Job Hunting | Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab

Level:	Topic:	Speakers:	Length:
difficult	jobs	man – woman	02:15

Pre-Listening Exercise

Which factor is most crucial when looking for a new job? Rank the following points in terms of importance and then discuss your reasons:

opportunities for promotion or advancement
working hours
vacation days
pension plan
interest level
salary
benefits such as health and life insurance
sick or maternity leave

Idioms

“bone up on” = study hard before a test
“I suggest you bone up on your typing skills before going to the job interview.”

“work your fingers to the bone” = work extremely hard
“My father worked his fingers to the bone to provide for our family and send me to college.”

Listening Exercise

A. Listen to the recording and answer the questions.

The man is looking for a job in _____.

education

technology

medicine

Josh: Actually, I want to work for a Web hosting company. Kelly: What would you do there? Josh: Well, in a nut shell, Web hosting companies provide space for people to store and run their Websites.

Which statement best describes the pay for the job?

Employees receive pay increases based on their work.

The salary is above the industry average.

Workers are paid on a commission.

Josh: Well, most people l know start out with a very reasonable salary; you can earn pay increases depending on your performance.

The company provides paid vacation, opportunities for promotion, and _______.

a bus pass

insurance

a company vehicle

Josh: Oh, the benefits are pretty good. They provide health insurance, two weeks (of) paid vacation a year, and opportunities for advancement.

The future job industry is ______ right now.

growing

contracting

stable

Josh: Uhh. That's hard to tell. I mean, the Internet is booming, and these kinds of companies are sprouting up everywhere, which is a good thing, but just like the dot-com era, you never know how long things will last.

From the conversation, we can infer that the man _____.

dropped out of high school

has a college degree

has some post-secondary education

Kelly: You know, you did drop out of college. (He completed high school and took some college classes, but he doesn't have a degree.)

Post-Listening Exercise

What are ten common questions asked during a job interview in your field? How would you personally respond? What suggestions and advice can you come up with to answer such questions? What questions would you ask the interviewer to show you are informed about the company and you are serious about the position?

Online Investigation

Use the Internet to find two services where you can post your resume in order to find a job. What kinds of options do these services provide? Is there a cost associated with posting your resume?

See Listening Script

Back to Difficult Quizzes

General Listening Quiz

“Job Hunting”