Over 50 years old Job Market does exist! Business English

The adage that the job goes to the young and fit may be true, but there are still jobs out there for the older and more experienced crowd.  Don't give up hope to find your dream job even if you are looking at a job change not by choice and you are over 50.  

Read this article and discuss it or write out the answers and review with your English teacher. 

https://www.recruiter.com/i/over-50-learn-how-to-compete-in-the-job-market-in-4-steps/

Key Terms

versus 

tight job market

take stock

reflecting on the question

gainfully employed 

rigorous

gone overboard

 staggering

marked to market

who you know

what you know

scouring a source

differentiate yourself 

renewed effort 

 pay off

embracing technological change

 imperative

 a resume germane

 genuine interest 

Questions

Why are you having difficulty in finding a new job?

How many years experience do you have? 

According to the webpage, which questions do you need to answer in before going out on interviews? 

Why do you want to continue to work?

Is is because of job satisfaction, or for the money?

What is the market in your profession willing to pay workers?

Is this close to what you used to get in your previous job? 

Would you be willing to take a pay cut? 

How can you market yourself so that you are the best candidate for the job?

What can you change about your resume?

Can you change anything about your appearance?

How can you become more professional? 

Why are social networks more important now than in the past? 

How can you learn about new technologies? Do you need to take classes? 

Will this be expensive?

Some people like to go to a job interview and talk from the top of their head, others like to prepare,  which do you think will work for you?  

Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach, Professional English teacher. 

Research the company that you are interviewing for Before the Interview! Job Interview

Back in the old days, if you wanted to research a company, you had to go to the Library!  During my last year at UCLA, it became clear to me that a BA in  Anthropology was not going to get me very far, and I would have had to go all the way to a Ph.D.  Well, I did an about face and started interviewing for work in business.

That year the department stores were doing well  this was in the 1980's and they were hiring for First Level Managers.  I got interviews with Sears and JCPenney.  I found books about both.  When I went to the interviews, I was able to tell about the history of the company.

What I liked about JCPenney was that he was a "go getter."   He started in the "Old West" of the United States.  When he wanted to hire a new store manager, he would take the man out to dinner. If the potential job candidate put salt on his food before tasting, then James Cash Penney wouldn't hire him.  He would end the dinner on a nice note, but continue looking.  Why did he do that?  Well, he felt, that people need to taste the food and then decide if it needs salt.  This is a characteristic in life. First you try a technique, and then if it goes well, you go with it, otherwise you change it.

 I told this story to the interviewer, and I got the job even though I was sick with a cold during the interview.  I had copies of my resume, fresh from university, I was dressed correctly, and so was everyone else.  But I knew the history of the company.   By the way, I was very successful at JCPenney, I got promoted from the Infants department, went on to manage the Boys sportswear department, got responsibility for Sporting goods as well, and I was promoted  a year later to a different store, and had responsibility for all of Women's Sportswear.  I would probably have stayed at JCPenney for a long time if I had stayed in Los Angeles.

Nowadays, you don't have to go searching for a book.  Read this blog post and find out the modern ways to do research!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-p-joyce/job-interview_b_5088156.html

Good luck in doing your job interview research!

Key Terms
dead in the water
make or break
stalking
knock-their-socks-off 
mode
founders
concerns raised
service names
the party line
product names
brand names
dig in
twenty-somethings
reputations
connections


Questions
Are you a member of LinkedIN?  
Have you been contacted by a company who looked at your profile from LinkedIN?
What information can you get from the company's website? 
What information can you get from Yahoo Finance? Google? 
Does the information about stock prices make a big difference for you?
If the company's stock is going down, would you consider working for the company?
Would you go to Facebook to get information? 
What would you do if you found unfavorable information about a company on Facebook?


Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English Teacher

One Job Interview question that says a lot about you English Job Interview lesson

Now is the time for Job Interviews, during the summer so you can start in the fall, after the hot weather is gone.   I have been working with a few students the past few weeks. A Job Interview can be very stressful, you are hungry, you need the job, and you want to be nonchalant,  and not be hurt if they hire someone else.
How do you do that?  Be confident, and ready for any question.  Yes even a question from left field.

