UNIT 7: FROM SCHOOL TO WORK

The Q Classroom

Teacher: Today we're going to talk about the Unit question, "Is one road to success better than another?" Marcus, what do you think? Is there a best road to success?

Marcus: I think that in most cases it's better to take a non-traditional road. If you have a different kind of experience than other people in your career, then you'll have a different perspective. You might know things other people don't know.

Teacher: Good point. What do you think, Sophy? Is one road to success better than another?

Sophy: I guess I'd say no, that there are many different ways of reaching your goals. The best way for one person might not be the best for someone else. Maybe a non-traditional road works for Marcus but a more traditional one works for someone else.

Teacher: What do you think, Felix? Marcus feels it's best to find your own unique path, and Sophy feels that while that might work for someone people, it won't work for everyone. What do you think?

Felix: I agree with Sophy in the sense that everyone is different and everyone needs to find their own way. But one argument for more traditional path to success, say studying hard, getting a degree, getting an entry-level job, and working your way up, is that you gain a lot of work experience along the way. If you take a less traditional path, you might miss out on that valuable work experience.

Teacher: Ok. How about you, Yuna? Would you say that one road to success is better than another?

Yuna: No, I agree that there are advantages and disadvantages to every choice.

LISTENING 1: CHANGING WAYS TO CLIMB THE LADDER

Listen for Main Ideas

Professor: How many of you are currently working? Right. Now, how many of you would like to be in exactly the same jobs five or ten years from now? None? Well, I assume that one of the main reasons you are continuing your education is so that eventually you can get your dream job. Of course, the right education or training is important, but take a minute to think about the answer to this question. Say you want to be the next CEO of a giant company. What steps, other than getting a strong education, should you take to reach that goal? The answer you give to that question today is probably radically different than the answer that students sitting in those seats gav twenty-five or thirty years ago. In fact, today's career path is very different from the one that was common even a few decades ago. Today, I'm going to talk about these two different models of career advancement. First, let's focus on the more traditional model for advancement. A good picture of this model would be a businessperson climbing up a single ladder, one step t a time. In this situation, a worker would start at a large company, just out of high school or college. The worker would stay with the company, receiving promotion after promotion and rising from the bottom of the ladder, perhaps working in the mail room, to working in an office, to managing, and so on. Are there any questions? Yes?

Student 1: So, these workers would just stay at the same companies for their entire careers?

Professor: Exactly. Traditionally, workers were usually loyal to their companies. They devoted their entire working lives to the same company. This is true about both office work and physical work, like working in a factory. The workers stayed at the company and climbed the ladder as far as they could, at which point, they would simply stop moving up. In return, the company was stable and protected the workers. The workers counted on the company to pay them during their working lives and take care of them once they were too old to work. Yes?

Student 2: I think this model is similar to the business cultures in other countries.

Professor: Absolutely. Many countries in Asia follow this business model. In fact, a popular CEO in Japan recently said in an interview that he views his workerd as his family. He feels responsible for them, just as they feel a responsibility to the company. Not surprisingly, this model works best in cultures that have more traditional family structures. Specifically, this model works well when the father can devote a lot of time to work, and the mother is able to stay at home with the family. This traditional model is very different from the second model that I want to talk about today.

The second model is one that you will probably be more familiar with. In contrast to the single ladder model, try to picture a person climbing several different ladders, stepping from one step on one ladder to a step on another ladder. In other words, instead of staying at one company, hoping for a promotion, these workers move from one company to another. Sometimes the move is sideways. By that, I mean sometimes the person leaves one position at a company for a similar position in a different company, maybe for better pay or for the promise of a quick promotion. On the other hand, often the worker is able to move to a position one, or even three steps at a time, something that would be almost impossible in a traditional career path, is actually quite common in this model, and now business leaders are getting to the top an average of four years faster than in the days of the traditional model. In the new model, workers are starting their careers at smaller companies rather than bigger ones. They move in and out of companies as positions open, and they can move faster or more slowly toward their goal, depending on their personal situations. Questions?

Student 3: I can see why someone would want to move quickly up the ladder. But why would someone want to move more slowly?

Professor: That's a great question, and it moves us into the final part of this lecture. Why would someone want to slow down their career path? Well, now that the traditional family structure has changed and women are a major part of the workforce, the needs of the workers to balance career and family have changed. Men often want to spend more time with their children than they were evpected to spend in the past. This social change is definitely a main reason for the change from a tradtional single-ladder model to many-ladder model.

Another reason many companies no longer take care of their workers the way they did in the past is because of economic change. Workers can no longer count on continuing to receive money from their employer after they turn sixty-five and retire. As a result, workers usually don't feel the same sense of loyalty that they used to. Their attitude is to learn as much as they can at one company before moving on to another. Although this model might make some more traditional workers unconfortable, it has become very common in North America. In fact, this year approximately 87% of all workers will be angaged in the new model as they climb to the top of their professions.

LISTENING SKILL: Listening for contrasting Ideas

A. Page 134

Mr. Doshi: Bob Quintero and Susan Miyamoto are the final candidates for the marketing position at our company. Bob has a degree from Harvard University in the USA, whereas Susan has a degree from Keio Business School in Japan.

