Unit 13

New places, new people

 Changing jobs

• Make a list of some possible reasons why

someone might decide to change jobs.
• Imagine you are going to start a job for a new
company. What do you think would be the
best way to learn about your new role?

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 The career doctor
• I work as a secretary. It’s a secure job and the salary is
reasonable. But I’ve done it for five years now. I feel
that I’ve learnt everything I can from the job. I’m quite
bored. I’ve always liked the idea of working in sales but
I don’t have any experience.
• I’ve just seen an advertisement online for a course in
selling skills. Do you think I should apply? Or is there
anything else I could do to persuade an employer that I
would be a good sales rep, even though I’ve never
done the job before?

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 The career doctor
Dear Angela,
In the past, people usually did the same job all their lives.
These days people often change careers and there is nothing unusual
about applying for a different type of job, even if you haven’t had any
experience in that field yet.
Before spending money on a course, you should think about
what you do in your present job. Sales reps need excellent
interpersonal and communication skills. As a secretary, you’ve
probably already developed these. Look again at your current job
description and rewrite it to emphasize the people skills. The most
important skill for a sales rep is persuasion. Have you ever needed to
persuade someone to change their mind about something, or to do
something for your boss? You’ll probably come up with lots of
examples, so rewrite your CV so it reflects all the experience you’ve
had of dealing with people, and then start applying for sales jobs.
Good luck!

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 Remember!
• To do a job
• To apply for a job
• Sales representative = sales rep
• To come up with something
• To deal with somebody / something

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 Word web: advertise
• To advertise, v.
• Advertiser, n.
• Advertising, adj., n.
• Advertisement = advert (BrE) = ad (AmE)

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 Word web: persuade
• To persuade, v.
• Persuasion, n.
• Persuasive, adj.

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 Word web: apply
• To apply, v.
• Applicant, n.
• Application, n.

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 Present perfect
• We form the present perfect with

have/has + the past participle.

• We use the present perfect when we are thinking

about both the past and the present, especially
when the past action has a result now.
- I’ve learnt everything I can. – I know everything
now, but I didn’t in the past.
- The job market has changed. – It is different now
to how it was in the past.
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 Present perfect: time expressions
• We use the present perfect with just to say that something
happened very recently:
I’ve just seen an advertisement online.

• We use the present perfect with already to say something has

happened, often earlier than you expected:
You’ve probably already finished the work.

• We use the present perfect with yet in questions and negative

sentences when we expect something to happen:
You haven’t had any experience in that field yet.

• We use the present perfect with ever/never when we mean ‘at any
time up to now’:
Have you ever needed to persuade someone to change their mind
about something?
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 Complete the sentences with the present
perfect form of the verbs in brackets
1. I ___ already ___ the letter. (write)
2. ___ you ever ___ Mr Smith? (meet)
3. I ___ him the news yet. (not tell)
4. She ___ never ___ to New York. (be)
5. We ___ just ___ of that model. (sell out)
6. I’m afraid I ___ the phone number. (forget)
7. He ___ already ___ the report. (read)
8. The share price ___ recently. (fall)

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 Present perfect and past simple
compared
• The present perfect tells us about the situation now: I have lost my
key – meaning that I don’t have my key now. The past simple tells
us only something about the past. If somebody says She lost her
keys they don’t tell us whether she has the keys now or not. They
only tell us that she lost her keys at some time in the past.
• We use the present perfect for new or recent happenings: I’ve
repaired the TV. It’s working OK now.
• We use the past simple for things that are not recent or new:
Mozart was a composer. He wrote more than 600 pieces of music.
• We use the present perfect to give new information. But if we
continue to talk about it, we normally use the past simple:
A: Oh! I’ve burnt myself!
B: How did you do that?
A: I picked up a hot dish!

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 Present perfect and past simple
• We use the present perfect with for to talk about something which
started in the past and is still continuing now:
You’ve only worked in the new place for three months.
• We use the past simple with for when the time finished before the
present:
I worked for six years in a company where I had a good job.
• We use the present perfect with since to refer to the beginning of a
period which continues until now:
Since then I’ve felt more and more disappointed.
• We use the past simple with ago or any other finished time:
Three months ago, I left to take a promotion with one of the leading
companies in my field.
Last week, an ex-colleague told me that my previous boss wants me to
come back.

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 Time phrases
Present perfect Past simple
Already As soon as I left school
Before Last month
For the last five years In 2010
Just Three years ago
Recently When I was 18
Since 2010
Yet

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 Fill in the blanks with a suitable time
phrase
1. I’ve worked for Samsung ___.
2. We’ve ___ opened a new branch in Leeds.
3. Export sales showed a strong performance
___.
4. I started working for Santander ___.
5. She hasn’t sent in the sales report ___.
6. Have you stayed in this hotel ___?

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 Fill in with present perfect or simple
past form of the verbs in brackets
A: Hi Nadia. I ___ (not see) you for some time.
B: No, well we ___ (just finish) moving to a new office.
We’re now based in Seamore Street.
A: Oh really? How long ___ you ___ (be) there?
B: About three weeks. We ___ (move) on April 17. It was
mad. We ___ (have to) pack everything into crates and
we still ___ (not be) ready when the removal people ___
(arrive).
A: But you’re settled in now?
B: No, that’s the thing. We still ___ (not unpack)
everything yet.

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 Fill in with present perfect or simple past
form of the verbs in brackets
1. As you ___ already ___, we have a new designer in the department. (hear)
2. Two months ago, our department successfully ___ a new product. (launch)
3. As you ___ just ___ in the department. I think the seminar will be
interesting for you. (start)
4. I ___ this month’s report yet. (not finish)
5. I ___ already ___ you an email regarding the subject of the meeting. (send)
6. The department ___ very busy for the past few months as it is the end of
the financial year. (be)
7. We ___ some problems with our computers since yesterday morning.
(have)
8. We ___ your software during our visit to the computer show last month.
(see)
9. Our current software has caused serious problems which ___ us a lot of
money. (cost)
10. I’d like to say something about what I ___ before I ___ to work for this
company.

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 Word web: manage
• To manage, v.
• Manager, n.
• Management, n.
• Managerial, adj.

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 Word web: employ
• To employ, v.
• Countable nouns: employer, employee
• Uncountable nouns: employment,
unemployment
• Adjectives: employed, unemployed

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 Employ
1. An __ is a person who works for an __.
2. The problem of __ in less developed
countries is very complex.
3. She is __ as an accountant.
4. People of working age can be divided into
three groups: the employed, the self-
employed and the __.

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 Role-play
• You are someone who has made a big career change in your
working life. Look at the lists of jobs and choose a previous and a
current job for yourself. Then think about:

- How long you worked in the previous job

- How long you have worked in your current one
- What skills you have been able to use from your previous job
- What new skills you have had to learn.

Previous jobs: actor, accountant, police officer, lawyer, flight attendant,

a job of your choice.
Current jobs: university lecturer, accountant, web designer, children’s
entertainer, chef, a job of your choice.

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 Role-play
• Student A
You are going to be interviewed about your job change for an article in
the local newspaper. Use the information from the previous exercise to
help you answer the questions the journalist asks you.

• Student B
You are a journalist on a local newspaper. You are going to interview
someone who has made an unusual job change. Ask:
- How long they worked in the previous job
- How long they have worked in the current job
- Why they decided to change jobs
- What they liked/disliked about their previous job
- Shat they like and dislike about the current one
- If they bring any skills from their previous job to the new one.

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