Business English Resources

Choosing a Career

2010-12-04T01:23:00.000-08:00

Vocabulary:

Before you watch, make sure you understand the expressions:

make your heart sing
feedback system
off course
put your rational mind to work
do some due diligence
to go down that road
to know deep inside
feelings come up
it feels right
to make sense up here
internship
the cost of that path
pay-offs
to get a sense of something
to pursue

Transcript for this video

Check your understanding:

What are the three things you have to consider when deciding on a career plan?
What is our number one feedback system we're given at birth? How can we use it when deciding on a career??
How can you put your rational mind to work?
Why does he mention meditation?

Discussion:

What makes your heart sing?
How do you decide if something is good for you?
Do you use your heart or your mind more?
Do you trust yourself or do you rely on other's feedback when making a decision?
When was the last important decision you had to make and how did it go?
Are you ambitious? Why or why not?
Do you have a career plan? Where do you want to be in 10 years' time?
Which of the following would you prefer and why?

work for one company during your career
work for several different companies
work for yourself

Which of the following areas do you work in (would you like to work in)? Why?

Sales and marketing
Finance
Management
Administration and personnel
Production
Research and development (R&D)

What should you do to get ahead of your career?

Change companies often
Use charm and sex appeal with your superiors
Attend all meetings
Go to your company's social functions
Be energetic and enthusiastic at all times
Be the last to leave work every day
Find an experienced person to give you help and advice
Study for extra qualifications in your free time

How to Conduct Your Own Market Research

2010-02-22T00:44:00.000-08:00

Watch the video and think of the following:
What's the purpose of a market research?
What are the two questions you have to be clear on for an effective market research?
What are the parameters you have to decide on?
How many types of market research are there and what are the differences between them?
Which method is free? Which method requires the largest investment?
When would you resort to the services of a professional consultant?
What does the speaker recommend for best results?

Listen for the missing words:

Congratulations! You've decided to try and answer your business questions with information from your market. It's not that you don't trust your , your spouse or your partner. You just feel the questions or issues are important enough to confirmation from another source, ideally your customers.
Hello! I'm Peggy Collins with How To Conduct Your Own Market Research. To conduct effective market research, it's that you determine who your market is and what you want to know. Assuming you're clear on who and what, you have some decisions to make on how you're going to obtain the information.
First, you have to decide on some parameteres. How much am I willing to invest? What's the budget? How quickly do I need the information? What are the ? Do I want to do this totally on my own or work with a consultant?
Next, you have to determine the type of research. Secondary research is an investigation into information that is currently available on your specific market. This may include press releases, chamber of commerce data or government statistics, as well as any other publication with information relative to your market. This information is typically free and is a good place to start your investigation.
Syndicated research is a little different. That's published research reports that are available for purchase. Syndicated research is good value but the challenge is finding publications that are germaned to your specific market .
An Internet search that includes the topic and term 'research' will lead you to sites such as marketresearch.com that provide information on available publications.
Customary or a primary reserach is the 'big dog' of research. It allows you to specific information on your specific market. It is, in effect, everything you need and nothing you don't want. While custmary research typically requires the largest investment, it is often the best value when time and quality of the information are determined. Primary research requires you to the sample, design the measures, collect the data and analyze the results. Concerning the complexity of the process, it is often to at least consult with a professional. As a general rule of thumb, regarding research, it may be cheap, fast or good. Unfortunately, only two of the three conditions are realistic and something will be . Wherever possible, I'd reccommend leaving research to the research , for the best data and analysis.
I'm Peggy Collins, wishing you good luck and good business!

***

Note:
a) The unidentified word in the English captions (subtitles) at 1:26-1:27 is 'germaned'

b) Think of the expression 'the big dog'? What do you think it means?

Career management advice to Keep Your Job

2009-07-28T03:46:00.000-07:00

In today's difficult financial times, the threat of a layoff is looming over our heads and more and more people are getting concerned about losing their jobs.
But before you start considering a possible career shift, watch this interview with a career coach on how to keep your current job.

Listen carefully and focus on the main points they mention. What words and expressions do they use to describe the following:

1. You should do more than you are expected. What are some of the suggested ways to do that?
2. How do you show that you're consistently adding value? Why is that important?
3. Why do you have to consider the possibility of your manager losing their job?
4. How is making more money for the company or saving money for the company related to keeping your job?
5. Working under the constant threat of a layoff, it's hard to keep your spirit up. Why is your attitude to your work important in order to keep your job?

Watch the video and take a look at the key vocabulary below.

Career Management in Tough times

Vocabulary:
(double click on words to see their meaning)

to make yourself indispensable
exceeding expectations/ goals
delivering a project ahead of schedule or below budget
exceeding your quota
getting face time and visibility with your manager
consistently adding value
look at ways that you can add to the bottom line
focus on growing the bottom line
generate more revenue
save cost
be more competitive
the deciding factor in helping you keep your job
make sure you bring your 'A' game
you want to pitch in/ volunteer
morale is down
tough to stay up
if it comes to two employees with the same skills set and contribution
be grateful that you have a job these days
it would probably come down to attitude

Promoting your business

2009-06-02T02:53:00.000-07:00

Insight24 is a rich-media source for business and technology insight. Being a huge Business-to-Business(B2B)directory of webcasts, podcasts, product demos, and videos, it helps you learn industry trends, market analysis, and vendor perspectives from participating companies such as IBM, Novell, Frost & Sullivan, Hewlett-Packard, IDC, Cisco, EMC, and over 100 other companies.

