Great Britain. General Outline

Geographical position. Great Britain, the official name - the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is situated on two large islands and over five hundred small ones. The total area of Great Britain is 240,000 sq. kms, its population is 56,000,000 people. In the North-West and West the country is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea, in the East - by the North Sea. The island of Great Britain is separated from France by the English Channel. Northern Ireland, which is a part of Great Britain and which is situated on the island of Ireland, is separated from Great Britain by the North Channel.

The island of Great Britain is divided into two parts: mountainous (in the North and West of the island) and lowland (in the South and East). There are no very long rivers in Great Britain. The most important rivers are the Thames (the deepest) and the Severn (the longest).

Due to the moderating influence of the sea Great Britain has an insular climate, rather humid and mild, without striking discrepancy between seasons. Great Britain is not very rich in mineral resources. It has some deposits of coal and iron ore and vast deposits of oil and gas that were discovered in the North Sea.

Great Britain consists of four main parts: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Administratively Great Britain is divided into 55 counties. The biggest' cities of Great Britain are London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Cardiff. England is the largest part of Great Britain.

State system. Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. Officially the head of state is the Queen (or the King). However, the power of the Queen in Great Britain is not absolute. She acts only on the advice of the ministers and Parliament. Parliament in Great Britain has existed since 1265 and is the oldest Parliament in the world. It consists of three elements - Monarchy, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. They meet only on occasions of ceremonial significance, such as the state opening of Parliament, although the agreement of all three is normally required for legislation.

The House of Commons consists of 659 elected members called Members of Parliament or MPs. Election to the House of Commons is an important part of the British democratic system. The House of Lords currently consists of 688 non-elected members (hereditary peers and peeresses, life peers and peeresses and two archbishops and 24 senior bishops of the Church of England). Its main legislative function is to examine and revise bills from the Commons, but the Lords cannot normally prevent legislation from becoming law if the Commons insists on it. It also acts in a capacity as the final court of appeal. In recent years the House of Lords has undergone a process of reform to make it more democratic and representative. As a first step, the rights of some 750 hereditary peers to sit and vote in it solely on the basis that they inherited their seats were removed. The remaining hereditary peers are allowed to sit temporarily in the transitional chamber until the full reform programme is in place. The next phase of the House of Lords reform would remove the remaining hereditary peers and create a partly-elected upper house.

General elections are held after Parliament has been 'dissolved', either by a royal proclamation or because the maximum term between elections - five years has expired. The decision on when to hold a general election is made by the Prime Minister. After the general election the Queen appoints the head of the government - the Prime Minister. As a rule the Prime Minister is the leader of the party that has won the election. The Prime Minister appoints the ministers to make up the government. There are three main political parties in Great Britain: the Conservative Party, the Labor party and the Liberal-Democratic party.

Economy and Science. Britain became the world's first industrialized country in the mid-19th century. Wealth was based on manufacturing iron and steel, heavy machinery and cotton textiles, and on coal mining, shipbuilding and trade. Manufacturing still plays an important role and Britain excels in high-technology industries like chemicals, electronics, aerospace and offshore equipment, where British companies are among the world largest and most successful. The British construction industry has made its mark around the world and continues to be involved in prestigious building projects.

The most important industrial developments in the past 20 years or so in Britain have been the exploitation of North Sea oil and gas, and the rapid development of microelectronics technologies and their widespread application in industry and commerce. At the same time service industries have been assuming ever-increasing importance and now account for around two-thirds of output and employment. There has been a steady rise in the share of output and employment-now around 80 and 75 per cent respectively - accounted for by private-sector enterprises as privatization of the economy has progressed.

Britain, the world's fifth largest trading nation, belongs to the European Union (EU), the biggest established trading grouping in the world.

The Government believes that economic decisions are best taken by those competing in the marketplace. It sees its role as one of helping to generate sustainable growth through the maintenance of low inflation and sound public finances. Other policies are aimed at improving the working of markets and encouraging enterprise, efficiency and flexibility through such measures as privatization, deregulation and tax reforms.

Britain has a long tradition of research and innovation in science, technology and engineering in universities, research institutions and industry. Its record of achievement is in many ways unsurpassed, from the contribution of Isaac Newton to physics and astronomy in the 16th and 17th centuries (theory of gravitation and three laws of motion) and the inventions of Michael Faraday in the 19th century (the first electric motor, generator and transformer) to the breakthroughs in the 20th century.

