Job Interviews

 
 

Vocabulary

public	sacrifice	industrious
excel	suburban	internship
audit	part-time	find/found/found
certify	pass (2)	pop up (2)
MBA	startup	accountant
thrifty	field (2)	promote (2)
settle	success	classmate
fulfill	after all	major (2)
effort	influence	making it big
indeed	consider	community
covet	achieve	opportunity
hunt	goal (2)	stable (2)
cinch	countless	eventually
fluent	versed	to top it off
duty	candidate	responsibility
admit	prepare	draw out (2)
expect	various	conceivable

 
 
 
 

Study Hard, Work Hard

“Study hard…work hard…work smart…make sacrifices…be industrious and thrifty . . . and you will succeed.”

Kaloyan heard this millions of times from his parents, relatives and teachers.

And so he did.

Education

Kaloyan excelled in his class. He went on to university, where he majored in finance. He did internships in various firms.

After graduating, Kaloyan found work in a multinational auditing firm. Later he became an accountant at a startup company. While there, he studied for and passed the Certified Public Accountant exam.

Kaloyan then began a part-time MBA program at his local university, and completed it five years later. At his company, he was eventually promoted to financial manager.

Success

In fourteen years, Kaloyan had achieved what his parents and friends considered “success”: a successful career, stable income, a family, suburban home, good friends.

But there was one more goal that Kaloyan wanted to fulfill: making it big — in America!

America

Ever since he was a child, Kaloyan had wanted to move to the United States and enjoy the American Dream (he was strongly influenced from his favorite movies and TV shows).

Indeed after university, some of his classmates had gone to the US, to Chicago, where there was a large Bulgarian community. There they worked as professionals in their fields. Some had become managers. Others started their own businesses.

But all were earning money. Big money.

Yes, America was the Land of Opportunity.

Emigrating

So after a lot of time, effort and expense, Kaloyan finally got his coveted immigration visa.

And it was off to America!

Job Hunt

After settling in with his cousins, he began his job hunt. This should be cinch, though Kaloyan. After all, he had a university degree and an MBA. He was a CPA with many years of experience in accounting, auditing, finance and management.

And to top it all off, he was fluent in English, thanks to years of study and practice.

Kaloyan was also well versed in job interviews, having interviewed countless candidates himself.

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

Update

It had been a busy period. Sergey had not been able to contact his former colleague due to all his duties and responsibilities.

Now that he was all caught up, Sergey could finally speak with Kaloyan. It had been three months since Kaloyan had left the company.

“So have you landed a position with a Fortune 500 company?” asked Sergey.
“I’m almost there,” replied Kaloyan.
Kaloyan then admitted that finding a job in Chicago was a lot more drawn out than he had expected.

“I had totally prepared for every conceivable interview question,” said Kaloyan. “However, one question kept popping up again and again, from every interviewer and every company I have been to.”
“What’s that?” asked Sergey.
“Are you Latino?” said Kaloyan.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

Questions

1. As a child, what did Kaloyan’s parents and teachers tell him?

2. Kaloyan did what his parents and teachers told and advised him. Yes or no? What did he do?

3. Did his education end when he graduated from university? What did he do?

4. Was Kaloyan successful? Did he become successful?

5. What was his ultimate goal? Why did he want to emigrate?

6. Kaloyan though getting a job in Chicago would be a piece of cake (very easy). Is this right or wrong? Why did he feel this way?

7. What happened in the end?

 
 

A. What did your parents and teachers tell you?

B. People must constantly read, study, upgrade and learn new idea, methods, techniques and technology. Do you agree?

C. Is it very easy, easy, slightly difficult or very difficult to get a new job?

D. Some of my friends or acquaintances have emigrated to another country or city. Yes or no? Why did they move? What do they say about their new home?

E. Is there some kind of bias, discrimination, quota or affirmative action in hiring and promoting that has nothing to do with someone’s qualifications?