Episode 176

EPISODE 176
LEVEL A2

READING COMPREHENSION

 

What are employers looking for? Most employers say that they wish to employ the right person for the right job. A recent report by Britain’s independent Institute of Manpower Studies, however, disagrees with this. The report states that most employers wish to avoid employing the wrong person. Rather than looking for the right person, they are looking for applicants to turn down. The report also suggests that in Britain and in many other parts of the world, the selection methods used to identify the right person for the job certainly do not match up to those used to evaluate a piece of new equipment. Recruiters used three main selection methods: interviewing, checking curriculum vitae or application forms against defined criteria, and examining references. Most of the recruiters consulted in this survey stated that these selection methods were used more for „weeding out” unsuitable candidates rather than for finding suitable ones. Interviews were considered to be more reliable than either curriculum checks or references from past employers. Research, however, proves otherwise. Interviewers’ decisions are often strongly influenced by their previous assessment of the written application. Also, different recruiters interpret facts differently. One may consider candidates who have often changed jobs as people with broad and useful experience. Another will view such candidates as unreliable and unlikely to stay for long in the new job.

 

Exercise 1
Find in the text expressions which mean:

1. zatrudniać
2. raport
3. aplikant
4. selekcja
5. rekruter
6. kryteria
7. referencje
8. kandydat
9. (nie)odpowiedni
10. doświadczenie

 

Exercise 2
Match these words from the two columns to form collocations as in the text:

1. the right                candidate
2. selection               criteria
3. application          experience
4. defined                 form
5. unsuitable           methods
6. useful                   person

 

Exercise 3
Say these sentences in English using some expressions from the previous exercise:

1. Nasi rekruterzy mają określone kryteria, aby zatrudniać tylko właściwych kandydatów
2. Częściej patrzymy na przydatne doświadczenie aplikantów niż ich referencje.
3. Jedną z metod selekcji jest formularz aplikacyjny.

 

I know English idioms!

One of the sentences in this lesson’s text reads: “(…) these selection methods were used more for „weeding out” unsuitable candidates…” The underlined part is an idiomatic expression, which means “to remove”(usunąć, pozbyć się). Let’s study other examples:

• We need to cut costs in our company and will have to weed out the worst workers.
• The first round of interviews only really serves to weed out the weakest of applicants.

 

Phrasals, phrasals…

Another sentence in the text reads: “Rather than looking for the right person, they are looking for applicants to turn down.” Here we can find a phrasal verb, very common in business contexts: “to turn down”. In this sentence it can mean “to reject” (odrzucić), but it can also have other meanings:

• When the market turns down, recruitment is one of the first areas where companies try to make savings. (= there is recession)
• The rival energy company’s offer was turned down. (= rejected)
• She was turned down for the job because of insufficient experience. (= refused to be given)

 

Grammar corner

 

Let’s study this sentence: Also, different recruiters interpret facts differently. The sentence illustrates the difference between two parts of speech: an adjective (different) and an adverb (differently). As we can see, to form an adverb from an adjective it’s enough to add the “-ly” ending.

Try and make these adjectives into adverbs: 1. cheerful 2. dramatic 3. energetic 4. happy 5. hopeful 6. lazy 7. noisy 8. probable

 

GLOSSARY
employer -pracodawca
to look for – szukać
to wish – życzyć (sobie)
to employ – zatrudniać
right – właściwy
recent – niedawny
independent – niezależny
Institute of Manpower Studies – Instytut Studiów nad Rezerwami Ludzkimi
to disagree – nie zgadzać się
to state – twierdzić
to avoid – unikać
applicant – aplikant, kandydat
to turn down – odrzucić
to identify – tu: wybrać
certainly – z pewnością
to match up (to) – pasować
to evaluate – ocenić
(a piece of) equipment – sprzęt
interviewing – przeprowadzanie rozmowy
checking, examining – sprawdzanie
application form – formularz aplikacyjny
defined – określony
references – referencje
survey – badanie, ankieta
to weed out – wyeliminować
unsuitable – nieodpowiedni
to be considered – być uważanym
reliable – rzetelny
research – badanie
to prove – świadczyć
otherwise – inaczej
to be influenced – być pod wpływem
previous – poprzedni
assessment – ocena
to consider – rozważać
broad – szerokie
useful – przydatne
experience – doświadczenie
to view – postrzegać
unlikely – mało prawdopodobny
unreliable – niesolidny

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