British achievements in science and technology in the 20th century include fundamental contributions to modern molecular genetics through the discovery of the three-dimensional molecular structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) by Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins and James Watson in 1953, the studies of superconductivity by Brian Josephson, radio-astrophysics of Antony Hewish, etc.

Much pioneering work was done during the 1980s and 1990s. For example, in 1985 the British Antarctic Survey scientists discovered the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic; some breakthroughs were made in genetics research including the first pig with a genetically modified heart bred by scientists at Cambridge University, and the world famous cloned sheep Dolly.

Nobel Prizes for science have been won by more than 70 British citizens.

Higher Education in Britain. At 16 young men and women have to decide whether to stay at school, to go on to a college, to look for a job, or to start training for work. All have to think about gaining employment in a job market which demands increasingly skilled workers.

After their period in further education young people have the opportunity to go on to higher education in a university or college, provided they have good 'A' level exam results or good passes in vocational qualifications like the BTEC national diploma. Over the last 15 years, the proportion of young people going into higher education has risen from one in eight to one in three. Most higher education students receive some financial support from local education authorities, with the rest of their money made up through parental support or through the Student Loans Company set up by central government to provide subsidized loans for students. In certain cases large companies sponsor students through their degree courses.

There are more than 80 universities in Britain including the Open University, which teaches via TV and radio, about 400 colleges and institutes of higher education. The two oldest Universities in England are Oxford and Cambridge. Oxford and Cambridge Universities are known for their specific system of education. They preserve an antique way of life and great emphasis is laid on "tutorials". Each student has a tutor who gives him personal instructions. Every week the tutor and his students meet to discuss the work they have done, to criticize it in detail and to set the next week's work.

Until the nineteenth century England had no other universities apart from Oxford and Cambridge. The universities founded between 1850-1930 including London University are known as redbrick universities (because of the favorite building material of the time). Redbrick universities were built to provide a liberal education and give technological training for the poorer students. The universities founded after World War II are called "the new universities" (Kent, Essex, York, etc).

All British universities are private institutions. Every institution is independent, autonomous and responsible only to its governing council, but they all receive financial support from the state.

Students who pass examinations at the end of the three or four years of study get a Bachelor's degree. The first postgraduate degree is normally that of Master conferred for a thesis based on at least one year's full-time work. Universities are centers of research and many postgraduates are engaged in research for the higher degree, the degree of Doctor.

A university consists of a number of faculties. The teaching is organized in departments, such as engineering, economics, commerce, etc. Education in Britain is not free of charge, it is rather expensive.

 

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Geographical position. The United States lies in the central part of the North American continent between two oceans: the Atlantic Ocean to the East and the Pacific Ocean to the West. Canada to the North and Mexico to the South are the only countries bordering it. The total area of the USA is over 9 million square kilometers. The capital of the USA is WashingtonD.C. The population of the country is about 290 million people.

For many decades the USA has been the place where lots of people sought refuge from persecution for political or religious beliefs. That's why in America there are representatives of practically all racial and national groups.

Because of such a huge size of the country the climate differs from one part of the country to another. The USA has eight climatic regions. The coldest climate is in the Northern part. The South has a subtropical climate.

The continental part of the USA consists of the highland regions and two lowland regions. The highland regions are the Appalachian Mountains in the East and the Cordillera in the West. Between the Cordillera and the Appalachian Mountains there are the central lowlands called the prairie, and the eastern lowlands called the Mississippi valley. The Rocky Mountains extend all the way from New Mexico to Alaska. Many rivers cross the country. The most important is the Mississippi. The main lakes are the Great Lakes in the North. The mineral resources vary from precious gold and rare uranium to common lead and zinc. Coal, oil, iron, copper and other minerals are abundant.

The USA consists of three separate parts. These are the Hawaiian Islands, situated in the central part of the Pacific Ocean, Alaska separated by Canada, and the rest of the USA. There are fifty states and the District of Columbia. The states differ very much in size, population and economic development. The biggest cities are New York, Chicago, Los Angeles.

The flag of the USA is called «Stars and Stripes". The stars represent the 50 states, the stripes represent 13 original English colonies, which in 1776 became independent of England.

State system. The United States of America is a federal republic. In 1776, when the independence of the USA was declared, 13 " founding" states entered the federation; from 1959 the federation comprises 50 states. The federal district of Columbia, coinciding with the capital of the country Washington is an independent territorial unit.