You can learn more about it in this video and practice your English at the same time.

Watch the video and do the quiz for it.

Finding Niche Market

2009-04-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

How to Find a Niche Market

Business Cards Exchange Etiquette

2009-04-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

While watching the video, think of the following:

Who is the speaker? What is her field of expertise?
What is the importance of knowing how to exchange business cards?
What is the appropriate way of presenting your business card?
What is the appropriate way of receiving a business card?
How do you put a person's business card away?
How do you ensure safe keeping?

The Etiquette of Exchanging Business Cards

Job Interview: How to Answer Personal Questions

2009-04-17T00:33:00.001-07:00

Job Interview: How to approach personal question&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;
Listen again and fill the gaps:

a. I enjoy coming to work with people that I and I have a good time . I like an atmosphere of . Your company that specializes in public relations and customer service, well this is the that I like and it for me to work well in your environment.

b. I in my career that listening was a weakness. I didn't listen very well because I was always ready to answer whatever it was they were saying. The good news was they were right and I , so what I've done now is I've taken a weakness of not listening very well. I've taken classes on it, I've read books on it, I've done studies on it, and over the last few years is I really wasn't a good listener, but now I really to understand the importance to listening to the person before I try to answer.

Workplace of the Future

2009-04-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

Watch the video and do the quiz, then read the script and look up the unknown words.

The future of work

Script:

The virtual office. For better or worse, technology and globalization are creating startling changes in what it means to be "on the job". Betsy Stark is tracking the new order of business and tonight begins our series, The Future of Work.

Imagine a work world with no commute, no corporate headquarters, maybe no office in the physical world at all.

For Bob Flavin, Janet Hoffman and Joseph Jaffe, the future is already here.

"These days we do so much stuff by teleconferences and things that it doesn't matter where you are.

Like 42 percent of IBM's 350,000 employees, Bob Flavin rarely comes in to an IBM office.

We don't care where and how you get your work done, we care that you get your work done.

On the day we met him, he was collaborating with computer scientists in British Columbia and Beijing from the on-call room of his local ambulance corps where he works as a volunteer.

The work force at the Accenture management consulting firm is so mobile, not even the CEO has an office with his name on the door.

If you need a work space, you reserve it like a hotel room — checking in and out at a kiosk.

Having a big desk as a sign of status with lots of family photos and you know, carpeting that's fluffy and nice, that is a vision of the past.

In the future, more companies with scattered work forces and clients may do what the Crayon marketing firm has done and make their headquarters in cyberspace.

Crayon's workers rarely meet in the physical world but their alter egos in the virtual world gather once a week.

I never met Crayon's CEO in person but we spent a couple of hours together in cyberspace.

Our belief is that if we bring like minds together no matter where they are in the world, we can actually create that connectedness as if we're actually at the same place at the same time.

If what matters is what you do not where you are, who needs an office?
Betsy Stark, ABC News, Crayonville in cyberspace.

Successful Interviewing

2009-04-13T05:49:00.001-07:00

The Most Important Aspect of Successful Interviewing

How to Dress for a Job Interview

2009-04-13T05:29:00.000-07:00

How to Dress for a Job Interview

Customer Service Training

2009-04-13T05:27:00.001-07:00

While watching the video think of the following:

1. How did the manager react to customers' complaints?
2. How did he address each of the complaining customers?
3. Is this the right way to deal with customers?
4. How could have the manager handled the situation better?

Customer Service Training

Key Vocabulary: (double-click on words to see their meanings)

fail to treat
the same curtesy and fairness they extend to their customers
... can come back to haunt them
employees who are mistreated
everyone in your workforce
to be treated with common decency

Resume Etiquette

2009-04-13T05:26:00.001-07:00

Video Resume Etiquette

Sample Job Interview

2009-04-13T01:53:00.000-07:00

Job interview

Job Interview: Discussion Work History: 2

2009-04-13T01:45:00.001-07:00

Job Interview: ESL Discussion Lesson - Work History: 2

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Job Interview: Discussing Work History: 1

2009-04-13T01:43:00.001-07:00

A job interview proves to be challenging when carried out in your native language, let alone in a foreign language.

Here is the first part of most popular questions regarding Work History: previous employment, responsibilities and activities you've been involved in since your last employment (in case you're unemployed at the time of interviewing for the job).

Note the vocabulary used, linking words, grammar in use and practice answering the questions for yourself. Think of the best way you can deliver a detailed account of your previous employment and the way it relates to the new job.

Contact me for a mock interview and get feedback on your fluency and accuracy of expressing your ideas in English well.

Job Interview: Discussing Work History: 1

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