Philip is my opposite number in the company's New York office.

We have a good working relationship and there's a lot of day-to-day collaboration.

Having a counterpart like Philip in another branch is a great support.

Last month, we got a new boss, who quickly establish a good rapport with everyone.

She likes us to take the initiative.

The company is very hierarchical. There's a pecking order for everything.

I do a job share with a woman called Rose, which suits us as we each have childcare responsibilities.

My office uses a hot-desking system, so I sit in a different place every day.

I socialise with my workmates outside of work, but we try not to talk shop on those occasions.

B. During the day

Different work patterns

I do fairly mundane tasks.

Occasionally I have to meet a deadline or they need someone to volunteer for something.

Then the job is more rewarding and stimulating.

Sometimes I have a very heavy workload, but at other times it can be quite light.

I start work at my machine at 7 o'clock when I'm on the day shift.

The job's mechanical and repetitive.

All I ever think about is knocking off at 3 o'clock.

The shift I hate most is the night shift.

I start at 10 and work till 6 in the morning.

It's a bit monotonous. It's not a satisfying job.

I feel I need something a bit more challenging.

I have a pretty glamorous job. I'm a pilot.

But the hours are irregular and antisocial.

I'm not stuck behind a desk, but long-haul flights can be a bit mind-numbing.

Most of the time the plane just flies itself.

We work to very tight schedules.

But I shouldn't complain.

I feel sorry for people who are stuck in a rut or who are in dead-end jobs.

I started off as a technician.

After retraining I worked for a software company, and later I went in with a friend and we formed our own software company as a start-up in 2009, so now I'm self-employed.

My husband is freelance.

He works for several different companies as and when they need work done.

He's a computer programmer.

a. Aspects of job satisfaction

What does job satisfaction mean?

Is it just having a pleasant workplace, or is it more than that?

Can a run-of-the-mill job be satisfying?

Some people are prepared to put up with a stressful or unpleasant job if it means short-term financial reward.

Staff morale has been very low since the company announced a freeze on pay rises.

Our new manager is very keen to encourage teamwork to help us solve problems.

Is job stability more motivating than an exciting high-risk career?

After working in the fast-moving fashion industry for six years,

Sam has decided to look for a career with a better work-life balance.

Daniel's job in a dynamic new company is often challenging but exciting.

Chloe is demotivated in her current job following the recent changes in the finance sector.

She is looking to work in something more creative, like marketing.

She is seeking a career in something more creative, like marketing.

b. Expressions connected with working life

In many countries, women are allowed maternity leave and men paternity leave if they're having a baby.

If they adopt a child, they may have a right to adoption leave.

What perks do you get in your job? Informal

What extra benefits do you get in your job? Formal

What's your holiday entitlement? I get four weeks a year.

Do you get regular salary increments each year?

Do you get performance-related pay rises?

Do you get an annual bonus?

Most people think they are overworked and underpaid.

Because of the recession, the company announced that there would have to be voluntary redundancies.

Because of the recession, the company announced that there would have to be compulsory redundancies.

During the strike, the airport managed to continue running with a skeleton staff of volunteers.

The people on the interview panel at the last job I applied for were so unfriendly that I got very nervous.

A. A career in sales

When Karl left school, he took the first job he was offered, in telesales.

He thought telemarketing sounded quite glamorous, but soon found that most of the people he phoned hated cold calling and put the phone down when he tried the hard sell.

However, he persevered and found he became quite skilled at persuading customers to part with their money.

He then moved into a job on a TV shopping channel where he specialised in selling merchandise for the leisure market.

He did so well at this that he set up his own sportswear company and hasn't looked back since.

B. Buying and selling

A person's purchasing power is the ability they have to buy goods, that is, the amount of money they have available.

If you shop around, you try different companies or shops to see which offers best value.

If you want to buy something, you need to find a shop that stocks it.

If you trade something up, usually a car or a house, you buy one that is of higher value than the one you had before.

People sometimes make a purchasing decision based on brand loyalty.

Supermarkets sometimes sell an item for less than it costs them in order to attract a lot of people into the shop where they will also buy more profitable items.

The item being sold at a low price is called a loss leader.

If a company finds a niche market, it finds a specialised group of customers with particular interests that that company can meet.

If an item is said to come or go under the hammer, it is sold at an auction.

C. A career in business

A few years ago, Tina started her own software development business, which turned out to be very lucrative.

However, she got increasingly irritated by all the red tape involved in the administration of a business, and when a larger company contacted her with a proposition suggesting a takeover, she was interested.

At first, the two companies could not agree on all the details of the agreement, but they managed to reach a compromise and hammer out a deal without too much delay.

In many ways, Tina was sad that her company had been swallowed up, but she has used the money raised by the sale of her capital assets to invest in a business start-up, an online holiday property letting agency.

A. Character and personality

Chinese astrology organises years into cycles of twelve and asserts that the year you are born in affects your character.

Each year is named after an animal.

Rat 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008

Imaginative, charming, generous, quick-tempered, opportunistic

Buffalo 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009

Conservative, methodical, conscientious, chauvinistic, a born leader

Tiger 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010

Sensitive, emotional, tends to get carried away, stubborn, rebellious, courageous

Rabbit 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011

Affectionate, obliging, sentimental, superficial, often insecure

Dragon 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012

Fun-loving, popular, a perfectionist, gifted, may sometimes be tactless

Snake 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013

Charming, intuitive, stingy

Horse 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014

Diligent, independent, placid, outgoing, can be selfish and cunning

Goat 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015

Elegant, artistic, always ready to complain, over-anxious

Monkey 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016

Witty, magnetic personality, good company, can be distrustful

Rooster 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017

Industrious, shrewd, supportive, decisive, extravagant

Dog 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018

Down-to-earth, altruistic, morose, sharp-tongued

Pig 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019

Intellectual, tolerant, naive, often materialistic

Bee, positive and negative associations

Charming, generous, is that how you think of yourself?

Selfish, cunning, that can't be me

Some words in the chart above have positive associations, others negative ones

Here are some words from the chart together with other words that share some aspects of their meaning

The table shows which have positive and which have negative associations

Positive, generous, unstinting

Negative, extravagant, immoderate

Positive, resolute, dogged

Negative, stubborn, obstinate

Positive, thrifty, frugal

Negative, stingy, parsimonious

Positive, diligent, industrious

Negative, work-obsessed, a workaholic

Positive, idealistic, principled

Negative, dogmatic, inflexible

Positive, shrewd, astute

Negative, cunning, sly

Positive, sober, serious

Negative, morose, sullen

Positive, witty, pithy

Negative, brusque, terse

Positive, tolerant, open-minded

Negative, unprincipled, unscrupulous

Positive, chatty, talkative

Negative, verbose, garrulous