The right person for the job

How does a small business become a big business? A company can’t grow unless it employs the right staff to do important jobs. It is easy for companies to make mistakes and recruit the wrong people for important jobs. Sally Thomson is the managing director of Thomson Norton Consultants in Surrey, England.

The company’s annual turnover is £500,000. The company needed a new project manager to work with important clients. It took a long time to advertise the job, check applications and interview and test candidates. Finally Ms Thomson chose the new project manager - but the person left after only six weeks.

How can employers recruit the right staff? Perhaps existing staff have got the right skills for a new position in the company. For example, a marketing person can have good financial skills. The ideal person for the job could already be working in your company.

From FT.com

1. Read the article again and answer the questions.

a) What is Sally Thomson's job title?

b) Which company does Sally work for?

c) Where is the company?

d) What job did the company advertise?

2. Are these sentences true or false?

a) It is easy for companies to employ the right person.

b) The annual turnover of the company is £100,000.

c) The company needed a new sales manager.

d) It took a long time to choose the right candidate.

e) The new employee left the company after six weeks.

Over to you

Put the recruitment steps into the correct order. Can you add any others?

How to recruit a new employee

§ interview candidates

§ employ staff

§ check applications

§ advertise the job

Unit 4 Travel

The travelling office

Level of difficulty **

Before you read

Look at the words in the box. Tick (•) the things that a person can take on a plane when travelling on business.

Filing cabinet mobile phone desk photocopier laptop palm pilot

Reading

Read this article adapted from the Financial Times and answer the questions.

Hi, I'm on the plane at 39,000 ft

What do you do when you are flying on business? How do you use the time? Do you work? Or do you use the journey to relax before a meeting or conference? At the moment it can be difficult for businesspeople to work on the flight. They cannot use the same technology that they have in their office. But that is about to change. New technological developments allow passengers to send and receive

e-mails and text messages on some flights. A new system called Connexion allows travellers to use the Internet, too. “Anything you can do on your computer at home, you can now do in the sky,” says Scott Carson, presidentof Connexion by Boeing. The technology can also help passengers relax by listening to their own music and watching favourite videos.

Why are airlines investing in this technology? Air Canada’s market research shows that business travellers want to work any time, any place. Last year Air

Canada asked frequent fliers what technology they were carrying on flights: 83 percent had mobile phones, 70 percent had laptops and 46 percent had palm pilots. Perhaps we want our office to travel with us everywhere we go.

From the Financial Times

1. Number the paragraph summaries in the correct order.

a) The things people carry on planes

b) New technology helps passengers work and relax on flights.

c) Why business travellers find it difficult to work on planes

2. Use words from the text to complete the sentences.
Paragraph l

a) It isn't easy for ………………..to work on a plane.

b) …………………is when you travel from one place to another.

Paragraph 2

c) New technological …………………..can help people to work when they travel.

d) People can ……………by listening to music or watching videos.

Paragraph 3

e) When you want to discover what customers want, it is a good idea to do

some ………………..

f) People who often travel by plane are called……………………. …………..

Over to you

What things do you always take with you when you travel? Do you prefer to relax or work on the journey?

Unit 4 Travel

Travel agents or the Internet?

Level of difficulty ***

Before you read

Match the title with the definition.

1. Mrs a) an unmarried woman

2. Mr b) a single or married woman

3. Miss c) a married woman

4. Ms d) a single or married man

Reading

Read this article adapted from the Financial Times and answer the questions.

Travel agents or the Internet?

What is the best way to make travel arrangements? Some people prefer to use the Internet and others call a travel agent. Karen Bellis works for Shell. She always compares the prices her travel agent offers with information on the Internet. She thinks that the Internet often has cheaper fares.

John Guarneri, a travel manager for BP, prefers to book with a travel agent. He thinks that people can spend too much time looking for bargains on the Internet. Mr Guarneri says, “Spending five hours looking for better fares is not what they are paid to do.” Ms Bellis says she never spends more than five minutes comparing fares on the Internet.

Sometimes using a travel agent can be cheaper than the Internet. Topaz International, an airfare-auditing company in the US, checked the price of the same flights with travel agents and on the Internet. The travel agent offered a better fare in 93 percent of cases. The Internet can offer bargains, but the flights are not

always the most convenient. They may not be available at the time or on the day the person wants to travel. Or they can involve longer journey times. It is a good

idea to be like Ms Bellis. Look on the Internet for five minutes to find a bargain; after that, let the professionals make the arrangements.

From the Financial Times

1. Underline the correct words in italics to make true sentences.

a) Karen Bellis always /never compares travel agents’ fares with the Internet.

b) John Guarneri thinks people spend too much /too little time looking for flights online.

c) Topaz International says that using a travel agent can be cheaper/more expensive than booking on the Internet.

d) Internet flights are always /not always the most convenient.

e) After five minutes, let the travel agent /Internet arrange the booking.

2. Are these sentences true or false? Correct the false sentences.

a) Karen Bellis works for BR.

b) John Guarneri is a travel manager.

c) John Guarneri prefers to make travel arrangements with a travel agent.