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TEACHER’S NOTES
Procedure:
1. Lead-in
Introduce the topic of work / finding jobs. What are your students’ experiences of finding a job? What methods did they use? Agencies?Job ads in the paper? What made them apply for some jobs and not others? What do they look for when applying for a job? (pay, benefits, work environment etc) If the group is reluctant to get involved, give them a concrete task to discuss, e.g. list and rank the top ten criteria to bear in mind when looking for a job.
2. Key vocabulary
You might want to preteach:
· Entry-level
· Pyramid scheme
· Cold call
· Psychotic
· Subordinate
3. First reading
Hand out the copy of the job ad. Get the group to read it and give their impression of the job on offer. Help clarify any problem vocabulary.
4. Detailed reading / interpretation
Now explain that there is a magazine in the USA called “Temp Slave” (temp = a worker on temporary contract) which is read by thousands of disaffected temps. To help temps avoid being tricked into applying for poor jobs, “Temp Slave” publishes a dictionary explaining what job ads really mean.
The students’ task is to match the “definitions” to the correct part of the original job ad.
Give out the “definitions”, do one or two as an example, then let the students work in groups to match up the originals. Compare and share answers after an agreed time, e.g. 15 minutes.
5. Follow-up
Get each student to think of a terrible job (e.g. lavatory cleaner) and prepare a positive job ad to attract potential employees to the job.
Acknowledgements: the original article is taken from Temp Slave, published by Garrett County Press, New Orleans LA.
THE JOB AD
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Join America’s fastest
growing industry. Manager
trainee with excellent
communication skills needed
for entry-level job. Great
people skills essential. Must
be able to work
independently with attention
to detail. Light typing
required. Competitive salary
and company stock
provided. We are looking fog
a few good people. Start
today! Look to your future!
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THE DEFINITIONS
Match each definition to the correct part of the job ad. To do this successfully, you must have a slightly cynical nature!
It’s Albania’s fastest too – pyramid selling!
You will be working in our unlit warehouse.
With Bangladesh!
Also known in the former Soviet Union as “Gulag” level
You will be making cold calls for commission.
You will help train our managers by being a subordinate fool.
About 186,000 words a minute should be OK.
To save money, we now hire only a few good people to do the work of the many good people we have just made redundant.
You will need to wear a clown suit and wave at passing cars.
Your supervisor is usually drunk. Your desk is in the garage.
But for the next few weeks, work for us!
We don’t have time to check people out so don’t blame us if your colleagues are psychotic.
Download Answer Key
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