7. Open the brackets using correct tense forms of the verbs.

a)

Jane (1) _____ (be) in her present position for six years. After she (2) ______ (leave) university, she (3) _____ (work) as a management trainee for four years in another oil company; she (4) _____ (never regret) the move to Arbol, since they (5) ____ (immediately put) her on their fast-track scheme for employees with the potential to become high-fliers. But today Jane faces a dilemma. In the last three weeks she (6) _____ (receive) no less than three proposals. First, her boss, an Argentinian, who Jane has always had an enormous respect for, suddenly announced his resignation.

Jane (7) ____ (be) shocked and surprised, especially when, just a few days later, Arbol's HR Manager (8) ____ (call) to offer her the position. The second proposal (9) ____ (arrive) that same evening: Estelle, one of Jane's friends from the MBA course, who (10) ____ (already work) for several large multinationals, (11) ____ (invite) her to become a partner in a new consultancy. Last, but by no means least, Jane's boyfriend, Howard, (12) _____ (just ask) her to marry him. Not surprisingly, Jane has asked for more time to think about each of the proposals.

Since she left university, Jane (13) ____ (prefer) to live alone. For the last three years, she (14) ____ (look) for a property to buy, and she (15) ____ (just pay) a deposit on a small house near Heathrow airport. Suddenly she no longer knows if she is doing the right thing: all three of the proposals mean major changes in her lifestyle. She (16) ____ (hope) for a promotion at Arbol; she (17) _____ (try) to schedule an appraisal interview for months, and now she understands why her boss (18) ____ (repeatedly postpone) it. But taking on her boss' job would undoubtedly mean moving to South America, probably losing the deposit on the house, and quite possibly losing Howard.

b)

Last week, I was an accountant in an IT company. This week I’m unemployed. I heard about the job just after I (1) ____(graduate) from the university. I (2) ____ (send) in my curriculum vitae and, after a short interview, they (3) ____ (offer) me the position. Ironically, I (4) _____ (turn down) two other job offers later that week.

After just one month Human Resources manager (5) _____ (call) me into her office and (6) _____ (tell) me that the company’s sales (7) ______ (be) much lower than forecast and they had to lay off the staff. It was “last in, first out”, so I (8) _____ (be made) redundant – I (9) _____ (receive) just one month’s redundancy pay.

I still (10) _____ (feel) shocked, of course, but they say this is a good time for a graduate to seek employment, so I’m fairly sure I (11) ____ (find) something else soon. I (12) _____ (update) my CV and (13) _____ (start) looking through ads again.

8. Complete the passage below using the appropriate words or phrases from the list below.

Letter of application, position, application form, shortlist, apply for, interview, recruit, recruitment agency, covering letter, CV, applicants, hire

When a company needs to (1) ____ or employ new people, it may decide to advertise the job or (2) _____ in the appointments section of a newspaper. People whoare interested can then (3) ____ the job by sending in a (4) ___or (5) _____ and a (6) _____ containing details of their education and experience. In some cases a company may prefer to do this initial selection after asking candidates to complete a standard (7) ____. The company's human resource department will then select the applications that it considers the most suitable and prepare a (8) _____ of candidates or (9) ____, who are invited to attend an (10) _______.

Another way for a company to (11) _____ is by using the services of a (12) ___ (US = search firm) who will provide them with a list of suitable candidates.

9. a) Put the events in Josef Gutkind’s career in chronological order.

_1__ Before graduating, Josef applied for jobs in twenty companies.

____ Josef was offered a position as a management trainee.

____ He attended a second interview conducted by a panel of managers.

____ He found a new job, but was dismissed after arguing with his boss.

____ Two years later he was appointed Logistics Manager.

____ He was short-listed for a second interview at Wilson Brothers.

____ While he was unemployed Josef studied for a master’s degree.

____ When Wilson’s got into difficulties, Josef was made redundant.

____ In his early fifties he took a sabbatical to write a book.

____ He retired from business and now lives in the south of France.

____ Thanks to his enhanced CV, Josef was hired by a firm of consultants.

____ The book was a best-seller, and Josef resigned from the firm.

b) Use the expressions in bold from the first five sentences above to complete these questions from a job interview. Change the verb form if necessary.

1. Could you tell me exactly why you ___ from OQP?

2. Was that before or after you ____ Quality Manager?

3. After the factory closed, was it difficult to _____?

4. Have you ____ jobs in other companies in the area?

5. Would you be available to _____ next week?

6. How would you feel if we _____ as a product manager?

c) Now correct these sentences from a biography. The words in bold have been mixed up.

1. Aisha’s resume was impressive; she was dismissed without even attending a first interview.

2. At the second interview, Aisha did so well that she was made redundant on the spot.

3. A few years later she wrote her first novel while she was unemployed; it sold only 400 copies.

4. Aisha was an unconventional journalist who preferred to work at night; after arriving four hours late for a meeting she was hired.

5. When the editor in her next job refused to publish a controversial article she had written, Aisha immediately offered to retire but the editor refused to let her.

6. However, when the newspaper was taken over by a larger competitor, Aisha was shortlisted.

7. After difficult times while she was on sabbatical, she was finally able to live in comfort when her sixth novel became a best-seller.

8. She was 74 when she finally decided to resign from writing novels.