PREPARE 5 UNIT 19 THE WORL OF WORK LESSON 1

What kind of work do you think he is doing?

• tree planting

• working in a shop

• working backstage for a TV company

• working for a woodworking company

What kind of work do you think they are doing?

• tree planting

• working in a shop

• working backstage for a TV company

• working for a woodworking company

What kind of work do you think they are doing?

• tree planting

• working in a shop

• working backstage for a TV company

• working for a woodworking company

What kind of work do you think they are doing?

• tree planting

• working in a shop

• working backstage for a TV company

• working for a woodworking company

I had no idea about what to do for work experience and our careers officer at school hadn’t arranged a place for me. In the end, I spoke to my uncle, and he persuaded the manager of a woodworking company to take me. They produce the wooden doors for new houses and I knew absolutely nothing about that, so I was a bit worried at the beginning. But everyone was very helpful. I spent time doing lots of different things in those two weeks, from ‘hands on’ working with wood and tools to calculating figures in the manager’s office. It doesn’t matter if the work experience isn’t something you want to do as a career, because the important thing is getting out there and understanding what employees are actually doing.

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At our high school, we had a two-week work experience this year and it was part of an international project, with the aim of planting over a million trees worldwide – we did our bit, and planted the 147 trees that were delivered to local parks. Before we started, we really weren’t sure we could handle the work, but we needn’t have worried as we were shown exactly what to do – how big a hole to dig, what kind of earth to add, and so on. They organised our programme really well and we were outdoors a lot, which was fun. At the end they gave us a certificate, which should be quite useful when we’re applying for jobs, I guess.

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I was really lucky because my work experience was in television. My dad runs a TV production company and he arranged for me to spend two weeks helping out on a film set. They were making a drama series based on an eighteenth-century novel, so it felt like travelling back in time – fantastic! The man who was managing the project was very encouraging and made sure I got to do some interesting things. I learned how to put on stage makeup, worked with the assistant director for a day and even helped to develop ideas for costumes. It’s given me a very clear idea of what I want to do in the future

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My work experience was good and bad – the beginning was awful! I was at a large supermarket in the city and for the first three days, all I did was fill the shelves. I got really bored so I complained to the careers officer, and she dealt with the problem immediately. She knows I enjoy anything to do with computers, so she suggested working in their IT department, which they agreed to. I saw how to install new software and I also updated the information they give to young part-time staff – people like me who work at the weekend. I hope they might give me a Saturday job when I’m sixteen.

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I had no idea about what to do for work ___

• woodworking company

• software

• experience

• employees

Our careers officer at school

hadn’t _____ a place for me.

• calculated

• arranged

• organised

• developed