Replying to a job offer

Replying to a job offer

Recruitment and selection

The process of finding people for particular jobs is recruitment or, especially in American English hiring. Someone who has been recruited is a recruit or, in American English, a hire; and becomes an employee. The company employs or hires them; they join the company. A company (employer) may recruit employees directly or use outside recruiters, recruitment agencies or employment agencies. Outside specialists called headhunters may be called on to headhunt people for very important jobs, persuading them to leave the organizations they already work in. This process is called headhunting.

Differentiating employer, employee, employment, and employ

Employer (noun) a person or company that pays people to work for them. Employee (noun) a person who is paid to work for somebody. Employ (verb) to give somebody a job to do for payment. Employment (noun) work, especially when it is done to earn money; the state of being employed.

Applying for a job

Alice has been looking for a new job for a while. Last week she found an interesting offer in the situations vacant pages of her local newspaper, where a local supermarket was advertising for van drivers for a new. She applied for the job by completing an application form and sending it in. John saw a job in the appointments pages of one of the national papers. He filled an application, sending his CV(curriculum vitae - the "story" of his working life) and a covering letter explaining why they want the job and how they would be a great fit for the position. Note: Situation, post, and position are formal words often used in job advertisements and applications BrE: CV; AmE: résumé or resume BrE: covering letter; AmE: cover letter.

Selection procedures

Most jobs follow these 8 steps in the selection process:

1. Application: applicants fill it out.
2. Resume screening: filtering resumes/CVs.
3. Screening call: a scheduled phone screening call used to establish if the candidate is really interested and qualified or not.
4. Assessment test: it may be a practical skills test (typing speed, data entry capabilities, memory, etc.), a written or online test (aptitude, personality, intelligence, etc.), or an in-person audition (sales, kitchen position, etc.).
5. In-person interviewing: meet the candidate in person and determine who is going to be the next hire.
6. Background checks: criminal records, credit reports, driving records, verification records (identity, education, work history), drug test, social media, etc.).
7. Reference checks: confirming what the candidates have told you, and learning how they behave in a work environment.
8. Decision and job offer: discussing the job title, salary, etc. with the chosen candidate.

Education and training

Some people believe that hiring graduates, people who've just left university, is not a good choice, since they have good qualifications but no work experience. They usually don't know how business works. Some bachelor degrees offer an intern program so that students have a practical training of the subject they are majoring in. Even though some internships offer paid-compensation, most are unpaid. Some companies offer in-house training courses within the company and invest a lot of money into management development and management training. *(in the US most professional fields offer paid internships)

Skilled and unskilled

A skill is the ability to do something well, especially because you have learnt how to do it and practised it. Skilled jobs: Doctor, Lawyer, Scientist, Architect, Sea Capitain, Accountant, Cosmologist, etc. Semi-skilled: Taxi driver, Bartender, Nurse assistant, Fisher, Security Guard, Flight Attendant, etc. Unskilled jobs: Farm laborer, Assembly Line Worker, Grocery Clerk, Custodial Worker, Cleaner, Painter, Maid, Fruit picker, etc. You can say that someone is skilled at, or skilled in...+ noun (customer care, electronics, computer software...) + -ing (communicating, using PCs, working with large groups...) You can also say that someone is good with... + noun (computers, figures, people...)

The right person

These words are often used in job advertisements.Companies look for people who are;

• Self-starters, proactive, self-motivated, or self-driven: good at working on their own.
• Methodical, systematic, and organized: can work in a planned, orderly way.
• Computer-literate: good with computers.
• Numerate: good with numbers.
• Motivated: very keen to do well in their job.

• Talented: naturally very good at what they do.
• Team players: people who work well with other people.

Wages, salary, and benefits

My name is Matteo and I'm a hotel manager in Venice. I get paid a salary every month. In summer we're very busy, so we work a lot of extra hours, or overtime; the money for this is quite good. Working in a hotel, we also get nice perks, for example free meals!

My name is Charlotte and I'm a saleswoman based in Tolouse. I get a basic salary, plus commission: a percentage of everything I sell. If I sell more than a particular amount in a year, I also get extra money -a bonus, which is nice. There are some good fringe benefits with this job. I get a company car, and they make payments for my pension, money I'll regularly get after I retire. All that makes a good benefits package.

My name is Ivan and I work as a waiter in Prague. I like my job even if I don't earn very much: i get paid wages every week by the restaurant. We get the minimum wage: the lowest amount allowed by law. But we also get tips, money that customers leave for us in addition to the bill. Some tourists are very generous!

Compensation

Compensation and remuneration are technical words used to talk about pay and benefits, especially those of senior managers. Compensation package and remuneration package are used especually in the US to talk about all the pay and benefits that employees receive. For a senior executive, this may include a share options (BrE), or stock options (AmE): the right to buy the company's shares at a low price. There may be a performance-related bonuses if the manager reaches particular objectives for the company.

Compensation

Compensation is also used to talk about money and other benefits that a senior management (or any employee) receives if they are forced to leave the organization, perhaps after a boardroom row.

• Compensation payment, or severance payment.

• Severance package if the manager also receives benefits

In Britain, executives with very high pay and good benefits may be referred to as fat cats, implying that they do not need this level of remuneration.

More vocab

Full time job: full-time employees usually work around 40 hours a week. Part-time job: some people work 20 hourse a week. Permanent job: employees have no finishing date. Temporary work: a job for a short period. Contract: an agreement about how long an employee works, when they work, etc. Retire: stop working because of age. Pension: payment for people that retire. Resign: to leave a company voluntarily. Make someone redundant: when a employee is no longer needed, when the company has no more work for them or it has financial problems. Dismiss or fire someone: ask somebody to leave the company when they have done something wrong or stupid.