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

Woman: Er, good morning, Mr. Robinson Thank you for coming. Do have a seat.
Man: Oh, thank you.
Woman: Right. I’ve looked through your letter of application and your curriculum vitae. Uh...interesting! I see you’re about thirty-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 managership 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?
Man: Yes, well, er, after I left school, I joined Claton’s Stores as a trainee. I was twenty-one then.
Woman: Yes?
Man: Uh, after the initial six months’ trial period,they sent me to their retail training center for three months. Then I went back to the branch in Little Town. I then went to the night school for 4 years to get a diploma in commerce.
Woman: Uh, yes.
Man: And I did a short computer studies course at university last summer as well. Anyway I worked in the Little Town branch for another couple of years. I really enjoyed it there. But then Claton’s moved me to the city center branch. And it wasn’t Quite so good, I’m afraid.
Woman: Mmm, why was that?
Man: Well, I’m afraid the general manager and I had different opinions. There was a terrific downturn in retail sales six years ago. Shoppers weren’t spending much. Anyway I thought we ought to advertise our goods more widely to attract more customers. I had a few ideas, but we couldn’t agree on the policy. It was a pity. I had hoped to move up to the deputy assistant there. But the job was given to someone else.
Woman: Mmm...
Man: So I thought it was time to move on.
Woman: I see. Well, uh, could you tell me what you do in your current job at, uh, ah, Town and City Store, isn’t it?
Man: Yes, uh, I’ve been there for nearly four 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 keepers-there are nearly sixty, mostly part-time workers. I used to supervise the cleaners and also the typists at one time too, but it became too much.
Woman: So why are you looking for another job,Mr. Robinson?
Man: 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 store with a number of stores where there’re more opportunities for training and promotion. So I must say the working conditions at Town and City are pretty good.
Woman: Right, well, thank you, Mr. Robinson. I expect you realise that our company moves its staff to different branches just like Claton’s. Now how would you feel about that?
Man: Sure. That’s all right for me. I was going to ask you something about that if I may?
Woman: Yes, of course.
Man: Well, I understand from the press that you recently opened three stores in three Americancities. Is there any possibility..., uh... of being moved to one of those, after a while?
Woman: 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.
Man: 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.
Woman: Yes, well, but 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.
Man: OK.
Woman: Anyway, if you were offered the job,Mr. Robinson, when would you be able to start?
Man: Well, I’m on five weeks’ notice at Town and City, but the proprietor’s away for three weeks.So I wouldn’t be able to see him until the beginning of next week. So it will take about eight weeks, probably.
Woman: Right. I see. Well, I think we shouid discuss now the terms and conditions we could offer you here. As you know, we have different salary scales based on...