Read this article and then discuss it with your English teacher:  It is on LinkedIN, so if you can't open the link, drop me a line and I'll send it to you personally.
 https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140805014606-4634613-the-most-important-question-i-ask-candidates?goback=%2Empd2_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_20140805014606*54634613*5the*5most*5important*5question*5i*5ask*5candidates&trk=prof-post

Key Terms
decade
compatibility
 to execute
job description
job spec
 curveball
 to articulate
quirkiness
lat-out absurd
neurotic
obsessed
friendly fire
evolve the job
fanatical
True crazy
embraced this passion
a zeal for something

Questions 
Why does Chris Copland ask this question?  What does it show about the person?  If you were asked this question, what would you say?  Do you have a hobby that you just love?  If not now then when you were in school?  How do you describe yourself?  

By Rachael Orbach
YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER AT WWW.LIVE-ENGLISH.NET

Anonymous CV World it work for You? Business English

There has been a lot of talk about discrimination in the workplace lately, but few have had good ideas about how to make job hiring discrimination free.

One of the ideas has been drafted into law in France is the anonymous CV where information about the age, ethnic background and address have been eliminated.  This law, although on the books, has not really been enforced.  Read this article and then do the following lesson with your English teacher.

http://www.thelocal.fr/20140627/whatever-happened-to-frances-anonymous-cv

Key Terms

Anonymous
CV
Resume
ethnic background
ahead of the curve
Transparency and fairness
job candidates
implement
cross purposes
cultural wealth
bilingual
strike the law off the statute books

Questions about the article

Why do you think that the law has not been enforced?

Would this type of CV help you?

Do you think that this type of CV should be the norm?

Would you send in an anonymous CV?


Case Study

You are a personnel manager in a big company. You have 50 CV's to look through for 5 job positions. What criteria do you use to choose the CV's of the candidates that you want to hire for the open jobs?



Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach, Professional English Teacher 

Job Interview - Part 2 Asking and Answering questions

In Job Interviews, you need to answer and ask questions.

To use questions use words that start with Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.

Who refers to a person.
What refers to a thing.
When refers to time
Where refers to place
Why refers to a reason
How refers to the way a thing is done.


Here are some sample questions that can be used in a Job Interview. you should practice the answers out loud.

Who influenced you the most in your last job?
What is your greatest achievement?
When did you decide to change career direction?
Where do you plan to be in the next few years?
Why would you take a job that pays less money?
How did you fit in with the company culture?

Write more possible Job Interview questions.

1. Who

2. What

3. What

4. Why

5. Why

6. Where

7. Where

8. When

9. How

10. How

Good luck on your upcoming Job Interview! If you would like personalized help, go to
 http://www.live-english.net/  Choose Rachael as your teacher!

Job Interview in English Part 1

​


​Job Interview in English, Part 1 

Useful parts of speech 

Gerunds, 

Gerunds act like nouns, they are used for actions that you want to describe what you have done in your last job and education. 

Analyzing, posting, answering, managing, networking

Please add  more gerunds to this list. 

Nouns.  We use nouns to describe your job. 

Secretary, CEO, CFO, Social Networking Manager, - please add more nouns to this 

list.

Say a sentence using a Gerund: Example 

In my last job I was analyzing financial data. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

Nouns. 

​Say a sentence using nouns Example

​ I was the CFO of a national branch of a Telecom company. 

​

​1. 

​2.

​3. 

​Practice these typical Job Interview Questions, Be sure to practice these out loud, and use proper English grammar!

​1. Tell me about yourself, (here give a short 3 minute review of your education and job experience 

​2. Why did you leave your last job? (Say in a positive way)

​3. What can you bring to this company (Say what qualities you have that will spark the interviewer's interest in you) 

4. Why did you choose this profession? (Say why you chose this field in a positive

 way)

5. What are you strengths and weaknesses? (Say the truth, but don't say something too bad for the weaknesses.  Maybe say that you are very detail orientated.)

This is just a taste of a Job Interview, if you would like personalized help then contact me at www.live-english.net, asking for Rachael as your teacher!