Business|Adults|Intermediate|3. Case study: Recruiting

Choose the right section the phrases correspond to

Useful language

Role-play the phone calls. Use the Useful language

Useful language

Making calls

Could I speak to Carmela Cantani, please?
Is this the sales/finance/marketing department?
I’m calling about …
Could you transfer me to the IT department, please?
Could you tell him/her that I called?
Could you ask him/her to call me back?
Can I leave a message, please?

Receiving calls

Who’s calling, please?
Could you tell me what it’s about?
Yes, this is Erika Mueller from KMV.
I’ll put you through.
Can you hold?
He seems to be with someone right now. Can I get him to call you?
I’m afraid there’s no answer. Can I take a message?
I’m sorry, there’s no answer. I can transfer you to his/her voice mail.

Role-play 1

1. You work at Lochlin plc. You receive a call for your colleague, Jamie Vincent. Jamie is not in the office at the moment. Take the caller’s details and say that Jamie will call them back.

2. You are Jamie Vincent. Telephone the person who called about the job advertisement. Offer to send an application form. The closing date for applications is in two weeks’ time.

Swap roles

Role-play 2

1. You want to attend the computer training course which you saw in the advertisement above. Call and ask for Alex Frantzen.

2. Some time later, Alex Frantzen calls you back. You want to know more about the course and when the next one starts. Also ask when you need to register for the course.

Read the information about YouJuice

YouJuice

An international drinks company needs a dynamic new director to build its Latin American sales.

Background

YouJuice Inc., based in Monterrey, Mexico, sells ready-to-drink juices all over the world.

It was originally a Mexican company, but it is now owned by a large US corporation. YouJuice is currently looking for a Sales and Marketing Director for its sales facilities in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.

Recently, sales results have been poor. Overall, sales revenue was 35% below target. The reasons are:

Sales staff are not highly motivated, and staff turnover is high.
The Sales Managers say that the low sales are due to strong competition in this segment of the market.
The previous director had no clear strategy for developing sales.
Not enough market research has been done, and the customer database does not produce reliable results.

A new appointment

There are three candidates for the position of Sales and Marketing Director. They all work for YouJuice in either Mexico or one of the foreign subsidiaries. The new director will be based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Here is an extract from the job description for the position.

The successful candidate will be responsible for:	increasing sales and developing marketing strategies; coordinating the work of the sales teams so that they are more motivated and effective; carrying out market research to improve customer numbers.
The successful candidate will be:	a strong personality with leadership qualities; energetic, dynamic, and enthusiastic.
He / She will have:	a good academic background and relevant work experience; organizational and interpersonal skills; numeracy skills and analytical ability; good linguistic ability.
The position will involve frequent travel in the three countries.

Complete the forms

Read the essential information about each candidate

	Juana Ramos Mexican, aged 30 Married, two children (seven and nine years old)
Education	University degree in Economics Studying for a Master’s degree in Marketing (distance learning)
Experience	Has worked for YouJuice since leaving university. Worked in market research for one year, then in sales. Has good knowledge of computing; numerate.
Achievements	Top sales representative in the last five years.
Languages	fluent Spanish and Italian; good standard of English; intermediate Portuguese
Interviewer’s comments	A strong, charismatic personality. Very competitive. Not afraid to speak her mind, even if it upsets colleagues. A good sense of humor. Wants to advance in her career as quickly as possible. Intelligence test (IQ): very high. Is she diplomatic? Interpersonal skills?

	Chantal Lefevre Swiss, aged 41 Divorced, one child (five years old)
Education	University degree in Business Administration Diploma in Marketing
Experience	Two years’ market research, then over 15 years’ sales and marketing in various companies, including one year in Spain and six years in Portugal. Joined YouJuice three years ago as sales representative in Switzerland. Very hard-working. Has done an excellent job and earned large bonuses each year.
Achievements	A good sales record in all her previous positions.
Languages	fluent Portuguese; intermediate Spanish; excellent English.
Interviewer’s comments	A quiet, modest person, but very eager to progress in her career. Answered questions directly and honestly. A sociable person. She’s chief organizer of her local tennis club. Believes that the new director should involve staff in all decisions. Intelligence test (IQ): average. Leadership qualities? Decisive?