The state power is divided into three branches: legislative (the US Congress), executive (the President and his Administration) and judicial(the US Supreme Court).

The form of US government is based on the Constitution of September 17, 1787, adopted after the War of Independence. The US Constitution consists of the Preamble, seven articles and twenty-seven amendments; the first ten of them were adopted in 1791 and are called the Bill of Rights.

The Congress of the United States is composed of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Members of the House of Representatives are chosen every second year by direct ballot according to the population figures of their respective states. Senators are elected to six-year terms, two senators from each state independently of its population.

The President is head of the state and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the USA. The President and Vice-President are elected for a term of four years. The President is elected indirectly in two stages: first electors are chosen in their respective states, and these elect President and Vice-President. There are two main political parties in the USA: the Democratic and the Republican. Each of the fifty states of the USA has a constitution patterned after the federal Constitution, with its divisions of power: legislative, executive, and judicial.

Science and Economy. The Industrial Revolution that started in England did not take long to cross the Atlantic. It brought many changes to American industry between 1776 and 1860.

One key development was the introduction of the factory system, which gathered many workers together in one place. A second development was the American system of mass production, which originated in the firearms industry about 1800. The new system created parts that were interchangeable. This, in turn, allowed the final product to be assembled in stages, each worker specializing in a specific operation. A third development was the application of new sources of power. New forms of business organization, the bank and the corporation, facilitated the growth of industry. The rise of industry changed the relations between the workers and the employers. They became more impersonal and even hostile.

Meanwhile, the organization of work was changing. In 1913 Henry Ford introduced the "moving assembly line". By improving efficiency, it made possible a major saving in labor costs and both higher wages for workers and lower prices for consumers. During the first half of the 20th century mass production of consumer goods such as cars, refrigerators, etc., revolutionized the American way of life.

The century's two world wars spared the USA the devastation suffered by Europe and Asia, and American industries proved capable of great production in­creases to meet war needs. In 1945 the USA had the greatest productive capacity in the world.

The 20th century has seen the rise and decline of industries in the USA. The auto industry, long the centerpiece of the American economy, has had to struggle to meet the challenge of foreign competition. At present, vehicles produced at such com­panies as Ford and the General Motors are known worldwide. Over the years many new industries have appeared. These new industries are know as high-technology or high-tech ones. The USA is the world leader in biochemical and genetic engineering, aerospace research and development, communications, computer and information services. Many of these industries are known as high-technology or “high-tech” industries as they depend on the latest developments in technology. High-tech industries are highly automated and thus need fewer workers than traditional industries. All high-tech industries have grown and older industries have declined in recent years. The proportion of American workers employed in manufacturing has declined. Service industries now dominate the US economy. It is sometimes said that the United States has moved into “a post-industrial era”.

Higher Education in the United States. Higher education is given in colleges and universities. There are over 2, 100 various higher educational institutions, including colleges, technological institutes and universities. The oldest American universities are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia. They were founded in the 17th and 18th centuries. Later on the network of higher educational institutions spread from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific.

In American parlance, a college is a four-year institution of higher learning that offers courses in related subjects. A business college, for example, offers courses in accounting, investment, marketing. Many colleges are independent and award Bachelor's degrees to those completing a program of instruction that typically takes four years. But colleges can also be components of universities. A large university typically comprises several colleges, graduate programs in various fields, one or more professional schools, and one or more research facilities.

A college student takes courses in his or her " major" field, the area of study in which he or she chooses to specialize, along with " electives", courses that are not required but chosen by the student. After four years of studies the students get a traditional Bachelor's degree. Then the students may go on to a graduate school and with a year or two of further study gets a Master's degree. After another year or two of study and research, they may get a still higher degree as Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). The student's progress is evaluated by means of tests, term works and final examinations in each course. Colleges and universities, both private and public, charge tuition.

AMERICA AS SEEN BY BRITONS

Bob and Sheila spent two years living in New York because of Bob's work as a banker. Neither of them had lived in a big city before. They now live back in England in a small village outside London.

Interviewer -How long did you live in the States?

Bob -We were there for two and half years, in New York.

Int. -And did you enjoy it?

Sheila -Oh, tremendously. We had a wonderful time.

Bob -Yes, what I liked best was that I could work and still lead a normal life. I mean, the shops are open till 10 o'clock.

Int. -All shops?

Sheila - Yes, everything, food shops, chemists...

Bob -There's a huge department store called Gimbles on 86th Street that was open till 9.00.

