A. Discuss the questions.

1. Do you think it is easy to find a job nowadays?
2. What should you do to be a successful candidate?

Read an extract from the book “Understanding Britain”. What are the main problems young people in the UK face today?

In Britain when a pupil leaves school at sixteen or later he or she must find a job. To achieve this goal school leavers without special qualifications will probably visit a job centre or look through local newspaper advertisements. School careers officers also can offer advice. But the girls and boys must find work themselves.

Graduates from Universities and other colleges are in the same position except that they are older and looking for different kinds of work. Usually they start their search near the beginning of their third (final) year in college. Many of them look for the professional work which normally requires further specialized training, so the first step is to get a place on a training course - and a grant or some kind of funds to pay for the course. Probably the first stage will involve some kind of exam and an interview. This is necessary to choose those applicants who will get a place on the course which may lead to a job in the end. (Such courses are essential for librarians, computer programmers, social workers, accountants and many other kinds of qualified workers.) Certain organizations take graduates directly and train them while they are working - for example the BBC.

Today graduates can expect to make many applications for jobs and take interviews two or three times before they find satisfactory work. Some of course know exactly what they want and manage to find the right job first time, bot more often graduates can spend months searching, meanwhile earning enough to pay the rent by washing dishes or doing some other short-term work.

B. Answer the questions.

1. What do school leavers do to find a job?

2. Why is it more difficult for graduates from Universities and other colleges?

3. What does the professional work normally require?

4. What can graduates expect today?

5. Is it different in Russia?