This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 72, Job Hunting, How to Let Others Know You're Looking for a Job in English.
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Hey, Michelle, how's it going? Hey, Lindsay.
Pretty good. Pretty good. Have you ever been on the job hunt and wanted to let other people know about it?
Well, yeah, for sure. I haven't. Well, actually, to be honest, not recently.
Yeah. I haven't looked for a job in quite a while, but there was a time.
I think the last time I was looking for a job was like 2008.
And at that time, LinkedIn wasn't what it is today.
But I wish I could have. I definitely wanted to let people know.
And this is so relevant right now, this topic for business English.
Why, Michelle, what's going on in the world?
Right now, actually, we're recording this at the end of January, guys.
But this is coming out in March. I'm sure this is still going on.
What's happening? There's been a lot of layoffs, right, Lindsay?
Yes. And I've been reading a lot about these layoffs.
And part of me thinks that it's just a correction due to over hiring during the pandemic.
Oh, interesting. yeah part of me thinks it's more that than a signal about the economy or impending recession it's just that these companies over hired they went crazy because so many people were online right and so their volume was increasing of business so they i think they might have over hired too many positions and now they're just thinning out to where they should have been before you know yeah interesting oh man but it's you know really too but it's hard yeah it's hard i mean for example for a stat there's been more than 59 000 global tech sector employees laid off in the first few weeks of 2023 and just some companies come to mind i just read about layoffs yesterday at spotify i think facebook twitter i mean all of them are going through this right now So terrible.
Yeah, it's really when you hear about that stuff, it just kind of you really think about the people who, you know, it's easy to just read it on page and say, oh, that's bad.
But it's like people are really going through, you know, hardships.
Exactly. It's not just even in podcasting, you know, just throwing some emails out around the industry this week.
A few replies I've reached out, for example, I've been intro to someone at a company at least twice this week.
And I would send a message and I'd get an auto reply, which says this person no longer works here.
Jeez. Yeah. It's interesting. I mean, it's awful.
So what's today's episode all about for our listeners?
Well, today we're going to talk about, you know, telling someone that you are looking for a job.
Yes. It's a really key skill, guys. Business English.
It's not only, you know, the idea of once you're in the job, but a lot of you are looking for jobs online.
You know, so this is this is really, really valuable.
So we're going to get into that today. Yeah, because I think that a lot of these people that are being laid off in the tech sector, I think there's definitely going to be jobs for them, especially in AI.
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing where technology is heading.
Amazing, scary, wonderful, terrible, all the different things.
But hopefully people will have jobs. Oh yeah, there's jobs for that.
I'm very sure about that. So guys, if you love what we talk about on this podcast, go ahead and hit follow.
You know, we talk about job hunting here and we also talk about English skills and global communication skills once you get into that job, right?
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Guys, just a few episodes ago on episode 67, we talked about this a little bit.
So it's between jobs, different ways to express your career status in English.
So that's 67. Just a few episodes back. Go ahead and listen to that one as well.
Yeah, I love it. So why is today's episode important?
Well, because you never know who has a connection for you.
You never know what will lead you to your next job.
And so it's really this like it's really a craft, I think.
Yeah. Letting it be known that you are looking for a job.
So if you're looking, you know, you've got to be vocal about it.
I mean, it's just you never know who will say, oh, my brother, my sister does this.
Oh, I have a cousin who's in that industry.
Right. So, you know, especially if you don't currently have a job, you've got to be vocal.
But even if you do have a job, you know, you got to then you got to be a little bit quieter.
You never know. You don't want to reveal your plans.
But that episode to do another time, actually.
Oh, I don't know if I know how to do. I know we're going to do some digging.
I'm going to talk to some people in my world and we can talk about how what are those skills to search for a job when you have a job?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's tough. Yeah.
So, you know, just this idea. I think the biggest tip is to be vocal, especially like I said, if you don't have one and then we can talk about, you know, if we do have one, maybe we'll get to that on other episodes.
But. In general, these are phrases I think that could be mostly good for either situation.
So what are some phrases that you can use to maybe talk about getting into a new field or finding a new job?
Well, I think before we go into the phrases, I think there's definitely something we have to talk through is shame, right?
So I think different cultures have different levels of shame towards not having a job or towards being laid off.
I think, for example, in Japanese culture, I think there's a lot more shame is my hunch around having a job, not having a job. your place as a worker in society.
At least that was what I saw living there.
I'm not sure. You guys can tell us. You're our listeners.
And there is some shame here. It's a personal thing too, is, you know, how much shame do you have as a person, right?
How much do you identify with being employed?
But I think that's something to have a conversation with ourselves about first, before we get the words, are we, is there some underlying shame that we have to work through?
Right, Michelle, what do you think? I I think there is a lot of, yeah, a lot of shame.
And I think it's a shame. It's a shame. Yeah.
It's a shame about the shame because, you know, everybody, I mean, a lot of people go through hardships.