Sheila - And some supermarkets are open twenty-four hours a day. Most shops don't open as early as in England, well they don't open until about uhm... 10 or 11 in the morning.

Bob -Yes, that's right.

Sheila - Because they all work much later. And everything's open on Sundays.

Bob -And the holidays, the public holidays are much shorter than here, and in the States only the banks are shut. Everything else stays open, so it makes life much easier. You could do what you liked when you liked.

Sheila - And it was easier with the children, because I could wait till you got back and we did the shopping together, didn't we?

Bob -Yes.

Int. -I see, um... do you think New York is as cosmopolitan as London?

Sheila - Oh yes, but it's not as mixed. Nationalities stay in their own areas; like there's the Ukrainian section, the Russian section...

Bob -... the German section. We were in German Town, York Town, which is called German Town. And there was a row of German shops, all German-speaking. But you didn't find that anywhere else. And the Ukrainians were down on 14th and 2nd, and the Spanish kept to Spanish Harlem.

Sheila - I think the major difference was the height of the place. Everything was up. We lived on the twenty-ninth floor.

Bob -And I worked on the sixty-third floor.

Sheila - But I like heights. And of course everything is faster. And the people are much ruder.

Bob -Which means of course that we're much ruder ourselves now we're back in Britain.

Int. -Oh, in what ways?

Bob -Well, pushing in the street.

Sheila - Oh. I don't!

Bob -Fights about getting on the bus. No good old British queues.

Int. -But, are all Americans like that?

Sheila - Oh yes. Well, all New Yorkers anyway. Not so much in other places. When we went to California it was very different. There weren't the same pressures at all, were there?

Bob -I think we were aware that New York is quite a dangerous place. We never had any problems at all, but when there was a crime, it was horrendous.

Sheila - Oh yes, the subways are unusable. They're dirty, uncomfortable.

Int. -Did you make many friends?

Sheila - Well, that's what's interesting really. We made more friends there than we have after two years of living here. I think Americans are more open, they, you know, they speak their minds, so if they don't like something, they actually tell you directly. Not like the British, who might think one thing and say another. So I suppose you could say that the English are ruder than the Americans.

Bob -Or that they're less honest. (Headway Intermediate, 17 a)

ENGLAND AS SEEN BY AMERICANS:

Terry Tomsha talks about her experience of living and working in England, where she has been for the past eleven years.

Interviewer – So, Terry. You've been in this country for quite a long time now. What differences do you notice between the two countries?

Terry - Obviously, the biggest difference is the people. The average Englishman is … mm cold and not very open. In the States it's very different. We start conversations with people in the street, in the subway; we're a lot more enthusiastic and spontaneous than people here. You know, when I first came, I couldn't understand why I was getting so little reaction from people, but now I see that they thought I was overpowering and that I was trying to be too friendly too soon.

Int. - But, tell me; does the Englishman improve as you get to know him?

Terry - Oh yes. Once you have made a friend, it's a friend for life, but it takes a very long time. I'll tell you something that I think is very important. An Englishman in America is respected. Everyone wants to talk to him. We're inquisitive; we love his accent and his country. An American though in England is thought to be a little inferior because of his behavior and his language. One thing I've learned - it's funny now, but it wasn't at the time I couldn't understand why when I was talking to someone he would move away, you know, move backwards, and I thought 'Do I smell? Am I boring him?' The reason was, you see, Americans stand closer when they're talking. Again, English people like a certain distance.

Int. -That's true. What about your impressions of living here? How does that compare with the States?

Terry - Well, mmm... I think life's a lot easier in the States. It's easier to make money and it's easier to spend it. Shops are open all the time over there. Here you've got to race to reach the supermarket by 5.30. Generally, though I find life more inefficient here. If you need an electrician, it takes days to get one, he doesn't do the job very well, the system is so old that he can't get the parts to repair it, and he doesn't care. This leads to another very important point. Americans work a lot harder than you do. To the English their private lives are important, their holidays are important, their gardens are important, their animals are important, but an American wouldn't admit that. For us, our work is the most important thing in our lives. You know, holidays seem to be longer here, people make the most ridiculous excuses not to go to work - 'My dog's got a cold', I heard the other day.

Int. - Oh, come on.

Terry - You have tea breaks that get longer and longer. In that respect we're quite like the Japanese. Our jobs come first, but there are all sorts of services to make life easier around our jobs.

Int. -Well. I take it you have a pretty negative opinion of England.