Ms. Stanz: Bob and Susan both have good work experience. Bob has worked for five years at a small marketing company, but Susan has worked for eight years at our company.

Mr. Doshi: Susan speaks more languages. Bob speaks Arabic and Spanish. However, Susan speaks French, Spanish, and Japanese.

Ms. Stanz: Bob has a lot of sales experience. On the other hand, Susan has a lot of experience at our company.

Mr. Doshi: Hmmm. This is going to be a tough decision!

LISTENING 2: LIFE EXPERIENCE BEFORE COLLEGE

Listen for Main Ideas

Announcer: In many parts of the world, students often take time off before heading to college. In Great Britain, it's known as the "Gap Year", and in Australia it's called a "Walkabout." It's still a foreign concept for most Americans, but a growing number of our young people are daring to be different.

Reporter: Antonia House is about to graduate from high school in Manhattan, but as her peers are picking out dorm room furniture, she's preparing to go globetrotting.

Antonia House: I'm going to Madrid, where I'll take Spanish lessons. I'm going to Berlin, where I'm going to take German lessons and then I'm probably going to travel on my own a little bit aroung Central and Eastern Europe.

Reporter: After spending a summer in France, Antonia became interesting in international relations.

Antonia House: A lot of people in Europe take time off. I'm not getting that sort of American college experience, but, I figure, you know, I'm getting ny own thing, and that's really what I want.

Reporter: Whlie few students are as brave as Antonia, taking a year off between high school and college can mean a brighter future. According to a recent survey of 350 students, 55 percent of those that had taken time off say the experience had a positive effect on their grades. Fifty-seven percent said their job search after graduation benefited from their experiences away from the classroom.

Ron Lieber: Most of the deans of admissions, at most of the best colleges in the country, absolutely believe that their schools would be better off if every single student took time off.

Reporter: Ron Lieber is the co-author of Taking Time Off. He says the hard part is convincing your parents that your gap year will not be a slack year.

Ron Lieber: Taking time off is almost like school in the sense that you need to plan every day, every month. You need a lesson plan. You need a syllabus. It's not something you figure out as you go along because the point of the exercise is to create a year for yourself that's better, that's more valuable than being at college at that particular moment.

Reporter: That's just what Trudee Goodman did. Four years ago, she was graduating from high school and was burned out on books.

Trudee Goodman: I was at the same school for 10 years. It was really very rigorous, academically. I was ready for a different type of challenge.

Reporter: So she took a gap year and moved from Houston to Boston, where she joined a domestic Peace Corps, offering her services in troubled school and neighborhood.

Trudee Goodman: I was in Boston, often until, you know, 7 or 8 at night, and then, made the hour-long commute back to the suburds. But I felt like, you know, this is much more real, if you will, than what my friends are experiencing.

Reporter: Logging 1700 hours of community service provided plenty of life lessons.

Trudee Goodman: Well, I lived with my grandparents for the year. My grandmother had more of a social life than I did that year, so...

Reporter: And after one year, Goodman was ready to dive back into academia at Trinity College, in Hartford, Connecticut.

Trudee Goodman: I had some experiences to share as examples in classes that I never would have had, had I not had this experience.

Reporter: Just three weeks ago, Trudee graduated from Trinity. And while most of her peers are facing the real world for the first time, she can say she's been there, done that.

Trudee Goodman: You'll realize how quickly a year goes by, if anything, that's what I learned. And just make the most of all the little moments, all the experiences you have within that year, because it'll serve you well into the future.

Reporter: Did it work? Trudee's gap year worked for her. She's already taken a job as an elementary school teacher, and she says her gap year experience really stood out on her resume. The author of Taking Time Off had some tips. He says talk to people who've taken a gap year doing the same thing you'd like to do. You can also ask your college if it has grants available to students who are traveling or doing community service.

UNIT ASSIGNMENT: CONSIDER THE IDEAS

Susan Jones: I was a housewife for most of my life, but after my divorce, I decided I wanted to travel and see that world. For 11 years, I've taught outside of the U.S. – in Poland, Thailand, and Peru, where I've learned so much about other cultures. Sometimes, I think my students have taught me more than I taught them!

My son just had a baby, and I want to come back to the U.S. so that I can be closer to my family. I still want to travel, though. And I want to have a job where I can help students and inspire them to have some new experiences in other countries! I speak Spanish, Polish, and a little Thai.

Doug Orman: I have taught history at a university for my entire career. I wanted a promotion, but it didn't happen, and I can see that my career is going nowhere. So now I am ready for a complete change. I've spent most of my summers traveling around the world, visiting historical sites and museums. I have studied Russian and French, but I don't speak either very fluently.

Narayan Tej: I just finished college, and I'm ready to start my career. I'm from India originally, so I would bring a muiti-cultural element to your team. In addition, I love to travel. I went to Europe, Brazil, and Ecuador when I was in school, and I traveled all over Asia with my family when Iwas a child. I speak English and Hindi, and a little Spanish and French.

Teresa Lopex: I took a gap year when I finished high school, and I think it really helped shape who I am. It broadened my world, and made me aware of so many things. I'd like to help students have the same experience. Encourage them to stretch themselves a little. I don't speak any other languages, but I would love to learn!

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