First, scan this advert, in which a company is seeking an Electrical Design Manager. As you scan it, answer all the questions in the task. Try to be as quick as possible because there is a time limit of three minutes set for the completion of the task. Leave the exercise open after you finish. Then listen to an interview in this task and complete the interviewer´s questions as you hear them. Again, leave the exercise open.

Now, it is time to get ready for your interview. Make a pair with your fellow student. Decide which of you is going to be the candidate and which of you will be the Human Resource manager. Then imagine you are ten years older, already having your degrees. Agree with your partner on what job advert the interview will refer to. It can be the advert from the online task in this Section, but if you are not satisfied with it, you can search the internet to find an advert that would suit you more. In addition, the HR manager should think about what type of worker he/she would be best for the opening advertised and prepare suitable questions. He/She can use the questions listed in the listening task in this Section. The candidate, on the other hand, should think about the following:

1 Why do you want this job?

2 What skills will you bring to this job?

3 Why do you want to leave the job you already have?

4 What questions would you like to ask the interviewers?

After both of you get ready, choose a platform you will use to record the interview. You can simply use your smartphone or you can get online and choose some videoconferencing software. Your recording should not be longer than five minutes. Submit the recording in an mp3 format here.

5. Reading: Career Path

When listening to the first job interview in this unit, you may have been surprised by the unusual career path described in Reme´s interview. In Great Britain and many other English-speaking countries, a typical technical career path leads from apprentice, to technician and finally graduate professional engineer. After finishing their apprenticeship, many students start working in entry-level positions, attending a vocational school part-time, finally gaining a certificate. The next step in the career ladder is to study part-time for a diploma at a technical college. Finally, students can join a degree course at a university to receive a Bachelor´s degree after four years of study. Some students then plan to take further qualifications, starting with a Master´s degree program, again, by distance learning. As students study further, they are also promoted and step up the career ladder from an apprentice technician position, to junior technician and finally graduate engineer. Studying part-time is therefore a great opportunity to get required qualification as well as extensive work experience. A similar, but at the same time, in many aspects different concept, is cooperative education. Read about co-op education in this task.

6. Interviews and Inventions

Do you know who first came up with the idea of a job interview? Well, it was Thomas Edison in 1921, when he created a written test to evaluate job candidate´s knowledge. It consisted of 146 tough questions which most candidates failed to answer, including Einstein, for example. However, some other candidates passed and were eventually hired to work in Edison´s laboratories, for example, Nikola Tesla, a later rival of his. Although Edison himself was not well school-educated, understanding most of his inventions by intuition rather than based on scientific facts, his laboratories are considered to be predecessors of modern think tanks we know today.

If you want, you can try Edison´s test of knowledge here. Some people think Edison invented the test because he was frustrated by the low level of knowledge some of his university-educated candidates possessed. When talking to a reporter, he once said:

“Anyone can be a success, providing he is willing to pay the price, which is continuous hard work. The trouble with a large number of young men today who are given positions is that they refuse to pay the price, and thus become a drag on the industry. Our young men today do not wish to work as much and as hard as they did when I was a boy. They want shorter hours and more pay, and too many amusements, the same as all workmen do; but I think this condition will be rectified when people come to their senses. It certainly cannot last.”

(From: https://manifold.umn.edu/read/fc03beb6-e670-4746-af17-4bac70ddb764/section/f469a2ca-cbc2-42f5-b3aa-4ef0dd798bfd/resource/a8a20f3d-fa0e-46b9-989d-5f3ccfef0ced)

Definitely, Edison´s hard work has paid him off. He held more than 1,000 patents and played a role, for example, in inventing the telegraph, light bulb, phonograph, movie camera, and alkaline batteries. If he lived today and was interviewed, what would he say about his inventions? Read about them here.

7. Grammar Revision: Verb Tenses, Comparatives, and Comparison and Contrast Phrases

When doing the previous task in Section 6, you may have noticed that the text contained several grammar points. If you left the task from Section 6 open, you can now see the grammar points in context. Fortunately, you have come across with all of them before, so the following quick revision should be sufficient to brush off your knowledge. Later, you will then use the grammar points in some other contexts.

Revision of Some Verb Tenses:

Comparatives and Superlatives for Comparing Things

Other Comparison and Contrast Expressions

Other Phrases for Describing Shapes and Dimensions

More on Shapes

What shape is the traffic cone? It´s conical.

Some Other Shapes

8. Practice: Talking about Inventions and Improvements

In the interview in Section 6 above, Edison described the most significant differences between a wax candle and a bulb. However, even the incandescent bulb that Edison invented has been overcome. Nowadays, we use LEDs (light-emitting diodes) instead. Write about the similarities and differences in this task. Finally, choose one or two inventions that have improved existing technology and write compare and contrast the new and the old models in about 250 words. You can compare/contrast two types of phone, a printing press and a printer, a bicycle and a motorbike, a radio and a television, a typewriter and a computer, a hot-air balloon and a plane. Of course, you can come up with your own topics. You may also find it useful to google some additional information on the technologies you have chosen for your comparison/contrast. Submit the finished text here.

9. Key to Exercises

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