Terry - You would think so from this interview, wouldn't you? No, in fact I really love it here. I go home once a year and really look forward to coming back here. This is my home now. (Headway Intermediate, 17 b)

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD

It is only in the course of the last hundred years that English has become a world language. In Shakespeare's time it was a "provincial" language of secondary importance with only 6 million native speakers. Nowadays English has become the world's most important language in politics, science, trade and cultural relations. It is the official language of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ire­land, of the United States of America, of Australia and New Zealand. English is used as one of the official languages in Canada, the Republic of South Africa and the Irish Republic. It is also spoken as a second language by many people in India, Pakistan, numerous countries in Africa. Around 375 mln people speak English as their first language and another 375 mln speak it as a second language.

Even more widely English is studied and used as a foreign language - around 750 mln people. In this respect it acquired an international status. It is used for communication across fron­tiers, listening to broadcasts, reading books and newspapers, in commerce and travel. Half of the world's scientific literature is in English. English is associated with technological and economic development of the great manufacturing coun­tries. It is the language of automation and computer technology, international avia­tion, shipping and sport. It is the major language of diplomacy.

CAREERS IN TECHNOLOGY.

Five people are talking about their work in the engineering field. Here are some questions each of them may be asked. Answer these questions after reading/listening to each story and also the questions given after it. Describe each job briefly to others or discuss it with your partner in the form of a dialogue:

1. What does this particular person like most about his job? 2. What does his work involve? 3. What are bad points about his job if mentions them? 4. Does he say how long he has worked there? 5. What is the biggest challenge of his job? 6. Imagine what advice he would give students entering his profession. 7. Why did he choose this job? 8. Is it a well-paid job?

1. Read/listen to Ian Bronec, a Mechanical Engineer, speaking about his job.

I work for a Polish company which converts diesel engines to run on natural gas. They're used in forklifts and tractors, but mostly in buses. Diesel-engine buses can produce a lot of pollution. The air quality in city centers is often quite poor. Natural gas-fuelled engines are much cleaner than diesel. The work that we do is helping to improve the air quality in our cities.

In the past few years, we've started to build gas-powered generators. They produce up to 100 kilowatts. They run on bio-gas from sewage treatment plants. They produce all the power the plant needs, and more. When there's a power cut, people find it a bit strange that the sewage plant has all its lights on.

I travel quite a lot in my job. I help to install new generators all over the country and to provide support for bus companies who use our engines. We're planning to export to other EU countries so I might have more opportunity to travel outside Poland and maybe use my English. (Technology, Unit 8, Listening scripts)

Some more questions to be answered: What kind of transport is he concerned with? 2. How does his work improve life in cities? 3. What other product does his company make? 4. What kind of fuel does this product use? Why might he have more opportunities to use English?

II. Listen to Leon Peters, a Construction Worker, speaking about his job, and answer the questions below:

I'm self-employed but I work with three other guys as a gang - that's like a team. We get contracts from construction companies, maybe a few weeks, maybe a year. It depends on the size of the building. You have to be prepared to travel wherever the work is but the money is good. There are bonuses too, for finishing ahead of schedule.

What we do is we build the steel frames of all sorts of buildings. I've worked on supermarkets, warehouses, and multistorey buildings, including one that was 30 storeys high. Everything is pre-fabricated. The steel is cut to the right size and drilled before it comes to the site. We have to bolt or weld the pieces together. It sounds easy but try lining up a one-tonne girder swinging from a crane on a winter's day when you're a hundred meters up! We like to work fast, and to do that you need ground people who make sure everything reaches you in the right order, and a crane operator who can deliver on the spot - right where you need it.

On a typical day, I could be working a twelve-hour shift. If you're high up, you don't come down for tea-breaks. Everything you need is up there - canteen, toilets.

Is it dangerous? Well, yes, but there are a lot of safety precautions. We have to wear a safety harness with a lifeline. There are safety cables slung round whichever floor you're working on, and you clip onto one as soon as you start. There's a safety net underneath the floor until the deck is down. For me, the most dangerous time is moving the girders into the right position. You could be crushed.

I'd like to set up my own construction company eventually, and employ others to do this kind of work. (Technology, Unit 9, Listening scripts)

Questions: 1.How big is Leon’s gang? 2 How long is the contract? 3 What kind of buildings has he worked on? 4 How long is a typical shift?

