Speakout Advanced p 26. Work. Extra Vocabulary Exercise

Study the following words or expressions and then complete the dialogues with the missing information.

Definitions

to be called for an interview: 



to be invited to attend an interview

a dead-end job: 



a job with no promotional opportunities

to do a job-share: 



to share the weekly hours of work with another person. An arrangement in which two people share the hours of work and the pay of one job. E.g. The company encourages job-shares and part-time working.

a good team player: 



somebody who can work well with other people

a heavy workload: 



to have a lot of work to do.  



be snowed under (with something): 



to have more things, especially work, than you feel able to deal with. E.g. I'd love to come but I'm completely snowed under at the moment.



knee-deep: 



/ˌniː ˈdiːp/ up to your knees. E.g. The snow was knee-deep in places. (figurative) I was knee-deep in work 

be up to your ears in something

to have a lot of something to deal with. E.g. We're up to our ears in work. 

be up to your eyebrows in something

to have a lot of something to deal with. E.g. I’m absolutely up to my eyebrows in work. Stein is up to his eyebrows in debt.



be up to your eyes in sth​ 



to be very busy doing something. E.g. I'm up to my eyes in homework this week. 

be up to your eyeballs in something

to have a lot of something to deal with. E.g. They're up to their eyeballs in work.


a high-powered job: 



an important or powerful job

holiday entitlement: 



the number of holidays allowed

job satisfaction: 



the feeling of enjoying a job

to be on maternity/paternity leave: 



time before and after the birth of a baby when a woman/man is allowed to be away from her job.



sick leave: 



 permission to be away from work because of illness; the period of time spent away from work. E.g.  to be on sick leave.



phone/call in sick: 



 to call one's place of work to say that one is ill and cannot come to work. E.g. Three people have phoned/called in sick already this morning.

to meet a deadline: 



to finish a job by an agreed time.  



last-minute deadline junkies:  



people who leave doing their work until the last minute before it needs to be finished.

in the nick of time

 



(informal) at the very last moment; just in time before something bad happens. E.g. They escaped from the smoke-filled house just in the nick of time.



procrastinate: 



 /prəʊˈkræstɪneɪt/ to delay doing something that you should do, usually because you do not want to do it. E.g. People were dying of starvation while governments procrastinated.



procrastinator: 



someone who keeps delaying things that must be done. E.g. I never buy my gifts until Christmas Eve because I'm a procrastinator



procrastination: 



 /prəʊˌkræstɪˈneɪʃn/ the act of delaying something that you should do, usually because you do not want to do it. E.g. After weeks of procrastination, the president finally resigned.



mañana: 



 /mænˈjɑːnə/ at some time in the future (used when a person cannot or will not say exactly when). E.g. "When will you do it?" "Oh, mañana!"

a nine-to-five job: 



a normal job that consists of an eight-hour day (approximately)

a perk of the job: 



an extra benefit you get from a job.  



fringe benefit:  



[usually plural] extra things that an employer gives you as well as your wages. E.g. The fringe benefits include free health insurance. One of the fringe benefits of my job is that you can use a company credit card for gasoline.

full-time: 



the number of hours that people usually work in a complete week

part-time: 



working less than full-time.

to be your own boss/ to be self-employed: 



 to have/ run your own business  

to be stuck behind a desk: 



to be unhappy in an office job

to be / get stuck in a rut: 



to be in a boring job that is hard to leave. E.g. I gave up my job because I felt I was stuck in a rut.

to take early retirement: 



to retire early

temporary work: 



 /ˈtemprəri/ work done for a limited time only as opposed to a permanent job

voluntary work: 



 /ˈvɒləntri/ to work without pay

to be well/badly paid: 



to earn a good/bad salary

working conditions: 



the hours, salary and other entitlements that come with the job. E.g. Inadequate resources and heavy patient loads have resulted in poor working conditions for nurses

to work with your hands: 



to do manual work

manual work: 



work that requires physical activity

menial jobs/work: 



 /ˈmiːniəl/  (of work) not skilled or important, and often boring or badly paid. E.g. menial tasks like cleaning the floor.  



unskilled work: 



/ˌʌnˈskɪld/ not having or needing special skills or training. E.g. unskilled manual workers. 



wage slave: 



a person who is wholly dependent on income from employment, typically employment of an arduous or menial nature. E.g. Years ago I was working as a wage slave collecting carts for my local grocery store.  



arduous: 



 /ˈɑːdjuəs/ involving a lot of effort and energy, especially over a period of time. E.g. an arduous journey across the Andes. The work was arduous.



