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Male Secretaries in the UK
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According to several employment agencies in London, male temps and personal assistants (PAs) are increasingly in demand. A director for one top recruitment agency says "A lot of top executives have shown an interest in having a male PA. But unfortunately, they are not available".
According to recent employment figures, more young men are unemployed than young women, and 80% of new jobs go to women. However, there are many secretarial vacancies, but less than 1% of secretarial staff are male, and five years ago this figure was even lower than it is now. Very few men try to get basic secretarial
skills. Usually men make up only 1% of students on secretarial courses, and many of them enrol in order to follow in journalism and writing, rather than secretarial jobs.
However, for some men, secretarial work can be a positive choice. In one company, an actor was employed as a telephonist. He wanted the job because it had regular hours, and it helped him to pay his bills. It seems that many men who take secretarial positions have other, creative, jobs such as painting, or are students who need extra money. And it is not a bad way to make a living. For men with the right skills, work is plentiful and in big cities it is relatively well-paid. But most men only take these jobs on a temporary basis.
So who are the people who want male secretaries if they are in such short supply? Most clients wanting male PAs tent to be high-powered women executives. They say they prefer men because they are less emotional. The work of an executive PA is a high pressure job and men cope better. Perhaps the men are also seen as status symbols. A survey of personnel managers found similar opinions. In their opinion men were more logical, more dedicated, less likely to be off sick, and less "catty". However, women were more flexible, more capable of doing more than one thing at a time.
Perhaps there will be more male secretaries in the future, because attitudes towards the status of secretarial work are changing. Secretarial work was once thought to be menial and boring and only suitable for women with low academic qualifications. Now, however, many women graduates are applying for places in secretarial colleges, as secretarial skills ensure steady work in a difficult job market, and can provide opportunities for entering more difficult careers. It is becoming more common for secretaries to find themselves working for people who used to be secretaries.
However, the biggest obstacle to men getting these jobs is the attitude of male employers. Men do not want to employ male secretaries, or ask them to do menial jobs such as making the tea, as they find this type of situation too embarrassing. It is ironic to think that centuries ago, only men were secretaries.
Fill in the blanks with the following words:
living, unemployed, centuries, hours, positive, extra, prefer, position, employ, secretarial, jobs.
1. More young men are... than young women.
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2. Very few men try to get basic... skills.
3. For some men secretarial work can be a... choice.
4. He wanted the job, because it had regular....
5. It seems that many men who take secretarial positions have other, creative,... such as painting, or are students who need... extra money.
6. It is not a bad way to make a....
7. They say they... men because they are less emotional.
8. Men do not want to... male secretaries.
9. It is ironic to think that... ago, only men were secretaries.
Find synonyms among the following words:
chance, make up, obstacle, personnel, additional, big, opportunity, late, employment, fixed, common, compose, large, similar, occupation, recent, difficulty, extra, usual, regular, resembling, staff.
Find antonyms among the following words:
lose, good, low, female, negative, less, temporary, find, firm, constant, small, high, employment, male, flexible, easy, big, unemployment, young, positive, bad, more, boring, difficult, old, interesting.
Translate from Russian into English:
пользоваться спросом, последние данные по занятости населения, вакансия секретаря, секретарские курсы, устраиваться работать на должность секретаря, творческая работа, зарабатывать на жизнь, относительно хорошо оплачиваемый, на временной основе, влиятельные женщины-руководители, начальник отдела кадров, низкий уровень академической квалификации, женщины-выпускницы, прислуживать.
Give the four forms of the following verbs:
to show, to have, to go, to get, to make, to write, to pay, to take, to see, to find, to do, to think, to become.
Make up the sentences, using the following words:
1. men, skills, to, few, basic, get, very, try, secretarial.
2. an, telephonist, one, employed, in, as, actor, company, was, a.
3. make, is, a, way, a living, bad, it, not, to.
4. male PAs, most, to; tend, clients, women, wanting, high-powered, be, executives.
5. is, better, job, the work, a, cope, and, of, pressure, an executive PA, high, men.
6. the status, are, work, of, secretarial, changing.
7. think, only, that, is, were, ago, men, it, to, secretaries, ironic, centuries.
Fill in prepositions:
1. According... several employment agencies in London, male temps and personal assistants are increasingly... demand.
2. Usually men make... only 1% of students... secretarial courses.
3. Most men only take these jobs... a temporary basis.
4.... their opinion men were more logical and dedicated.
5. Attitudes... the status of secretarial work are changing.
6. Secretarial work was once thought to be menial and boring and only suitable... women.
7. Many women graduates are applying... places in secretarial colleges.
Form questions of different types to the reading text
Now look through the reading text again. Tick the things you agree with.
Put a cross next to things you disagree with. Put an exclamation mark next to things yon think are strange. Then compare your opinions with a partner.
Work in pairs. Read the text below about Steve, a male temp. Your partner will read about Michael, another male temp. Then talk to your partner, and find similarities and differences between Steve and Michael's experiences.
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"I served in the army. Now I serve coffee".
Steve White was a soldier for seven years before he decided to find a job in the city so that he could be near his girlfriend. Steve, 38, used to teach mountain survival skills for the army, but now goes to the office every day.
After leaving the army, Steve did a short course to improve his word-processing skills, and then went to several employment agencies to try and find work. "It was incredible," says Steve. "I found temp work almost immediately. And I haven’t been out of work since then. That's almost a year now. The pay is getting better as well. Soon I’ll be earning the same as when I was in the army." Steve says he misses talking about sport and football with other men, but that he enjoys chatting with the women in the offices where he works.
"Male medical student works in a hospital... as a temp."
Michael is a 21-year-old medical student. During his holidays he does secretarial work in the hospital where he studies. His main responsibilities include typing reports and doing the filing. The wages are quite low, but they help Michael to pay for his food and rent. Michael says, "I type reports all the time for my studies, so it wasn't difficult to get secretarial work in the hospital. It's quite interesting really. I enjoy the work, the people in the office are friendly, and working here helps me to understand hospital life better." What kind of relationship does he have with his bosses? "The women are OK, but the men seem a bit embarrassed. They don't like to actually ask me to do things for them - they just leave memos on the desk."
UNIT 10
COMMUNICATION AT WORK.
Read the following words:
perhaps, century, communication, focus, through, adapt, basis, shorthand, efficient, widespread, message, meanwhile, although, application, microchip, exist, particularly, reduce, mobile, employee, totally, compensation.
Read and translate the following words and word combinations:
workplace, office, communication, adapt to the changes, in order to get a job, typewriter, on the basis of, direct calls, take a message, computer language, keyboard command, user-friendly, word-processing skills, an increasing number, work from home, video-conferencing, time differences, work outside normal hours, stress related illness, be caused by overwork.
Classify the following words according to the category of speech:
important, communication, technology, handwriting, efficiently, particularly, length, normal, totally, worker, illness, better, really, nature, compensation.
Recast the following words, using nouns instead of verbs:
develop, communicate, adapt, employ, introduce, type, direct, apply, invent, know, exist, choose, reduce, differ, relate.
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