Episode 39 • Work
Show someone the ropes
Beef up a resume
Get fired
Miss a deadline
Land a job
Story
Woman: Hello Lisa. Welcome to Cavendish Enterprises. So today it’s your first day, correct? Great! So Mike here will be showing you the ropes!
Lisa: Hey, Gosh I’m so glad I have someone to help me. I gotta be honest with you. I beefed up my resume quite a bit, he he he. Also, during the interview process I may have “accidentally” forgotten to say I got fired from my previous job for missing a few deadlines. I honestly couldn’t believe it when they told me I’d landed the job. I hope it won’t be too hard. It’s just… I’m a little worried about my boss, Mr Sanders. Do you know him? I heard he is terrible. He’s like super mean and doesn’t care about his employees, you know what I mean? Anyway, sorry, I haven’t even properly introduced myself, my name is Lisa Smith, I’m the new Project Manager.
Mike: Nice to meet you, Lisa. I’m Mike, Mike Sanders.
Lisa: Oh my gosh, you have the same last name as my b-. Oh. Oh oh.
Questions
That is why you should always make sure you know who you're talking to before you start talking.
Show someone the ropes
'Mike here will be showing you the ropes.'
• If you show someone the ropes, do you explain to them how things work or do you give them orders?
If you show someone the ropes, you explain how to do things, how things work. This expression actually comes, or at least I've read, it comes from sailors. When you're at sea when you start working on the boat, you need an experienced sailor to show you the ropes, to show how everything works.
• Think of the first few days at your current job or at a past job. Who showed you the ropes?
Well, in my case, at my past job, when I was working in Valencia, I think some of the teachers that have been working there for longer are the ones that showed me the ropes. It was super helpful to have someone to show you the ropes on your first day at work.
Beef up a resume
'I beefed up my resume quite a bit.'
• If you have beefed up your resume, does it now include lots of information or little?
If you have beefed up your resume, that means it now includes lots of information.
• Why would you need to beef up your resume?
Well, I'll give you an example. Let's just say that I'm a kid, I'm a student whose only experience is selling ice cream. That's my only job and I want to put it in my resume. Well, I obviously want to impress the person that's reading my resume, so if I only put, I sold ice cream, that's not going to sound too good. They're not going to be very impressed, I think. What if I say something like, I supported customers in making the right decision, I handled cash transactions, I worked closely with my employers. All those things, it's still true, but it's going to make your resume sound a lot better, a lot fuller.
• Is beefing up your resume the same as lying on your resume?
No, like we said, you're not saying something that's not true, you're just making something sound better and adding more information.
Get fired
'I have forgotten to say I got fired.'
• If you get fired, will you work where you are currently working in the future?
No. I'm afraid. If you get fired, you will no longer work where you are working now. Sounds like a tongue twister a little bit.
• If you get fired, do you stop working voluntarily or not?
I'm afraid if you got fired, it was not your decision, it was your boss' decision. They're the ones who decided you were not going to work there anymore.
• What could be the reasons for getting fired?
Well, it's usually because you've done something wrong. It's different from the expression to be laid off that we saw in the previous episodes because, in this case, that means that you didn't do well at work. Maybe you were not doing your work well, or maybe you got caught spitting in someone's coffee. I don't know what you could have done, but you did something bad.
• Have you ever gotten fired? Why?
Luckily I don't think I've ever gotten fired. Yes, I would remember. I'm sure I've worked at jobs before where I should have gotten fired when I was working at a clothing store. I was terrible at it, but it was only three months. I think they were just like, "Let's just finish with these three months, then we don't want to see this girl anymore," but no I've never gotten fired.
Miss a deadline
'I was laid off for missing a few deadlines.'
• If you miss a deadline, do you finish your work in time or not?
If you miss a deadline, that means that you do not finish your working time, and that is a problem.
• Have you ever missed a deadline?
No. I was close to missing a deadline a few weeks ago when I was writing an article for a website, but luckily enough, I put in a ton of hours of work. I didn't recording any episodes for the podcast that week and so I could just try and work as much as I could on this article so I wouldn't miss a deadline just because I hate it. I think it makes you look very responsible.
Land a job
'I couldn’t believe it when they told me I’d landed a job.'
• If you’ve landed a job, does that mean you’ve got a job or lost a job?
If you have landed a job, that means that, yay, you got the job.
• When you say you’ve landed a job, does that usually refer to a job you wanted or did not want that much?
When you use the expression to land a job, it's usually because you feel somewhat excited or at least lucky to have gotten that job.
• Can you think of a time when you landed a job you thought you wouldn’t?
Yes. It was a few years ago when I started working for the British Council and I went to the interview and I thought I didn't have a chance to get a job there. Then at first, they told me that they were not interested, then a few days later, they sent me an email saying that they had a position for me. I was so excited I landed that job because I don't know if you know, but the British Council is a reputable institution. It's considered one of the best ones. I was really excited I landed that job.
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