This story follows Paul, a recently redundant factory technician, who, with the guidance of a job center advisor, discovers his transferable skills and pursues a new career path in sports administration, ultimately landing a dream job.
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hello
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this story is written for intermediate
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b1 b2 english story
paul had lost his job and was down in
the dumps he had worked at the same
company since leaving school
he was a technician at a factory
and he worked on very specialist machinery
he knew he would struggle to get a job
doing the same thing somewhere else
because he only knew how to use certain machines
machines
paul and his colleagues who he had
worked with for over 15 years were all
what an awful way to phrase it to be redundant
redundant
to be no longer wanted or needed
paul felt truly worthless
he did get some redundancy money from
the company when his contract ended
but it would only be enough to cover
between six to nine months of bills and
mortgage payments
he had to get thinking fast about what
he could do next
next
he realized that he could think of this
in one of two ways it could be a
depressing time where he had lost his
main source of income
or he could see it as a time to change
the path of his life and for him to
he decided to go
he spoke to some friends and his family
about his options
he felt a little overwhelmed so he
decided to book an appointment with an
advisor at the local job centre
in the run-up to the meeting he worked
on his cv
and tried to think of all the things he
was good at
he found it difficult because all he
could think was that he was a machine technician
technician
and nothing else
when he arrived at the job center he was
greeted by a friendly lady called sue
she explained to him how the appointment
would work
and what she could do to help him secure
a new job
they talked about his skills and his qualifications
qualifications
paul had done very well at school and
outside of his job he attended a spanish
he decided to learn the language because
he loved to go on holiday there every year
year
he felt it would be more polite if he
could speak to the locals in their
native tongue
he wasn't fluent yet but he was getting better
other than that
paul enjoyed cycling and playing
football in a local five aside team
he was also the treasurer of the
football team and he looked after their
social media channels
paul didn't think any of that was
relevant and wondered why sue kept
asking about what he did outside of his job
but
how will that help me
sue made a note of all the activities
paul took part in
you might think that paul but the
reality is you have a lot of
transferable skills you spend a lot of
your time trying to educate yourself as
well as managing the money and marketing
of a football team
that's a lot of skills you can talk
about when you apply for a job
at the end of the session paul realized
he had a lot he needed to think about
sue had given him some tasks to complete
he had to complete an online career questionnaire
questionnaire
as well as find five jobs he'd love to do
do
when finding the jobs he didn't have to
consider pay or qualifications
qualifications
all he had to look at was whether he
paul went along with it he completed the
online questionnaire and he found five jobs
he loved to fly so he chose a job as a pilot
pilot
he also loved food so he chose a job as
an italian chef
he liked working with people and he
loved sport
so he found a job at the local premier
league football club in the admin team
he also found a job working as an
assistant in the local comprehensive
finally he found a job as a machine technician
technician
in a company about 30 miles away from
his home
he only chose the machinery job because
he knew it was something he could do
it wasn't necessarily something he
wanted to do anymore
anymore
the following week
paul met with sue again
first she asked how his week had been
and how he found the tasks she had set him
him
he explained that he was surprised that
he found it inspiring
he thought it would be pointless and boring
boring
after all
what else could he do except fix machinery
machinery
sue didn't want to give paul the results
from the careers questionnaire until he
paul laid the printouts of the jobs on
the table okay
okay
he said
i'll start with the one i want the least
he explained to sue that he printed out
the machine technician job purely
because he knew he had the skills they
but
are you interested in this role paul
he thought for a moment or two
no sue i'm not at all i've done it for
15 years i need a change
sue put the print out to one side okay
okay
then tell me the job you'd like the most
paul looked through the jobs again
but he knew deep down which one he wanted
wanted
is this one sue
he handed her the print out
tell me why you're drawn to this job
poor laughed
i think i'm living in a dream world
they're the football team i support i've
loved them since i was a lad
and the job sounds like just the sort of
stuff i do at the fiverr side
the only problem is i don't have any
fancy qualifications
so i doubt they take someone like me
they probably want someone straight out
of university who's all up to date and knows
knows everything
everything
sue read the job details
it doesn't say anywhere here that they
want a graduate
nor does it say any specific qualifications
qualifications
from what you've told me you do as a
treasurer and marketing manager at your club
club
i think this job would be ideal
it isn't the best pay though
would that be okay for you
paul shrugged his shoulders
money isn't everything
i'd rather be happy and with that job i
could still afford all my bills and a
holiday or two a year
so i don't see why not
sue told paul that the questionnaire
results tallied with the job at the
football club it suggested he would work
well in a team and in marketing or
administrative sectors
sue and paul spent the rest of the
session going through the job details
and updating paul's cv and cover letter
he was so thankful to sue
she made him realize that anything was