But I think the career is something that people have so much pride about.
And it's such a, you know, your confidence and your pride.
A lot of it is... yeah, your identity is based on your career and whether, you know, that's a whole separate debate about whether or not that's a good thing or not.
But, you know, it's something to discuss.
Yeah, for sure. We could go into that another day.
But there is something there, especially when we look at how is it different across cultures, you know, in Asian cultures, how is it different from North America?
Gosh, we could go on forever, but we'll go into that another time.
Let's get into the vocabulary for today so that our listeners can come away with something very tangible.
Right. Right. Let's do it. All right. What's the first thing?
OK, I'm looking for a position or a job in blank.
Right. So, for example, in AI, do you happen to know anyone who I can connect with about this?
And this is very straightforward. It's what you have to say, guys.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So you might say something like I'm looking for a position in marketing.
Do you happen to know anyone who I can connect with about this?
Nice. I like it. So guys, write that one down.
If you have the app, you're going to see that right inside the transcripts.
Go to allearsenglish.com slash app if you want to get the app to see those transcripts.
And we have another phrase. Michelle, what is it?
All right. This one is if you hear of any jobs or positions in blank, let me know.
So if you hear of any jobs in your company, let me know.
So how is this? I mean, this one is a little bit different because it's saying if you hear of.
Right. Right. So what is it asking the person to do?
It's asking them to keep you in mind. Yes.
Right. And you got to plant the seed and maybe they don't know of anything immediately, but then they do hear of something.
It's kind of like you have to plant the seed and you're in their mind a little bit.
I guess you could fill in the blank here within your company or in your industry.
Like if you hear of any jobs in education, let me know.
Right. Or in computer science, let me know.
Right. So it could be specifically maybe just like the field in general, or maybe you're really trying to get into this particular company or you're just, you know, maybe unfortunately you got laid off and your friend works for this great company and you're just saying like, oh, you know, like, you know, I have experience in this field.
So if you do hear of any jobs in this in your company, let me know.
Yeah, you got to put it out there. Put yourself out there in that sense.
Right, Michelle? Okay, do we have another two?
We do. Okay, well, we have one more. So this one is, I'm interested in getting into the blank field.
Have you heard of any openings in blank?
So you could say, I'm interested in getting into the medical field.
Have you heard of any entry level openings in this field?
So let's talk about that entry level, that vocab word.
Yeah. Entry level. So it just means starting jobs, starting point jobs.
Right. So, you know, I mean, it's and it's not always linked to age, of course, especially in the U.S.
That might be different across cultures to Michelle.
It might be actually less common. I'm not sure.
I'd like to do a study on this. How common is it to change industries once you're past, you know, 2030?
Is it common in your culture? Guys, you can let us know on social media.
Reach out to us. Email us. Tell us. Is it common and okay to totally change industries?
Let's say you were in engineering and you want to become a nurse now at 50.
Is that possible? I'm really curious. I think it is possible.
I mean, I think... I think there's a lot of that going on here now like that.
Yeah. Here. Yeah. About this this positivity of like that you can do things at any age.
Oh, yeah. For sure. The other day, Nancy Pelosi, she didn't get her start in politics until I think her 40s, maybe.
Wow. Interesting I didn't know that Yeah yeah yeah So you know I think there is I don't know There are tons of stories like that About people who past a certain age Did switch I don't know what her career was before then But like did get a later Start in a different industry Right Oh, yeah.
There's tons of them in the U.S., in our culture.
And it's really inspiring, too. And I see that when I see someone in their 60s going back to school even or even just taking online courses.
There's something really, really endearing about that to me because it's humbling.
It's, you know, it's one thing to learn a new field when you're 25.
It's another thing when you're 55 and you're set in your ways a little bit and you have a certain status in the world.
Right. It's But that shows real humility.
And I think it's very admirable. I think it's relatively easy in this country.
I want to know about our listeners countries, like how common is that abroad?
Yeah, I'm really curious as well. It makes me think of there's a there's a whole storyline in the show Friends. where Chandler decides that he hates his job.
And I guess he is in his mid-30s. I'm not sure how old.
And then he ends up getting an internship in a different industry.
And, like, everybody is so much younger than him.
It's all about him feeling really awkward.
And, you know, but, yeah, so kind of interesting.
I mean, yeah, I mean, it is easy here. But then sometimes I think about that.
I'm like, what if I just totally switched industries and just said, I want to be a developer.
I want to be a technologist. Yeah, I think it would be challenging for sure.
I mean, I could do it, but I think it would just take real drive and focus and just humility, you know, humility.
I think I mean, yeah. Would it bother you to like, you know, you start and you're, you know, start in a new place or whatever and your boss is like 25?
Much younger. Would that bother you? Again, it's another thing that you do see in this country, right?
Yeah. Maybe it would a little bit. Yeah.
Maybe to be honest, I think I would, I would make it work.
But I think there would be part of that that would be tricky because, you know, you're like, I have so much more life experience than this person.
