3. The world of work - P

3. World of work

Choosing one’s career is an important step in everybody’s life. Most children admire so-called „ hero” professions such as pilots, astronauts, firemen or policemen. Girls on the other hand dream of becoming actresses, models, singers, teachers and so on. But as they get older and mature their criteria for choosing their profession become more and more realistic, because they have to coordinate their own interests, hopes and desires.

Most children are influenced by their parents, teachers, relatives and friends and they often want to go in their footsteps. Others prefer to go their own way. Each occupation should bring people joy and satisfaction from a job well done. It cannot be said, which occupation is the most important of all.

The first important step of man is in the final year of elementary school when many schoolmates face a problem – they have to decide for the best and to choose from various options of secondary schools – Grammar school, industrial, medical, economic school, apprentice centre, art schools… After a successful accomplishment (dokončenie) of the secondary school students decide whether they continue their education at the university or they enter the world of work. But those who do not attend a university and have no diploma many times face problems finding a suitable job because of lack of qualifications and experience.

Teenagers between the age of sixteen and nineteen are usually expected to make their choice whether to continue their education or enter the world of work. Those who want to earn some money as soon as possible might face a lot of problems finding a suitable job because of lack of qualifications and experience. The job market has only odd jobs (príležitostné práce) or seasonal jobs to offer them.

All people should find a job after finishing their education. Nowadays it is a big problem. There are many unemployed people in our country that became unemployed or redundant and take unemployment benefit (podpora v nezamestnanoosti) but on the other hand there are many resources to help those who want to find a job.

Advertisements in national and local newspapers are one of them. There are quite a lot of local or regional institutions such as job centres or employment offices (úrad práce) that can be helpful mostly in organizing re-qualification training (rekvalifikačný kurz) for those who have been made redundant (boli prepustení z práce). Using former colleagues´ help or other work contacts is also highly recommended.

- After collecting and evaluating (vyhodnotení) information about a would-be job (possible, potential job = možná práca) one has to write an application.
- An essential (nevyhnutná) part of the application form is a curriculum vitae (CV)

- Curriculum vitae should contain *personal details, *work experience, *educational background (doterajšie vzdelanie) * and further training (školenia) or other skills, e.g. language skills (jazykové schopnosti) or abilities which are relevant.
The aim of the application is to get an interview.

- The interview is very, if not the most, important stage in the procedure of getting a job.
An applicant can either gain or lose a lot. If the applicant is really serious in their effort to get a job they must be very careful not only about what they wear and what first impression they make also what and how they communicate to the interviewer.
There are a lot of guidebooks where applicants can find some useful information on how „to survive“ an interview.

Those applicants who are lucky, or rather good enough and get the job become employees of a company, firm or other institution. The employee (zamestnanec) and employer (zamestnávateľ) sign a work contract (pracovná zmluva) that clearly states (jasne uvádza) the job description, duties and responsibilities, working time, salary and conditions of promotions (podmienky povýšenia).

The job may include several fringe benefits (sociálne výhody), e.g. extra advantages such as a company car, luncheon vouchers (stravné lístky), etc. These are also called perks (perquisites = zamestnanecké výhody).

Although the right to work is one of the basic rights of human beings, everybody must be prepared for the possibility of losing their job. Many companies downsize and reduce staff (znižujú stavy) and people are being made redundant (sú prepúšťaní). The government in countries with high unemployment rates should propose measures (navrhnúť opatrenia) that would improve employment policies, motivate people to work and not to stay out of work.