Билет17/1. People and workplaces

The people who work for a company, all the people on its payroll, are its employees, personnel, staff, workers or workforce. But these words can mean just the people carrying out the work of a company, rather than those leading it and organizing it: the management.

A company's activities may be spread over different sites. A company's most senior managers usually work in its head office or headquarters (HQ). Some managers have their own individual offices, but in many businesses, most employees work in open-plan offices: large areas where many people work together. Administration or, informally, admin, the everyday work supporting a company's activities, is often done in offices like these by administrative staff or support staff. For example, those giving technical help to buyers of the company's products are in technical support.

In larger organizations there is a human resources department (HRD) that deals with pay, recruitment, etc. This area is called human resources (HR) or human resource management (HRM). Another name for this department is the personnel department.

Human Resources – The Personal Touch. The human resources professional is an important part of a successful company. They have a wide variety of responsibilities, including hiring new employees, dealing with labor disputes, and training employees – just to name a few! They also act as counselors, offering assistance to employees dealing with personal issues, so they need to have a personal touch as well. Human resources professionals do more than hire people – they are responsible for continuing education, training and certification of employees, staffing needs, performance appraisals and reviews, compensation and benefits programs, and union and labor relations.

Self employment is more stimulating than working for a large organization

Work plays a major part in most people’s lives. People of all sorts work in business, and the terms businessman and businesswoman reflect this, referring to a wide range of individuals, from the rich and famous to small company owners, from people in large organization to those who work for themselves.

Many people choose to be self-employed (to have their own business) or to work freelance for several employers.

As the labour market become more flexible, many employers respond by increasing the number of fixed-term contracts and part-time workers.

In large organizations, administration of people is done by the personnel department, although this expression is new sometimes rejected. Companies talk instead about their human resources department or (HR).

The Human Resources department is responsible for planning, recruitment of the new people, staff training and development, staff appraisal, welfare, pensions administration and industrial relations. It works to ensure that the right people are available to meet the company’s needs.

Recruitment is the process of employing new people. This process will vary from one organization to another.

When a company needs to recruit or employ new staff, it may advertise the vacancy in newspapers, or may contact an employment agency, a privet company that matches jobseekers with job. Companies looking for senior staff may approach people working for another company, a practice known as headhunting. Headhunters are specialist consultants who search for high-level executives and try to persuade them to leave their current job in order to go to work in another company. Executives may be persuaded to move company by the promise of a golden hello: a large sum of money or some other financial enticement offered by the company they move to.

If you are a jobseeker (a person who is looking for a job) and you are interested in a particular post, you may decide to apply for the job. The first step is to get an applicant form and job description from the company. The next step is to complete the form and return it with your curriculum vitae (CV BrE) or resume (AmE). The company’s Human Resources department will select the most suitable applicant and invite them to attend an interview.

Билет 18/1.Pay and benefits

There are two types of jobs: full-time and part-time work. A full-time job is usually 35-40 hours a week. A part-time job is 15-28 hours a week.

The difference between them is more than just a matter of how long one works. The difference is in the pay and benefits. Many persons with a full-time job will have a higher salary and be provided with benefits. Benefits such as medical insurance, paid vacations, and maybe even an opportunity to have a retirement savings plan.

Part-time workers do not receive any benefits other than a few days off a year. Many youth in our country begin working from an early age. The law requires young people to be a certain age, before they may begin work.

However, most may work at the age of fourteen, with a worker's permit or permission from his parents or guardian. Students usually have part-time jobs in fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, etc. Many young men and women work in pizza places and ice cream shops as waiters. Some students work at sports events as coaches, referees, umpires, or scorekeepers.

Most employers expect their applicants to have previous experience. In order to obtain a job, one must fill out ah application. An application requires necessary information for taxes. The employer usually requests recommendations. It is now also standard practice for many employers to ask employees to take drug tests before they can get a job.

After an application has been reviewed, the employer may call the prospective employee in for an interview. The employer will ask questions about what to do in an emergency, what to do with angry customers, and other relative scenarios.

Innovation vs Invention

Innovation and invention are words that are used often in conversation and written English. These words have similar meanings and even used interchangeably by some people. However, it has to be understood that innovation is not creation of a new product or process while an invention is clearly a creation of a new product or process that has not been there earlier. There are some more differences between the two concepts that will be highlighted in this article.

Invention

The invention of the wheel is supposedly the biggest of all inventions. The first time it was created was the time it can be said to have been invented. All later uses where it has been modified and presented in a new design is mere innovation and not invention. The first time an idea strikes a person and he let others know about his thought is when something new has been created, and it can be said to be an invention.

Innovation

Changes that add value, usefulness, and functionality to a product or service are termed as innovations. So, improving upon an existing product, to make it more useful and acceptable, is innovation. Innovation does not necessarily mean something new or novel.

What is the difference between Innovation and Invention?

• Invention is when a new idea strikes a scientist, and he files for a patent.

• Innovation is when a need is felt for a product, and an existing product is redesigned or improved upon, to develop a new one.

• Novelty is the basic premise of an invention while it is not the central idea behind innovation.

• Inventions are new without any precedent while innovations are changes that add value to an existing product or service.

Билет19/1.Write on the topic: Skills and qualifications.

Qualifications - The present disambiguation page holds the title of a primary topic, and an article needs to be written about it. It is believed to qualify as a broad-concept article. It may be written directly at this page or drafted elsewhere and then moved over here. Related titles should be described in Qualification, while unrelated titles should be moved to Qualification (disambiguation). And an official record showing that you have finished a trainingcourse or have the necessary skills, etc.

For example: You'll never get a good job if you don't have any qualifications.

Do you have any teaching/legal/medical/secretarial /academic qualifications?

Skill - is the ability to carry out a task with pre-determined results often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of work, some general skills would include time management, teamwork and leadership, self-motivation and others, whereas domain-specific skills would be useful only for a certain job. Skill usually requires certain environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level of skill being shown and used. People need a broad range of skills to contribute to a modern economy. A joint ASTD and U.S. Department of Labor study showed that through technology, the workplace is changing, and identified 16 basic skills that employees must have to be able to change with it.