Right. Yeah. What do you think? Would you struggle with that?
I mean, I think I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't feel a little bit funny.
Yeah. For sure. It would feel a little bit funny.
But of course, you know, you do what you have to and, you know, you get in.
But I think that that probably is like one of the more awkward parts that of dealing with it.
Like, yeah, you know, this, you know, because I still feel like I mean, I don't really have a I'm pretty happy where I am. career wise.
But if I were to change and, you know, then you think there might be some parts feeling funny because you're starting over and people who are much younger than you might be much further in that particular industry.
Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, in American culture, we have a little bit less of that compared to other cultures in terms of status being linked to age, right?
We have less of it than what I've seen in other cultures.
But it's still there. You can't, you know, you can't avoid it.
Cause again, days on the planet. Right. Right.
Things we've learned. Yeah. So very interesting stuff, Michelle.
Yeah. Um, so, um, yes, in just a second, uh, I mean, We're going to do a couple.
Well, we're going to do a role play. Yeah.
Wait, no, we're going to do two. We're going to do two role plays in just a second.
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Exclusions apply. See details online. All right, Michelle, let's go into those role plays.
Let's do it. All right. OK, well, I got fired.
Oh, my gosh. Wow. What did you do? I don't know.
I don't know, Lindsay. But I'm looking for a job.
All right, here we go. How's it been going?
It's fine. I'm starting to look for new jobs.
I'm actually interested in getting into the cosmetology field.
Have you heard of any openings in this area?
Actually, my cousin works in cosmetology.
I'll connect you. Wow. Thanks. Nice. Look at that.
You never know. Ask the question. If you hadn't asked, I never would have known that you were trying to get into that field.
And I never would have told you about my cousin. exactly exactly so i think a lot of things you know there's all it's you know ask or mention it you know let people know what's going on in your life because you don't know you know even even other things in life you don't know what will lead you to the next to the next thing right things like house hunting or who knows whatever you're in the market for um for sure you have to mention it okay next scenario michelle All right.
And this one, you are looking for a new job, but you still have a job.
OK, I have a job, but I'm looking for a job.
OK, this is the interesting scenario. We'll have to do another episode on.
All right. So, Michelle, I'm thinking of getting a new job.
Oh, wow. Yeah. I'm looking for a position in media.
Do you happen to know anyone who I can connect with about this?
No, but I'll keep an ear out. Awesome. Thanks.
Okay. Okay. So that's our second one. We're doing three role plays.
Oh, wow. Our listeners love those role plays, guys.
This is great. Good stuff. So here, what did I say?
What's the key question? The key thing that I said here?
Okay. You said, I'm looking for a position in media.
Do you happen to know anyone who I can connect with about this? exactly and i may even go one level deeper guys and be a little bit more specific like media is so broad right i mean are you in radio are you in podcasting are you in advertising ad tech um what is it that you're in right yeah that's right that's right okay okay here last one are looking for a job after graduating maybe high school college grad school something like that all right so what's your plan well i'd love to get a law clerk job nice idea Yeah.
If you hear of any positions in your firm, please let me know.
I will. Oh, man, I could never be a lawyer.
Oh, it seems like hard work. A lot of reading contracts.
Yeah, I don't think I could do it either.
No, I don't have the level of detail. No, I would just be like, does it really matter? matter like i would just like you know just be like whatever that would be very bad in the courtroom michelle very bad but actually in our business english course uh i think you interviewed a friend of yours who's a lawyer and we got a really a lot of good insight from her um guys check out our business english course at allersenglish.com slash business yeah awesome so um yeah i said if you hear of any positions in your firm please let me know Yes, good stuff.
So guys, you have some really good tangible phrases here, but what's the takeaway for our listeners?
What should they think about? I think the biggest thing to do is to be vocal when you're job hunting.
Don't be afraid to share it. Of course, again, we're going to talk more about that if you already have a job.
How do you kind of... You don't want to reveal all your cards necessarily, or especially to the wrong person, and then it gets back to your boss or something like that, right?
But... You know, you never know who is going to connect you to the right person or a job.
And I remember somebody said to me, like when I was job hunting, when I first moved to New York all those years ago was it only takes one.
Right. Yeah. I think on All Ears English podcast, we've heard some stories of your job hunting in New York, Michelle.
Maybe we'll hear them over here, too, if we're lucky.
Another episode. Yeah. Yeah, it's hard to get a job in New York for sure.
And also, I would just add to that, as we said before, guys, have have a reflection moment with yourself.
Is there some underlying shame around not having a job?
Is that coming from your culture? Right.
And what what can you do to kind of contradict that and say, no, I'm it's OK to be without a job right now.
I'm going to go out and be vocal about it.
We've got to go through that step, too. Right, Michelle.
Love it. Definitely. Oh, well, this was fun, Lindsay.
Thanks for hanging out. All right. Good stuff, Michelle.
Talk to you soon. Take care. Bye. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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