• You will hear a job applicant talking to the Personnel Manager of a chain of s

F: Er, good afternoon, Mr. Benn. Thank you for coming. Do take a seat.
M: Oh, thank you.
F: Right. I’ve looked through your letter of application and your curriculum vitae. Uh... interesting! I see you’re nearly twenty-seven. Well, I think I’d better tell you generally about the job we have on offer here. It’s an important position. It’s an assistant manager ship reporting directly to the managing director. It covers several of the aspects of our business--supervising the purchasing of goods and deliveries, pricing, special offers and so on. Anyway, I see you have some experience with one of our main rivals. Can you tell me something about that?
M: Yes, well, er, after I left school. I joined Spar- ton’s Stores as a trainee. I was eighteen then.
F: Yes?
M: Uh, after the initial six months’ trial period, they sent me to their retail training centre for a month. Then I went back to the branch in Marx Town. I then went to the night school for 2 years to get a diploma in commerce.
F: Uh, yes.
M: And I did a short computer studies course at university last summer as well. Anyway I worked in the Marx Town branch for another couple of years. I really enjoyed it there. But then Sparton’s moved me to the city centre branch. And it wasn’t quite so good, I’ m afraid.
F: Mmm, why was that?
M: Well, I’m afraid the general manager and I had different opinions. There was a terrific downtum in retail sales six years ago. Shoppers weren’t spending much. Anyway I thought we ought to advertise our goods in our store more widely to draw in more customers. I had a few ideas, but we couldn’t agree on the policy. It was a shame. I had hoped to move up to the deputy assistant there. But the job was given to .someone else.
F: Mmm
M: So I thought it was time to move on.
F: I see. Well, uh, could you tell me what you do in your current job at, uh, ah, yes, Town and Country store, isn’t it?
M: Yes, uh, I’ve been there for nearly two years now. I help with store displays and promotions. And I’ve also been in complete charge from time to time when the proprietor’s away at trade fairs and so on. But my main job is to do with the shop assistants--there are nearly forty, mostly part- timers. I used to supervise the cleaners and also the typists at one time too, but it became too much.
F: So why are you looking for another job, Mr. Benn?
M: Well I expect you know it’s family firm. And there’s really no chance of getting ahead. The proprietor’s son will take over when Mr Richards retires in two years. So I’d like to get back into a big chain with a number of stores where there’re more opportunities for training and promotion. So I must say the working conditions at Town and Country are pretty good.
F: Right, well, thank you, Mr. Benn. I expect you realise that our company moves its staff to different branches just like Sparton’s. Now how would you feel about that?
M: Sure. That’s all right by me. I was going to ask you something about that if I may?
F: Yes, yes, of course.
M: Well, I understand from the press that you recently opened three stores in three American cities. Is there any possibility.., uh... of being moved to one of those, after a time?
F: Well, uh, not really. All shop staff are recruited locally in America though the stores are being managed at present directly from our head office in Britain. The plan is for total independence with locally recruited managers within five years.
M: I see. Ah, and another question was to do with this position here again. Does it involve much contact with customers? I really enjoy getting to know what’s selling well, how to give the best service and so on.
F: Yes, well, not a great deal really. That’s generally dealt with by customer services. Ah, Now as I said, it’s mostly dealing with our producers, checking that orders are delivered on time, checking product quality, and that sort of thing. Now, the general manager is the one who tries to understand the sales figures.
M: OK.
F: Anyway, if you were offered the job, Mr. Benn, when would you be able to start?
M: Well, I’ m on four weeks’ notice at Town and Country, but the proprietor’s away for two weeks, so I wouldn’t be able to see him until the beginning of next week. So it will take about six weeks, probably.
F: Right. I see. Well, I think we should discuss now the terms and conditions we could offer you here. As you know, we have different salary scales based on...