Choosing our future profession is an important step in our lives. This choice is not easy because when we have to choose we are teenagers without enough experience and that's why we are mostly influenced by our parents, teachers, relatives and friends. Some of us follow in the footsteps of our parents, where others may have a special interest.
Many of those who have finished their education at secondary school start working straight away. They have jobs such as shop-assistants, secretaries, drivers, nurses, waiters, waitresses, bookkeepers, butchers, bakers, bus-drivers, hair-dressers, farmers, tailors, firemen, postmen, policemen, plumbers, bricklayers etc. Later they can attend courses or trainings to get (gain) better qualifications.
Those who want to have higher or university education carry on with their studies. When they finish, they can become doctors, teachers, engineers, lawyers, architects, managers, computer-programmers, psychologists etc.
At present Slovakia is in a difficult situation. We have around 16% unemployment, most of whom are workers. However, for graduates the situation isn't optimistic either. Even if they are educated, they have problems to find a proper job because companies normally require 3 or 5 years of work experience.
That's why most of them take jobs that require lower qualification which are not well-paid or go abroad where they can only work as au-pairs, cleaners or workers. It's depressing that our government allows this to happen and doesn't try to keep our educated people at home by offering them good jobs and salaries. And the last blow from our government has been to cancel the unemployment benefit for people younger than 25 years old.
We can look for jobs in newspapers, special magazines and on the internet. There are also job centres and employment agencies which can be helpful to find the right job. These days, employers require knowledge of at least one foreign language (mainly English) and PC skills. When we finally find a job, we have to write a CV (curriculum vitae) with a covering letter and sometimes companies require filling in an application form.
A CV should contain your personal details, educational background, work experience or trainings, references if you have any, your skills and hobbies. In a covering letter should be written where you found out about the job, a little about yourself and reason why you are applying for the position. A covering letter should arouse interest in the reader giving you a chance to be invited for an interview. The interview is another important stage of getting a job. We should be dress properly, be self-confident and communicative.
Creating a good impression on the person who is interviewing us is very important and can give us a job straight away. If we are successful, the company, firm or organisation may offer us a position that we applied for. After signing a work contract which clearly states the job description, duties and responsibilities, working time and salary, we become an employee of our new employer.
If we like our job, work hard and perform successfully, after a few years with the company we could be promoted for better position.
What are my plans for the future? At first I want to successfully finish my maturita exam and then pass at least one of my 3 exams to get into university. I have applied to the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, the Faculty of Social sciences for field psychology and politics, and to the Faculty of Education for field biology and psychology.
During the summer I am going to visit my sister in Hamburg. In August we are having a water-polo tournament in Topolcany and then in September we might go to Egypt for another water-polo tournament. If I get into university, I will be very happy. Because then I can continue with my studies and get a Masters degree. If I don't pass the exam, I will probably go to the UK to London. I want to improve my English anyway and England is the best place to learn it. After 6-8 months I'll come back home and start preparing myself to retake my university entrance exams.
Profession – povolanie, profesia workers - robotnici Experience – skusenost graduates – absolventi VS Influence – ovplyvnenie to be aducated – byt vzdelany Relatives – pribuzny to require – vyzadovat not well-paid job – slabo platena praca Shop-assistant – predavac to offer - ponuknut Secretary – sekretarka salary – plat, mzda Driver – vodic knowledge - znalost Nurse – zdravotna sestra PC skills – ovladanie pocitaca Waiter – casnik CV - zivotopis Waitress – casnicka covering letter – sprievodny, motivacny list Bookkeeper – uctovnicka application form – formular (na prihlasku, ziadost) Butcher – masiar to contain - obsahovat Baker – pekar personal details – osobne udaje Hair-dresser – kadernik educational background - vzdelanie Farmer – polnohospodar work-experience – pracovne skusenosti Tailor – krajcir references - referencie Fireman – poziarnik skills - zrucnosti Postman – postar arouse interest - zaujat Plumber – instalater reader - citatel Bricklayer – murar stage – stupen, faza, etapa Qualification – kvalifikacia self-confident - sebavedomi Lawyer – pravnik impression - dojem Unemployment – nezamestnanost position - miesto Unemployed – nezamestnany sign - podpis Employed – zamestnany work contract – pracovna zmluva Employee – zamestnanec duties - povinosti Employer – zamestnavatel responsibilities - zodpovednosti Unemployment benefit – podpora v nezamestnanosti Job description – napln prace To be promoted – byt povyseny Referencie – pre koho si uz robil napise o tebe posudok Skills – zrucnosti, tak tam pises ci ovladas pocitac, cudzie jazyky a na akej urovni, tiez sa tam pise ci strojopis, ci mas vodicsky preukaz, atd.
JOBS:
Manual – non manual Outside – inside Shift work – non shift work (smeny) Well paid – not well paid (low paid) Difficult – easy Dangerous – safe Interesting - routine Individual – work in a team Legal – illegal Part time job – full time job Permanent – temporary job
Summer job
Promotion (povysenie): teacher – headmaster (riaditel)