	Jeff Sanderson American, aged 54 Single
Education	University degree in Sociology Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School
Experience	Joined YouJuice 20 years ago. Has always worked in sales. In the last five years — Sales Manager (France and Italy).
Achievements	Has increased sales by 8% in the five-year period.
Languages	fluent English and Portuguese; Spanish: good reading skills, needs to improve his oral ability.
Interviewer’s comments	A serious person. Respected by his staff. Has a strong sense of responsibility. «I am a company man.» Not very creative. Believes new ideas should come from staff. Some staff say he’s a workaholic and difficult to get to know. Very interested in South American cultures. Intelligence test (IQ): above average. Why does he really want the job? Energetic enough?

Listen to the interview extracts. Enumerate the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. Who is the best candidate for the position? Why?

Juana Ramos

Extract 1
The children will be no problem. I’ll probably send them to an international school in Sao Paulo. My husband’s a writer, so he can work anywhere. I’ve got a career plan; I want to get to the top. I think I can do that and be a good mother as well. You have to be well organised, of course, and be a bit selfish at times.

Extract 2
How can we increase sales in the three markets? Well, I’ll be checking the performance of the managers and sales reps carefully. I’ll set the reps targets, and if they meet them, they’ll get good bonuses. The managers will also have to meet their targets. If they don’t, they should start looking for a new job. The main aim of a sales manager is to make money for the company, isn’t it?

Chantal Lefevre

Extract 1
My son is only five, but he’ll come with me if I get the job. His father won’t be at all pleased, but he can’t do anything about it. I could leave my son with his grandparents, but I don’t want to do that. I’m sure he’ll be all right in a Brazilian school. Children adapt very quickly to new places. It won’t be a problem for me or him.

Extract 2
What’s the best way to improve the performance of the sales teams? Well, I’ll work closely with the sales managers, try to get a good relationship with them. And I’ll look at the commissions we give the sales reps. Are they high enough to motivate them? I’ll check the reps’ progress regularly. Also, I’ll make suggestions about improving the customer database, that’s very important.

Jeff Sanderson

Extract 1
What kind of person am I? Well, people often say I’m a loner because I’ve never married. But I think I’m fairly sociable. I’m definitely a bit оf an intellectual. I have many interests — literature, music, um, world cinema, travelling abroad and getting to know other cultures. Perhaps that’s why I’ve never married or had children.

Extract 2
I have the experience and skills to improve our performance in these markets. I’d send the sales teams on team building courses and have regular meetings with the three sales managers. The job would be a big challenge for me at the end of my career with our company. Of course, I’ve studied the cultures of the three countries, so I should have no problems working with the sales teams.

Watch the case study commentary. Do you agree with the expert’s opinion? Why? / Why not?

