Zadanie 6. (0–5)
Przeczytaj dwa teksty na temat podejmowania pracy. Z podanych odpowiedzi wybierz właściwą, zgodną z treścią tekstu. Zakreśl jedną z liter: A, B, C albo D.
Tekst 1.
THE JOB
War was declared at eleven-fifteen and Mary North signed up at noon. She did it hurriedly at lunch, before telegrams came, in case her mother said no. When she reached London, she went straight to the War Office. The ink was still fresh on the map they issued her. She rushed across town to her post, desperate not to miss a minute of the war. Any moment now it would start – this dreaded and wonderful thing – and it could never be won without her. The morning rush matched her mood. In London, thousands of young women were hurrying to their new positions, on orders from Whitehall, and Mary joined gladly the great flow of the willing.
The War Office had given no further details, and that was a good sign. They might make her an attaché to a general’s staff. It was even rumoured that they needed spies, which was most appealing.
Mary stopped a cab and showed her map to the driver. He held it at arm’s length and looked at the red cross that marked where she was to report.
“This big building, in Hawley Street?”
“Yes,” said Mary.
“It’s Hawley Street School, isn’t it?”
“I shouldn’t think so. I’m to report for war work, you see.”
“Oh. Only I don’t know what else it could be around there but the school. The rest is just houses.”
Mary opened her mouth to argue, then stopped. Because, of course, they didn’t have a glittering tower labelled MINISTRY OF WILD INTRIGUE. Naturally they would have her report somewhere insignificant. How silly of me to chatter on like this, she thought.
“Right then,” she said. “I expect I am to be made a schoolmistress.”
The man nodded. “Makes sense, doesn’t it? Half the schoolmasters in London must be joining up for the war.”
“Then, let’s hope the cane proves effective against the enemy’s tanks.”
Arriving at the school, Mary felt observed. She was careful to adopt the expression of an ordinary young woman for whom the prospect of work as a schoolteacher would be thrilling. This was her first test, after all.
She found the headmistress’s office and introduced herself. Miss Vine nodded but wouldn’t look up from her desk.
“North,” said Mary again.
“Yes, I heard you quite well. You are to take Kestrel Class. Begin with the register. Read it and learn the students’ names.”
“Very good,” said Mary.
“Have you taught before?”
“No,” said Mary, “but I can’t imagine there’s much to it.”
“Your imagination is not on the syllabus. Be firm, organized, give no liberties, and do not underestimate the importance of the child forming letters properly. As the hand, the mind.”
Mary felt that the “headmistress” was overdoing it and decided to mention it to the woman’s superior, once she discovered who it was. Although in mitigation, the woman’s attention to detail was impressive. Here were pots of sharpened pencils, tins of drawing pins and a tidy stack of hymnbooks standing neatly on her desk.

Tekst 2.
TO INTERVIEW OR NOT TO INTERVIEW?
A friend of mine once had a curious experience at a job interview. Excited about the possible position, she arrived five minutes early and was immediately ushered into the interview room by the receptionist. Following an amicable discussion with a panel of interviewers, she was offered the job. Afterwards, one of the interviewers remarked how impressed she was that my friend could be so composed after showing up 25 minutes late for the interview. As it turned out, my friend had been told the wrong start time by half an hour. She remained composed because she didn’t know she was late. My friend isn’t the type of person who would have remained cool if she had known she was late, but the interviewers reached the opposite conclusion. Of course, they could have also concluded that her calmness showed disrespect. Either way, they would have been wrong to draw conclusions about her future performance in her work based on her behaviour at the interview. In this case, the outcome of the interview was beneficial for the applicant. But it doesn’t have to end that way.
This is a widespread problem. Employers like to use free-form, unstructured interviews to “get to know” a job candidate. Such interviews are also increasingly popular with admissions officers at universities. But, as in my friend’s case, interviewers typically form strong but unwarranted impressions.
One way to change this is to develop an interview protocol based on a careful analysis of what is being looked for in the candidate. Interviews should be structured so that all candidates receive the same questions, a procedure which makes interviews more reliable and more predictive of job success. The employer should also make sure to include a number of questions which test job-related skills.