possible if he put his mind to it
he really did have the skills and
of course there was nothing wrong with
paul's old job but he really did need a
change of scenery and the job at the
football club could be the change he needed
at the end of the session sue went over
a few additional details that paul would
need to add to his cv and then he was
good to go
that night he spent a few hours double
checking all the details before he
clicked send on the email that could
for five days he didn't hear a thing
he constantly refreshed his emails and
checked his phone and nothing came through
through
he was about to give up
when on a run through the woods
his music was interrupted by a phone call
call hello
hello
he said through deep breaths
hi is that paul
came the voice from the other end of the phone
phone
oh yes
that's me oh
oh
hi paul my name is christine you
recently applied for a job as a
marketing assistant at the football club
paul sat down on a nearby tree branch yeah
yeah
yeah i did sorry christine i'm just a
bit out of breath
you called me when i was in the middle
of a run
christine laughed and then explained
that paul was invited for an interview
the next day
we know it's a bit short notice but we
liked your letters so much that we
wanted to get you in to interview you
paul couldn't believe it
surely his cv and cover letter weren't
that good
that night he gave sue his career
advisor a call
she coached him on some of the questions
they might ask
and they practiced answers to the questions
questions
paul didn't know what he'd do without her
that night he had a shave picked out his
favorite suit and had an early night
he wanted to be fresh and early for the
bright and early at 6 a.m paul's alarm
went off he jumped out of bed did some
stretching to calm himself down had a
shower made himself some breakfast and
headed out of the door
he arrived at the football ground with
he spent the time recalling happy
memories of watching the team play with
his dad
his dad would be so happy if he managed
to get the job
at 10 to 9 paul headed to the reception
desk where he was greeted by a young man
called kyle
he made him a drink and took him through
to the interview room
it was all very swish
paul's old job certainly wasn't like this
sitting in the quiet room started to
make paul feel nervous
but he tried his best to recall
everything sue had told him
before he knew it the interview panel
had entered the room
they were christine from the telephone
call jerome who was in the marketing
team and emily who was the marketing manager
they talked about paul's aspirations his
old job his spanish speaking skills and
after about 15 minutes
jerome and emily asked paul about his
volunteering at the local five aside team
team
we know your work with them paul
we have to be honest
we follow your team on instagram because
your posts are always so funny and engaging
engaging
when we saw yud applied for this job
we put two and two together and realized
it was you who looks after that account
paul was gobsmacked oh wow i knew we had
a lot of followers but i didn't realize
anyone from the club here was one of them
they discussed paul's social media
strategy skills and how he deals with problems
problems
at the end of the interview he shook all
their hands and wished them well
now he had to play the waiting game
even though he only went for a run the
day before
paul decided to change into his exercise
clothes and go for a jog around the
he needed to run off all the adrenaline
he had pumping through his body
if he didn't get the job it wouldn't be
the end of the world
but if he did get the job it would mean
he could save the rest of his redundancy
money for something special
paul hadn't told anyone about the job
he didn't want to jinx it
but mainly he didn't want people to
think he was being silly and applying
paul's run around the lake was just what
he needed
he loved to be out in the countryside
listening to his music and enjoying the views
views
he ran for about 10 kilometers before he
on his drive back he noticed he had
received an instagram dm
when he got home he checked the message
and it was from emily who had
the message read
hi paul
sorry to message on here but we've tried
to call you a few times and it keeps
going through to voicemail
please can you give us a call back asap cheers
cheers
one of the reasons paul loved running
around the nearby lake was that he
didn't have phone signal there so he
could run without anyone bothering him
he didn't think the job would call him
so soon or he wouldn't have gone for his
when paul got home he paced his hallway
he knew he should call back
but he was too afraid of what they might say
say
so instead he called sue
she put his mind at ease and gave him
some pointers of what questions to ask
depending on if he did or didn't get
offered the job
finally paul sat on his sofa took a deep
paul finally
let me put you on loudspeaker paul
paul
we've got a question we'd like to ask you
you ready
paul was confused then he heard the
voices of the people who had interviewed him
him
will you come and work with us they all
bellowed down the phone
paul burst out laughing what a way to be
offered a job
the team seemed like such a friendly bunch
bunch
he took sue's advice and asked questions
about working conditions pay and
flexible working
he was overjoyed that he could now start
on a new career path and have the
opportunity to work his way up the
career ladder
as he hung up the phone he knew he
should call his dad to tell him the news
he was so thankful to sue for all she
had done
without her he would probably still be
laid in his bed feeling sorry for himself
himself
but thanks to her he now had a new
career ahead of him working for a
football club he had loved since he was
sue was so happy to hear the news
well what did i say paul
anything is possible if you just put
yourself out there and try
now go and do yourself proud
sue helped paul achieve great things
let's give a shout out to all the lovely
helpful people across the world
tell us in the comments below
someone who has helped you achieve
we hope you enjoyed this lovely english story
story
thank you for stopping by
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