Do You Know How to Get Experience?

1. I won’t be able to get a job because I don’t have any job experience.

False. You don’t need job experience to get a job. You may not have a lot of job experience, but you have participated in all types of activities such as internships, work study, service learning, student government, and the student newspaper or radio station. While most of these activities (except for internships) do not offer pay, they do demonstrate your skills and abilities and should be placed on your resume.

2. It’s important to have a good attitude during an internship.

True. An internship is a privilege, and you need to show your company that it made a good decision when it picked you. You should be enthusiastic and friendly at all times, and always be willing to take on extra tasks or stay late to help with a project that is on deadline. Interns that demonstrate these traits are often the ones who get hired for full-time positions.

3. Volunteer positions usually pay a salary.

False. Volunteer opportunities do not pay a salary, but they provide excellent experience that you can list on your resume. And if you can’t get an internship, volunteering is one of the next best options to help you gain experience.

In summary

• Internships provide practical experience to people who are seeking to enter a career. They are an excellent way to get your foot in the door at a company, gain experience, and build your network of contacts. Internships typically last from 10 weeks to 12 months and are designed primarily for college students. Some internships offer a salary and/or academic credit, others are unpaid.

• A quality internship provides you with the opportunity to receive hands-on experience at a company in a variety of departments rather than simply doing monotonous clerical tasks or getting coffee for staff members.

• You can find internships through programs at your college or by cold-contacting companies, conducting research at libraries and on the Internet, making contacts at job fairs or other networking settings, or by contacting professional associations.

• To apply for an internship, you typically have to submit a cover letter, resume, application, and personal references, and then participate in an interview.

• It is wise to apply for internships as early as possible, since competition is strong for the best internships.

• Successful interns realize that an internship is a privilege and opportunity, not a right. They are punctual, have a good attitude, are good listeners, are enthusiastic, and are willing to make the extra effort on the job.

• The main types of internship programs include cooperative education, externships, practicums, service learning, field experience, and apprenticeships.

• Volunteering is another way to gain job experience. Most volunteer opportunities do not offer academic credit or pay. 

 

 

Exercise

Ask your friends or family if they have ever participated in a cooperative education opportunity, externship, practicum, service learning experience, field experience, or apprenticeship to help you understand which internship learning experience might be the best fit for you.

 

Match 

1) Skilled                                        a) contract

2) Hire                                            b) strong

3) Robust                                        c) prepared

4) Unemployed                               d) applicant

5) Labour                                        e) jobless

6) Candidate                                   f) work

7) Search                                         g) a small number

8) Few                                             h) look for

9) Lose momentum                         i) organize something that is mixed up

10) Sort out                             j) stop developing

11) Expansion                         k) growth

 

19.  Translate from English into Russian:

1) A secretary actually has to compose letters rather than type out letters dictated by her boss.

2) Work helps us develop a sense of responsibility and self-esteem. It also provides us with our own money.

3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family adequate social protection.

4) In case of job hunting, it is convenient to read the classified ads in newspapers consult the job pages on the Internet and send CVs to prospective employers.

5) Cold calling means phoning a company to enquire about job opportunities which have not been advertised.

6) Social networking sites such as Facebook are increasingly being used by people in the nursing field to search for job openings.

7) Mailing lists have been around since the early days of the Internet and are most popular in research- and academic-oriented professions.

8) Networking (career fairs, social networking sites, trade and professional association meetings, friends, etc.) is, of course, one of the best ways to learn about “hidden” jobs, but there are several other approaches you should use to learn about unadvertised positions.

 

 

20. Fill in the gaps with the proper words and phrases: