Professions&

Occupations

TOPICAL JOURNEY English

27

May 2013

Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Every person who has mastered a profession is a skeptic concerning it. George Bernard Shaw

Your profession is not what brings home your weekly paycheck, your profession is what you’re put here on earth to do, with

such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.

Vincent van Gogh

Work is not man’s punishment. It is his reward and his strength and his pleasure.

George Sand

You should not confuse your career with your life. Dave Barry

The life so short, the craft so long to learn. Hippocrates

No man ever reached to excellence in any one art or profession without having passed through the slow and painful process of study and preparation.

Horace

Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. Aristotle

Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions – ‘Why am I doing it’, ‘What the results might be’ and ‘Will I be successful’. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead. Chanakya

TOPICAL JOURNEY
Profession, Job, Occupation... ................	28
Idioms and Sayings ................................	28
Medieval Occupations ...........................	30
Medieval Occupations in Britain.............	30
"Paul the Baker"....................................	31
Describe Your Future Job.......................	32
Conversation Questions..........................	32
US Top Ten Most Popular Careers
for 2013 ................................................	33
Dream Jobs...........................................	34
Job Interview Questions .........................	34
Bizarre Jobs...........................................	35
Bizarre Job Interview Questions..............	35
Career Movies.......................................	36
Humour: Mistakes on a Resume.............	36
Weird Jobs Celebrities Had
Before They Became Famous .................	37
Murphy's Laws on Work........................	37
Famous Writers Who Worked
Other Jobs to Pay the Bills .....................	38
Work and Jobs Quotes...........................	38
A Man of Adventure .............................	39
Creative Writing Prompts.......................	39

English		TOPICAL JOURNEY
28			Profession, Job,
May 2013

IDIOMS AND SAYINGS

to bring home the bacon – to carn a living

He felt it was his responsibility to bring home the bacon.

to balance the books – to make certain that the amount of money spent is not more than the amount of money received

The accountant couldn’t work out the profit and loss until they had balanced the books.

a ball park figure – a general financial figure

Until we had costed the project properly we were only able to give the customer a ball park figure. a bean-counter – an accountant

The bean-counters told us we had to reduce the budget.

a big cheese – an important person, a leader

Anita Roddick is a big cheese in Body Shop. blood on the carpet – a lot of trouble in an organization often resulting in someone losing their job

After the meeting there was blood on the carpet. the bottom line – the total, the final figure on a balance sheet/the most important feature of something

When he told me the bottom line I decided not to go ahead with the project.

to break even – when expenses equal profits

The company broke even after two years.

a cash cow – a product or service that makes a lot of money for a company

The new product has proved to be a real cash cow. to cold call – to call potential customers without an appointment or previous contact

The sales rep cold called customers from the business directory.

to crack the whip – to make someone work harder by threatening them

We finished the project on time, but only because I really cracked the whip.

a dead-end job – a job that has no chance of promotion or advancement

She left the company because she was very ambitious but in a dead end job.

a golden handshake – to receive a large payment on leaving a company

She won’t have to find a job very quickly because she got a huge golden handshake from her last job.

to be fired – to be dismissed from your job

He was always coming late, so eventually they fired him.

to get the sack – to be dismissed from your job

He was always coming late, so eventually they sacked him.

a close shave – when you come extremely close to a dangerous or unpleasant situation or only just manage to avoid it

I nearly crashed the car this morning, it was a close shave.

to be snowed under – to be very busy

She wasn’t able to finish the report as she was snowed under with other work.

to sweat blood – to work very hard

She sweated blood to finish the project on time. to work your fingers to the bone – to work really hard

She kept the family together by working her fingers to the bone.

work like a dog work very hard

I’ve been working like a dog. I’m going to sleep well tonight!

What’s the difference between profession, job, occupation, trade, vocation, career, work, employment?

Job, occupation and career all relate to the same thing: what you do to make your money and earn your living. The difference between each of the three terms is more than just semantics; understanding the differences can help you make difficult life choices to figure out what it is you want to do for a living.

Occupation is a Broad Concept

Your “occupation” is a broad term that encompasses your employment sector or the category of jobs in which you fit. You could also describe it as your area of interest. If you want to be a heart surgeon, for instance, “heart surgeon” might be your job or career, but your occupation is something broader such as “doctor” or “health care provider.”

A Job is Temporary

A job is generally a means to an end – a temporary step you might need to take to build a career. According to the Grand Rapids Community College, a job does not mean a career, although a career can include several jobs. If your ultimate goal is to become an attorney, you may need to work a “job” as a legal assistant to gain knowledge and experience to meet your career goals.

A Career is Long-Term

Careers are more than just the paycheck at the end of a pay period. According to the Merced County Office of Education in California, a career is a “lifelong journey” that builds on your specific skills, knowledge and experience. Careers generally bring you a sense of achievement or accomplishment. You career is something that you genuinely love doing.

Finding Your Career

Your career is generally your goal in the working world. Choosing a career often requires analyzing your specific skills and interests. Sometimes finding a career means working several jobs just to try different things. Finding your career is a deeply personal search, but there are resources available. Career guidance counselors can help you narrow down potential avenues that fit your specific skill set and interests.

“Occupation” sounds a bit more formal than “job”. You may say “What’s your job?” or “What is your job” to your intimate friend, but “What is your occupation?” would be better when you ask to someone you are not well acquainted with. The answers are like “My job/occupation is teaching English/carpentry” or “I’m an English teacher/a carpenter”. Never say “My job/occupation is an English teacher/a carpenter”. “Position” is a bit different from “job” and “occupation”. It is used commonlly to refer to a person’s role in the organization the person belongs to. “What’s his job?” – “He is a

school teacher”. “What’s his position in his school?” – “He is now vice-principal”.

Profession vs Trade

A professional is an individual who has gone to college and often professional school in order to learn the technical background of a complex job. A tradesperson is someone who has been trained in a particular trade that more often than not uses more physical skill and dexterity. Professionals are doctors, lawyers, accountants, economists, professors, teachers, etc. Tradespeople are carpenters, auto mechanics, electricians, beauticians, waitresses and waiters, etc.

Sources: http://www.ehow.com; http://www.englishforums.com

Occupation...

NEW OFFICE SLANG

404 – Someone who is clueless. From the Web error message, “404 Not Found,” which means the document requested couldn’t be located. “Don’t bother asking John. He’s 404.”

Adminisphere – The rarified organizational layers above the rank and file that makes decisions that are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant.

Beepilepsy – The brief siezure people sometimes suffer when their beepers go off, especially in vibrator mode. Characterized by physical spasms, goofy facial expressions, and stopping speech in mid-sentence.

Betamaxed – When a technology is overtaken in the market by inferior but better marketed competition as in “Microsoft betamaxed Apple right out of the market”

Blamestorming – A group discussion of why a deadline was missed or a project failed and who was responsible.

Bookmark – To take note of a person for future reference. “After seeing his cool demo at Siggraph, I bookmarked him.”

Chainsaw Consultant– An outside expert brought in to reduce the employee head count, leaving the top brass with clean hands.

Chip Jewelry – Old computers destined to be scrapped or turned into decoration. “I paid three grand for that Mac and now it’s nothing but chip jewelry.”

Chips and Salsa – Chips = hardware, salsa = software. “First we gotta figure out if the problem’s in your chips or your salsa.”

Dead Tree Edition – The paper version of a publication available in both paper and electronic forms.

Dilberted – To be exploited and oppressed by your boss, as is Dilbert, the comic strip character. “Damn, I’ve been dilberted again! The old man revised the specs for the fourth time this week.”

Flight Risk – Used to describe employees who are suspected of planning to leave a company or department soon.

Glazing – Corporate-speak for sleeping with your eyes open; a popular pastime at conferences and early-morning meetings. “Didn’t he notice that by the second session half the room was glazing?”

GOOD job – A “Get-Out-Of-Debt” job. A well-paying job people take in order to pay off their debts, one that they will quit as soon as they are solvent again.

Gray Matter – Older, experienced business people hired by young entrepreneurial firms trying to appear more professional and established.

High Dome – Egghead, scientist, PhD

Idea Hamsters – People whose idea generators are always running. Mouse Potato – The online generation’s answer to the couch potato.

Ohnosecond – That minuscule fraction of time during which you realize you’ve just made a terrible error.

Open-Collar Workers – People who work at home or telecommute.

Plug-and-Play – A new hire who doesn’t require training. “That new guy is totally plug-and-play.”

Salmon Day – The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed in the end. “God, today was a total salmon day!”

Square-Headed Spouse – Computer

Tourists – Those who take training classes just to take a vacation from their jobs. “There were only three serious students in the class; the rest were just tourists.”

Uninstalled – Euphemism for being fired. Also: decruitment. World Wide Wait – The real meaning of WWW.

Xerox Subsidy – Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one’s workplace.

http://www.differencebetween.net; www.english-slang.com; http://www.answers.com

TOPICAL JOURNEY		English
		29
		May 2013

blue-collar job a job requiring unskilled or manual labour

bang up an accomplishment that goes above and beyond what is expected; “a good job”

call it quits stop working and, maybe, leave the place where you work. Also, call it a day

We called it quits after a 10-hour day and went out for a few beers.

eager beaver a person who keeps busy and likes to work; a good volunteer

All the people who stayed to clean up after the picnic were such eager beavers, they finished everything in 15 minutes.

fizzle lose energy; slowly stop working

When business at the restaurant started to fizzle,

Mario decided to look for another job as a cook. government job unofficial task done in the workplace. Common abbreviation: G-job. Origin: during WWII, some sensitive tasks were given directly to a worker, and his supervisor might not be authorized to know exactly what it was. Thus the response when the supervisor questions what appears to be personal work done on company time: “it’s government work.”

geek a person who is very intelligent, works well with computers and/or new forms of technology, and might lack strong social skills

He’s such a geek when it comes to computers. They’re his only interest.

go-getter a person who works hard and is ambitious

At 19 years old, he’s a real go-getter with a successful business and great potential to become wealthy.

grunt work hard work; manual labour

Why is it that people who do all the grunt work get paid the least while management gets paid the most?

have it good to have a good situation, often used to describe one’s position at work

Even though Michael has it really good right now, he still works on the weekends to make extra money.

job’s a good’un! Exclam. expressing a thing or situation is good

jobsworth Noun. a person who is very pedantic at work and strictly adheres to the rules; so called because of their often used exclamation, “I can’t let you do that, it’s more than my job’s worth.” white-collar job an office job

on the Pat and Mick Phrs. taking time off work due to sickness. Rhyming slang for on the sick pen/pencil pusher Noun a person who works at a desk and whose job involves a large amount of paper-work or administration, such as an of-

fice clerk

scive /scive off Verb To evade doing one’s work or duties. Less common spelling of ‘skive’

Sharon and Tracy Noun (Derog.) a disparaging name for females considered to be working class, unintelligent and vulgarly dressed, generally below the social standards acceptable to the user of the phrase. Each name can be heard used individually to imply the same.

skanger Noun A young, working class person who dresses in casual sportswear. [Irish/Dublin use] chav like spiv, is a British invention, and equally ingenious in matching its sound with the implied attitude. It is used pejoratively to refer to a young lower-class person who behaves badly and wears designer clothes (usually fake).

English

TOPICAL JOURNEY

30

Medieval

May 2013

MEDIEVAL OCCUPATIONS

ASTROLOGER

IN BRITAIN

The study of the stars and planets was not a new science

Types of Jobs

in the Medieval Ages but it was regarded as being mystical.

In the Manorial System, the most prominent

The Astrologer did not only use the heavens as a reference

occupation was a peasant farmer. Each estate

but he or she also studied the earth, the weather cycles and

contained several hundred thousand acres of

the seasonal patterns. It was believed that through these

which most was used to farm and to make food

things a better understanding could be gained for agricul-

for the people living on that land. Each farmer

ture and other social successes.

was bound to the land and had to continually

Many astrologers posed various and opposing theories.

work to make enough food and money to live.

Besides farming, most of the peasants herded

Some claimed the earth revolved around the sun, oth-

sheep. Peasant women sheared sheep, spun

ers claimed that it was the moon that revolved around the

the wool, and sewed clothing. This helped the

earth. In fact, part of Christopher Columbus’s journey to

women to acquire jobs as laundresses, seam-

the Americas in 1492 was partially to dispel a theory that

stresses, and embroiderers. Each manor need-

the earth was flat.

ed artisans to make many of its necessary crafts.

Some of the important craft occupations on the

BOOKBINDER

manor were blacksmiths, carpenters, masons,

shoemakers, tailors, tanners, and weavers.

An occupation that was extremely important but receives

Other occupations were based on food such

very little credit is the position of the Medieval Bookbinder.

as bakers to bake bread, millers to grind grain,

This skill was very important as diaries, journals and mani-

brewers to make ale and beer, and vintners to

fests were being written during the time period. News of

make wine. Because of an increase in trade and

discoveries, law, science, medicine, technology and indus-

money toward the end of the Middle Ages, mer-

try were recorded on paper and were then bound together in

chant and goldsmith occupations became more

the format of a book by professional binders.

important. Many occupations dealt with services

to help people such as barbers, teachers, den-

As there were no machines for printing, each journal

tists, and surgeons.

and book was meticulously and painstakingly handwritten.

Monks and Nuns

The Bookbinder had to be careful when setting the pages

together to not tear, damage or destroy any portion of the

Monasteries in the Middle Ages were based

manuscript.

on the rules set down by St. Benedict in the sixth

Many of these books still survive today in Churches and

century. The monks became known as Benedic-

museums.

tines and took vows of poverty, chastity, and

obedience to their leaders. They were required

DYER

to perform manual labour and were forbidden to

own property, leave the monastery, or become

Dyers used their skills to mix different components to

entangled in the concerns of society. Daily tasks

form inks, dyes and colourful stains that could add tint and

were often carried out in silence. Monks and their

hue to clothing, furniture, fabrics, materials and artwork.

female counterparts, nuns, who lived in convents,

Not only did they possess the ability to decorate fashion-

provided for the less-fortunate members of the

able wear but they also provided scribes and artists with

community. Monasteries and nunneries were

safe havens for pilgrims and other travelers.

the materials necessary for them to complete their work.

Monks went to the monastery church eight

The Dyer had a multi-faceted job. Not only was the mak-

times a day in a routine of worship that involved

ing of the various dyes difficult and tedious work but

singing, chanting, and reciting prayers from the

often it was dangerous too. Different berries and plants

divine offices and from the service for Mass. The

used to create the pigments often contained a degree of

first office, “Matins,” began at 2 A.M. and the

poison that was lethal if handled, inhaled or accidentally

next seven followed at regular intervals, culmi-

ingested. Though the Dyer put his or her life in jeopardy

nating in “Vespers” in the evening and “Com-

by working, the wages earned were quite meager and be-

pline” before the monks retired at night. Between

prayers, the monks read or copied religious texts

low average.

and music. Monks were often well educated and

devoted their lives to writing and learning. The

GARDENER

Venerable Bede, an English Benedictine monk

The Medieval Gardener was considered a specialist at his

who was born in the seventh century, wrote his-

trade. He was mainly responsible for the upkeep and cosmetic

tories and books on science and religion.

appearance of castles and estates but he was also called upon to

Pilgrimages

build defensive ditches and barriers during times of war.

Pilgrimages were an important part of re-

Throughout Europe there are many forms of ivy that grow

ligious life in the Middle Ages. Many people

wild. These plants tend to grow upward along stonefaces and as

took journeys to visit holy shrines such as the

such, castles were prime for this problem. Enemies could use

Church of St. James at Santiago de Compostela

the sturdy ivy to climb and grapple the walls to gain access.

in Spain, the Canterbury cathedral in England,

Therefore it was important to have a Gardener who could cut

and sites in Jerusalem and Rome. Chaucer’s

down, trim and destroy these potentially dangerous plants.

Canterbury Tales is a series of stories told by 30

A knowledge of herbs, plants and flowers was essential.

pilgrims as they traveled to Canterbury.

Canterbury Tales lists 27 different profes-

Most Gardeners served some form of nobility or local lord but

sions, including a knight, dquire, parson, clerk,

even though a portion of their work was critical to the safety and

prioresse, franklin, haberdasher, dyere, yeoman,

protection of a castle or estate, they were paid meagerly.

pardoner, reeve,

manciple, miller, summoner

Sources: http://www.learner.org

and friar. They are described in the Prologue.