JOBS

A job is a task, a duty or employment that we get paid for.

People need a job in order to earn a salary, make a living and support their families.

It is possible to have a full-time job (work full time) or have a part-time job (work part time).

An odd job is work that is not regular or skilled. A seasonal job is temporary work that you do during
the summer, for example in a holiday resort, in a hotel or even in agriculture.

Some people have regular working-hours while others work flexitime or have irregular working hours.

Jobs can be classified according to what kind of training you need to do them. You can do skilled or
unskilled work in a factory, which is called blue-collar work.

Jobs traditionally held by women, such as teaching or secretarial work, are considered to be pink collar
jobs. A white collar job is typically associated with clerical, sales or managerial occupations. The
traditional dress code for such work is often a white shirt and tie.

Different careers offer different salaries.

A profession is an occupation, such as law, medicine, or engineering, which requires considerable

Choosing a career is not easy and sometimes people need career advice before they are able to make a
decision.

Most people are interested in the salary a career offers when they decide which university to enter,
have just graduated or are considering changing their career.

The most important aspect of deciding on a career is recognising what works for you in terms of
strengths, skills, knowledge and personality.

Some people follow in their parents footsteps and choose a career that their parents and grandparents
have had.

I think youngsters must be allowed to decide what they would like to study or what career they would
like to choose. Some parents, however, force their children to choose a certain career, which can make
the child extremely unhappy.

What do we look for when we choose a job? We want a good job. But what is a good job? We usually
consider the following aspects: pay (we want to earn a decent salary to live on), hours of work (we
want to have „civilized” working hours and if have to do overtime we want to get paid for it, we are
also interested in how many days paid holiday we are entitled to), future prospects (chances of
promotion and job security – we would like to get higher on the career ladder, get a pay rise regularly
and we do not want to lose our job overnight), job content (is the job interesting? does it have a
prestige? how much independence do we have? can we use our initiative?) and last but not least
interpersonal relationships (we want to work with people we like or at least have a good working
relationship with them). Everybody would like to have job satisfaction, that is pleasure in their work
and want to see the rewards of their work (they want a rewarding job)
There are fashionable or popular jobs or careers. These are always the ones that pay well and offer
perks. Perks are special benefits that are given to people who have a particular job, such as a company
car, health insurance, end-of-year bonus, a clothing allowance, a travel allowance or a housing
allowance etc.

There is sometimes a shortage of professionals or experts in certain areas, usually because these jobs
are not well paid and do not have a prestige. It has been predicted that in a few years’ time there will
not be enough teachers of chemistry and physics, and already there is a shortage of nurses and many
young doctors leave the country in search of a better salary.

Unemployment is a global problem. In Hungary the unemployment rate is currently about …..per cent.
New jobs/employment opportunities should be created for the unemployed.

I do not think that women are discriminated against at work. For the same job they receive the same
pay as men.

There are male-dominated (the military career or banking) and female-dominated careers (teaching,
nursing)

Losing one’s job is a tragedy for most people. Those who are made redundant/are fired usually receive
redundancy money and for a few months they get the unemployment benefit, but they have to try to
find another job. It is not easy, especially if you are not young anymore because employers usually
want someone young. Having a lot of experience may be an advantage. Often people are either under-
qualified or over-qualified for a job. Some people say that everybody could find a job if they really
wanted to find one, but there are people who are happy to live on benefits.

If you want to find a job, you can have a look at the job advertisements in the newspapers or on the
Internet. You should also ask around or you can place an advertisement in a paper yourself. I think
having connections also helps.

I’m not quite sure what the retirement age is at the moment. All I know is that the government is
planning to raise it and the chance of early retirement for soldiers, policemen and firemen is also in
danger. Their trade unions are currently having talks with the government, and they have also had
peaceful demonstrations against the plan.

Employees/workers have the right to take industrial action (go on strike/walk out) if they feel that they
receive unfair treatment.

People apply for a job, attend a job interview and if they are the successful candidate, they get the job.

If one wants to leave one’s job, one has to hand in one’s notice and after the notice period one can
leave.

A workaholic is a person who is addicted to work/enjoys it so much that they do it even in their free
time.