Unit 4: Careers

Before you read: Group

4.1 look at the photos below. What are the people doing? What items are they using? What do you think their jobs are?

• CC BY 3.0
• File:Pacientes Rehabilitación Cardiaca.jpg
• Created: 18 June 2008

• CC BY 2.0
• File:Ghislaine Arabian au Salon Suisse des Goûts et Terroirs en 2014.jpg
• Created: 31 December 2013

Flickr: Man at Work Amsterdam

FaceMePLS

Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

4.1.2  Vocabulary

Nouns	Verbs	Adjectives
competition	analyze	graphic
economy	collect	usual
employment	distribute
interview

4.1.3  Vocabulary practice

1. When the _______________ is good, most people are employed and  have enough money to spend on products and services.
2. Some people understand what they read more easily if the reading has _______________ information such as charts and tables.
3. Mia prepared carefully for her _______________ because she really hoped she would get the job she was seeking.
4. There is a lot of _______________ for jobs that pay a lot of money; many people want a job like that.
5. Some people have careers that we know about, such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers. However, others have _______________ jobs, such as Child Life Specialist.
6. Every ten years, the U.S. Census Bureau must count the people living in the USA and _________________ other information from them, such as their income level and type of housing. Then they _______________ this information and use it to help the government make policies.
7. There are some organizations that _______________ backpacks filled with school supplies to children who need them.

Publications by the Bureau of Labor Statistics

             The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was signed into law by President Taft in 1913. It collects, analyzes, and distributes information about employment and the economy. Among the many services it offers are publications that can help people make decisions about career preparation. These publications include Career Outlook and the Occupational Outlook Handbook.                                                                                                    Career Outlook helps students, career counselors and job seekers by providing information about careers, pay and benefits, and other important information. It publishes feature articles, articles about unusual occupations, interviews and graphic presentation of data. Recent feature articles have focused on topics such as small business options and careers in personal appearance. Unusual careers such as Experiential Designer and Child Life Specialist have been explored. Bicycle Repairers and Cybersecurity Consultants have been topics of recent interviews.  Career Outlook has published graphic data about the value of education. These are all just a very few examples of the wealth of information offered by this publication.                                                                                                                                                The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) also offers important information to people preparing for a career. It lists various occupations along with their average rate of pay. In addition, it publishes data about the outlook for that career, that is, how many jobs might be available in the future for that career. Someone can also see what kind of competition exists for those jobs; in other words, how many job-seekers are seeking the number of jobs available in that field?

There is a lot of information in both publications, so it is helpful to have some idea of what you are looking for before you look at these online publications. Use the following exercises to prepare for your search.

List three career areas in which you are interested. (For example, Law would be a career area.)

1. ____________________________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

List a job within that career area in which you are interested. (For example, Paralegal is a job in the career area of Law.)

1. ____________________________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

Now click the link to Career Outlook or Occupational Outlook Handbook and look up your career and/or job. Find three pieces of information about the career and/or job and write them below.

1. ____________________________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________________________