Interviewer: Annika Ratcliffe is an experienced change coach specializing in development and leadership. Her change experience has been in the areas of technology, culture and organization, including working with joint ventures and outsourcing in Europe, North America and Asia. She has worked in a public sector and with banking, insurance and utility companies. Annika, what kind of person does the company need as its sales and marketing director?
Annika Ratcliffe: I think there are four key qualities that the company should be looking for. Firstly, they need to be – to have somebody who is good at developing a strategy, because if they try and do everything in this competitive marketplace, they’ll probably do nothing well. So, a clear strategy is very important. Secondly, I think they need to be competitive because they’re going to be fighting to establish the YouJuices against other companies who are trying to grab that market share. So, competitive is also important. Thirdly, they need to be good at developing relationships. The customer needs to be at the centre of the strategy and of all the work they do, so developing good relationships with customers is important. And finally, they need to be good at developing the team. It’s the team that’s going to be executing the strategy, it’s the team that’s going to be working with the customer, and so, a strong team and good relationships are vital.
Interviewer: What are the strength and weaknesses of each candidate?
Annika Ratcliffe: Well, they’re all good at languages, although none of them have both Portuguese and Spanish, which are the languages of the region they’re going to be operating in. If I take Juana first, she has three of the qualities that I’ve been looking for. She has a lot of experience and has been a very strong sales representative in the past. She’s also quite competitive and ambitious. But she’s only ever worked in one company, and I don’t think she has ever led a team before. Chantal has worked in research and sales as well and has the advantage of having worked in many different companies and different countries. She scored the least in her IQ, but what she is very strong at is in developing relationships both with her customers and with her team. She likes to get agreement on decisions. And this can mean that they take time, and I’m not sure that is a good thing in such a competitive market. Jeff is the oldest candidate and he has been with the company for the longest time. He is intelligent and hard-working, and he clearly has the respect of his team. His sales record is good, but not as strong as the other candidates’. And that would be a concern for me.
Interviewer: Who would you choose and why?
Annika Ratcliffe: I wouldn’t choose Jeff. I think he would build a strong team and would be good where the company’s reputation in the marketplace was clear. But here they have to build a position in the market, and I don’t think he has the creative and competitive qualities that needs. I would find it difficult to choose between Juana and Chantal – both are strong candidates. Juana is Mexican and so she may find it easier, but Chantal has worked successfully in different cultures before. I think, on reflection, I would go with Chantal. This team is one which has not had very good direction in the past. And there has been a high turnover of staff. So, what is really needed is good team leadership. And I think this quality is one that Chantal really has, and so I would choose her.

Complete Antonia’s CV with the headings

Which heading in the CV would you put each of these items under?

1. 7001: IELTS Certificate (Academic) — Overall Band 8. —
Qualifications

Study the «Wordlist» and do the task below

Wordlist

1. Dear Sir or Madam	6. Please let me know if there are any other details you need.
2. With reference to your advertisement in…	7. I enclose a copy of my CV.
3. I would like to apply for the position of…	8. A full CV is attached.
4. I feel I am well qualified for the position as / because…	9. I look forward to hearing from you.
5. I would be happy to give you more details and can be contacted at any time	10. Yours faithfully.

Read this formal letter and correct one mistake in each line. Write the correct lines in the gaps

Read the text and choose the correct answer

Listen and complete these phrases. Practise saying the sentences

1 Can I have your name, please?
2 Just one moment, please.
3 Hold on.
4 I’d like to speak to Ms Allan.
5 I’m afraid she is in a meeting just now.
6 Can I take a message?
7 Could you ask her to call me back this afternoon, please?
8 Could you transfer me to the IT department, please?

Listen to the extracts from phone conversations and write down the words that are spelt out

Tips

Phone numbers are pronounced in groups.
The digits are said separately. At the end of each group, your voice goes up, except for the last group, when your voice goes down to signal that it is the end of the number.

If you can’t understand the audio after the second listening, you can open its tapescript by this 🔗link and listen to it once more.

Listen to these examples

1) 00 55 11 2466 5984

2) 00 90 212 613 3367

International code	Country code	Area code	Subscriber`s number
00	Brazil: 55	San Paolo: 11	2466 5984
00	Turkey: 90	Istanbul: 212	613 3367

Now listen to the extracts and write down the phone numbers

1) If you’d like more details, please call our Bucharest office on 00 40 1 3322 040.
2) And our number in Tunis is 216 1 768 009.
3) Please contact our Montevideo subsidiary. The country code is 598 and their number is 2 600 5467.
4) Yes, we do have an office in Madrid. The number is 328 67 53. The country code is 34, by the way, and then 91 for Madrid.
5) Our agent in Bratislava can be reached on 421 7 753 0886.

Read the task and prepare your 2-minute speech on the topic «Career»

Cover the points:

1. What are your career goals?
2. Why may people need a career break?
3. When is it better to look for a new job?
4. How can social-networking sites make or break your career?
5. Is it difficult to climb a career ladder in your sphere? Why?

Allow your browser the access to the microphone, press the button «Record» and record the speech you have prepared

Урок

Homework

Курс

Warm-up
Making and receiving calls
«YouJuice»
Profiles of the candidates
Expert’s commentary
Curriculum vitae
Applying for a job
Editing
Telephoning
Numbers
Your thoughts about career