1. What do the names of companies around the world reflect?

Text 5

How Skype Is Changing the Interview Process?

For years, search committees conducted preliminary job interviews for academic positions by telephone, making it easy for a candidate to sit at home in shorts while answering serious questions.

But times have changed, and Skype is now the preferred method many institutions use to conduct long-distance interviews. Some job listings are even warning candidates that they may have to make an initial appearance before the committee via Webcam.

Skype is an Internet-based video service that started in 2003, its name short for "sky peer-to-peer." It is free to use in its basic version with an easy registration process and has become one of the best-known services of its type. 

Even though I had read about universities using Skype for job interviews, I was unprepared to be so quickly thrust into on-camera performances in front of three different search committees over a period of two weeks. With only a couple days' notice, I had to make my first screen appearance.

After losing a bit of sleep pondering the proper Webcam angle and what to wear, I approached the first meeting with an attitude of trepidation and adventure. Before the interview, I conducted a Skype test run with my daughter to—let's be honest—see how bad I looked. A Webcam isn't the most flattering piece of technology and can make you appear gaunt, overweight, beady-eyed, or narcoleptic. And often you look all those things at the same time.

Because the first interview was done in my home, I cleared out whatever could be seen over my shoulder so the committee wouldn't have to stare at the scuffed shoes sitting on the floor or the dog's toys scattered around the room. I changed into a blue pinstripe oxford, knowing that white is a bad camera color because it reflects too much light and can wash out your facial features.

The first Skype connection took place right on time, but the committee was surprisingly distant from its camera. In order to accommodate all five in the screen, the table they sat behind was set well away from the lens, so I couldn't make out facial details. The little image I saw of myself in the corner of my screen, however, showed a larger-than-life close-up of my face that seemed to distort my features.

The interview itself went surprisingly well. Instead of answering questions over the phone with no reaction on the other end, I could see committee members nodding their heads or taking notes, leading me to believe I had said something that they liked. They may have been grading papers or smiling at my pasty-white winter complexion, but I choose to believe they were reacting positively to my responses.

After the call ended, I not only felt a sense of relief but also found that I had actually enjoyed the experience. I felt that I got to know them much better than I would have if I had only heard their voices coming from a speakerphone. Instead of the blank uncertainty I had always felt, hanging up after a phone interview, I left the Skype experience feeling that I had made new friends.

It was only a few days later when I had my second Webcam interview – this time in my college office. As a faculty member with heaping shelves of books and messy piles of papers waiting to be filed, I knew I had to clean up the place a bit. The lighting in my office was not only dramatically different from my home, but the fluorescent ceiling bulbs added an angelic glow to my hair. I was uncertain if that would help or hurt my chances.

This time the initial connection didn't go quite as well on their end. First the chair had my wrong Skype address, misspelling it by one letter. Then it took the committee members 20 minutes to get their Skype called up, so I anxiously waited, staring at a blank screen, while they used a cellphone to give me updates.

Once the interview started, I tried to watch the facial expressions of the four distant people. The members of the group were spread out in a small classroom and had to look way up into a corner to see me on their monitor. With my halo hair and their upward glances, the experience could only be described as celestial.

Everyone smiled, nodded, and took notes—except for the one guy in the upper-right corner who was playing with his laptop and checking his phone for text messages the whole time. He asked one question and made no eye contact. I began to wonder if it is a requirement that every interview must include one committee member who acts like a student who doesn't want to be in class.

By the time I had my third Skype interview the next week, I felt like an old pro. I was happy to have a smiling old professor call me at home. He was seated in a TV studio and was close to the Webcam but was difficult to see because the camera lens pointed up toward some glaring television lights. He said there were three committee members in the room, but the only other person in the picture was a woman sitting 20 feet directly behind him, and I could not make out her face.

The committee chair asked all of the prepared questions, and in the middle of one of my answers, I saw the woman behind him start waving wildly. It looked like she was pointing at something behind me with one hand, trying to signal that I should look. I turned around but had no idea what she was gesturing about.