to earn/make your/a living: 



to earn enough money to pay for everything you need. E.g. Everyone should have the means to earn their own living. John makes a living from painting houses. Can you really make a living by selling jewellery?

make (both) ends meet: 



to earn just enough money to be able to buy the things you need. E.g. Many families struggle to make ends meet.  



sweatshop:  



/ˈswetʃɒp/ a place where people work for low wages in poor conditions. E.g. the situation is similar to migrant workers in sweatshops.

to work (in) shifts / work the day / night shift: 



a period of work time in a hospital or other place where some people work during the day and some work at night. E.g. to be on the day/night shift at the factory.  To work an eight-hour shift. I prefer the day shift because I am a morning person. My brother on the other hand is a night person/ a night owl/ a nighthawk /naɪthɔːk/ and prefers the night shift.

receive unemployment benefit: 



receive money by the government while one does not have a job or one is on the dole / unemployed / out of work. E.g. Claim benefits if people have to claim benefits in order to get by, then that is what benefits are for and no one should judge. Be on benefits Young people are on benefits out of necessity, not out of choice.

to dismiss / fire / sack sb:  



to force sb to leave their job

be out on your ear

(informal) to be forced to leave (a job, etc.). E.g. You'll be out on your ear if you don't start doing some work around here.


to make sb redundant/ lay somebody off: 



if someone is made redundant/ laid off, they have been told they must leave their job because they are no longer needed. 



to quit a job: 



 to leave a job

 to hand in one's notice/ resignation: 



to tell your employer that you are leaving your job, especially in a letter

minimum wage: 



the smallest amount of money that an employer is legally allowed to pay a worker

take up a post / position: 



start to work in a job.  



opening/ vacancy 



 /ˈveɪkənsi/ : a job that is available. E.g. There are several openings/vacancies in the sales department.

Complete the dialogues with the missing information:

A: What do you do?
B: I do a (1)______________________ with a friend in a boutique … I enjoy it … I like working with customers … unfortunately it’s only (2)______________________ work but one of the (3)______________________ of the job is I get a discount on the clothes …

A: Do you have any career plans?
B: Yes … I’d like to run (4)______________________ one day … I’m interested in programming and I’d like to create apps for myself or for other companies … I know being (5)______________________ would be a challenge but the idea of doing a (6)______________________job doesn’t appeal to me at all …

A: What do you see yourself doing in 10 years time?
B: I’m not interested in having a (7)______________________ job … but I’m quite a creative person so something where I can work with (8)______________________ would be nice … as long as I’m not (9)______________________ a desk doing something boring in a (10)______________________ job, I’ll be happy …

A: What's your ideal job?
B:  I’ve always loved watching wildlife programmes on TV and often thought how much I’d enjoy working with animals … perhaps in a safari park … something like that …

A: You’d probably need a degree to have any chance of being called (11)______________________ and whether there are many full-time jobs I don’t know … I’m sure a lot of parks rely on voluntary work so it might not be easy …

B: And it probably wouldn’t be well-paid either but money isn’t everything … I’d get so much job (12)______________________ … I can’t imagine it being the kind of job where you get stuck (13)______________________ … and I think I’d be good at it as well … I’d love to work with animals, I enjoy manual work and I’m a good team player … so even though the working (14)______________________ might not be the best, I think that would be my ideal job …

A: If there are a limited number of jobs available who should be given priority, young people or older people with more experience?
B: Things are so different these days … a few years ago older employees would often take (15)______________________ or go onto part-time contracts and there were always opportunities for younger people but now jobs are so scarce … I think younger people need to be given the chance whenever possible …

A: What are some of the important things a candidate should find out before accepting a job?
B: Well  … you’d need to know about your area of responsibility … and your salary, of course, and then there are things like holiday entitlement or (16)______________________ if you’re thinking of having children … and what the situation is regarding sick (17)______________________ … that kind of thing …

A: What are the advantages of having your own business rather than working for someone else?
B: Well … unfortunately being an employee at the moment is very stressful … people have very heavy (18)______________________ … they’re always under pressure to meet (19)_____________________ … running your own business isn’t easy … but I do think it would be far more satisfying …

KEY

1- do a job-share
 
2- temporary work
 
3- perks of the job
 
4- run my own business
 
5- self employed / my own boss
 
6- nine-to-five job
 
7- high-powered
 
8- with my hands
 
9- stuck behind
 
10- dead-end
 
11- for an interview
 
12- satisfaction
 
13- stuck in a rut
 
14- working conditions
 
15- take early retirement
 
16- maternity or paternity leave
 
17- sick leave
 
18- heavy workloads
 
19- meet deadlines