Find reasons why: 1) contracts vary in length: 2) bonuses are paid; 3) you need good ground people; 4) you don’t come down for tea-breaks; 5) moving girders is dangerous.

III. Listen to Phillipe Rugeri, a Mechatronics Engineer, speaking about his job, and answer the questions below:

My special area is electronic assistive technology, or EAT for short. I work for a company which makes equipment to help severely disabled people. I mean people who can't walk, people who have very limited movement - perhaps they can move only their head.

In this kind of work, you need knowledge of mechatronics. That's where mechanics, electronics, and software engineering meet. Take a page-turner, for example. It's a device which turns the pages of a book or magazine. The input can be a pneumatic switch - that's a switch worked by air pressure. You operate it by sucking or blowing down a tube. These signals are interpreted by a microprocessor which controls the mechanism which turns the pages. That mechanism uses electrical and mechanical devices. All three branches of engineering combine to make it work.

It's an exciting job. Each development in technology means new possibilities for disabled people. (Technology, Unit 10, Listening scripts)

Questions: 1. What is EAT? 2. Name three ways in which severely disabled people can operate equipment. 3. What are three branches of engineering which make up mechatronics? 4. What does a page-turner do? 5. How does a pneumatic switch work?

IV. Listen to Tod McArthur, a Telecommunications Technician, and note the following things: a) the number of years he has worked for his company; b) as many items of telecommunications equipment as you can; c) as many country names as you can;

d) the meaning of VoIP.

I'm a Telecommunications Technician. I work for a company which provides phone systems for business use, especially banks. I've been with the company for eight years. Before that, I was in the army for four years. I joined when I left school. I was in Signals. They trained me to set up and maintain mobile communications equipment - satellite dishes, antennas, VHF radios, that sort of thing. I enjoyed my time in the army -mostly because I traveled quite a lot. I've been to Norway, Kenya, and Belize.

I've seen quite a few changes in phone systems. We've replaced copper cables with fibre-optic networks. The most important one now is the change to VoIP. That's Voice over Internet Protocol. Basically, it's a system that allows voice signals to be sent via the Internet. You can make long distance calls cheaply.

In general, telecommunications equipment has become more complex, more powerful in the data it can handle and lighter. My job used to be 70% brain and 30% muscle. Now, it's 90% brain and 10% muscle!

Most of my work is indoors though. It's not just installing and testing equipment. I have to explain to clients how to use the new systems. Being able to explain quite complicated technology in simple terms is an important part of my work. That's one of the things I enjoy most.

Sometimes I have to work outdoors to bring a line into a building or fix a dish on the roof. It's great in summer but it's not much fun if it's pouring with rain! (Technology, Unit 13, Listening scripts)

Questions: 1. Where did he first learn about telecommunications? 2. Name a change he has experienced in telecommunications. 3. Why is his job now much more about brain than muscle? 4. What does he like most about his job? 5. What does he not like?

V Read what Diana Mayo, an IT Support Technician, writes about her job. Read her story and try to retell it briefly:

I’m an IT (Information Technology) Support Technician. I work for a large chain which sells building materials to the public and to tradespeople. Almost every business these days, large or small, needs support technicians.

When I left college, I got a job through an agency working for a company which provided online support to local businesses and individuals. I was on their help desk. That meant taking calls and providing advice on all sorts of problems. It's a job where you need not just technical skills but also good 'soft skills'. That means people-handling skills. You need to be able to understand how the caller feels as well as trying to solve their IT problems. You have to keep calm when you're under pressure. People may be pretty frustrated by the time they phone you, and they expect you to fix their problem right away. It's a demanding job because you have to cope sometimes with angry people, get all the information you need to help them with their problem, work out how to solve it technically, and then explain in a clear, simple way what they can do to put things right.

A help desk is a good place to start. You learn to think quickly and how to handle people but I wouldn't advise doing it for long. It's not the best paid job. In my present job I get to work with people face-to-face. The work is more interesting. It's not all trouble-shooting. I also get to install software, maintain servers, and advise on the best choice of new hardware. The money is better too. I find the best way to find information on problems is to use the Internet. Most of the manufacturers have sites which provide information. There are also newsgroups for sharing information.

I'm planning to get Microsoft certification. My company is prepared to pay for the courses and the exams. It's good for them as it means I can do more and it's good for my future. (Technology, Unit 12, p. 89)

Find an expression in the text which means:

People - handling skills, problem-solving, working directly with people, dealing with telephone calls.

JOB INTERVIEW