Then, out of nowhere, a young male head popped in from the left side of the screen. He looked at me for about five seconds, and then disappeared—never to be seen again. I assume he was the third member of the committee, but I'm still unsure why neither of the other members said anything during the interview.

I handled most of the questions well, until I suffered the consequences of a very poor preinterview decision on my part. After having no trouble with my dog in my first at-home Skype interview, I had allowed her to once again lounge just off camera. But as this interview was winding down, I heard the dog run to the front window and start to growl. That meant she spotted something, and she was going to make sure everyone knew about it.

In the middle of an eloquent (I thought) answer about my philosophy of teaching, the dog started barking wildly and would not stop. I stared into the Webcam and kept talking with a plastered a smile on my face as I moved my left hand out of view, snapping my fingers to try to get the dog's attention. Nothing would keep her quiet. So with gritted teeth, I pretended that it was totally normal to have a dog barking in the background of a professional interview.

The first two Skype interviews led immediately to campus interviews. The lesson here: A face-to-face preliminary interview turns out to have advantages for both sides. It's easier to have a conversation when you can see how people are responding to your remarks. And even when things go wrong technologically, it's revealing to see how both parties handle the problem. As for that third Skype interview, I heard nothing from the search committee for weeks and blamed that on my pesky pooch. Then one day, I got a call informing me that I was finalist for the position. I decided not to ask whether all of the barking was what led the committee to delay calling me.

But I am now resolved: The next time I have a Skype interview at home, my dog will be safely resting in the windowless laundry room at the other end of the house.

APPENDIX

The Infinitive

TEST

Task I. Choose and write out the sentences with the Infinitive in the function of

1) attribute, 2) adverbial modifier

1. The techniques of marketing research have now given markets new ways to learn

and analyse the needs and wants of consumers.

2. Most small companies produce only commodities to be in demand.

3. To understand the new role of small business in manufacturing it is necessary to

know the laws of the market.

4. He hastened to the city to perform the most difficult part of the task he had

undertaken.

5. Firms may think that they can reduce their production costs enough to get back

into profit.

6. The products to be sold have been just sent to the shop.

7. To translate this text I need a dictionary.

8. To produce these goods requires a lot of time.

9. To devote himself entirely to scientific research he abandoned PR which he

had studied for some years.

Task II. Choose the correct translation.

1. They wanted a new technology to be applied in market research.

a) Они хотели применить новую технологию в исследовании рынка.

b) Они хотели, чтобы новая технология была применена в исследовании

рынка.

c) Им нужна новая технология, которую можно применить в исследовании

рынка.

2. We believe his conclusion to be wrong.

a) Мы считаем, что его заключение ошибочно.

b) Мы верим ему, что это заключение ошибочно.

c) Мы верим его заключению, что это неверно.

3. These master students are known to have passed all the exams successfully.

a) Известные магистранты сдали все экзамены успешно.

b) Известно, что эти магистранты сдали все экзамены успешно.

c) Очевидно, что эти магистранты сдадут все экзамены успешно.

4. The scientists seem to have made the right calculations.

a) Ученым кажется, что они правильно сделали расчеты.

b) Кажется, что ученые сделают правильные расчеты.

c) Кажется, что ученые правильно сделали расчеты.

5. Russian managers wanted the new projects to be introduced in the companies.

a) Менеджеры из России хотели ввести новые проекты в компаниях.

b) В компаниях, вводящих новые проекты, работали менеджеры из России.

с) Менеджеры из России хотели, чтобы в компаниях были введены новые

проекты.

The Participle

TEST

Task I. Choose functions of the Participle corresponding to the given sentences.

1. A fault of processor occuring, the recoverable block evaluates the working state.

2. Having concluded his research a scientist carefully noted the results.

3. We started with simplifying assumptions.

4. The gadget bought by you is often out of order.

5. Being started in time, the preparations for the test are over.

6. Operating characteristic of goods are usually given in graphical forms.

7. An electronic computer forms a complex device when viewed as a whole.

8. Thirty loaded lorries followed by six cars were moving along the road.

9. The text being too difficult, no one could translate it without a dictionary.

a) right attribute

b) left attribute (active form)

c) absolute participle construction

d) adverbial modifier

Task II. Choose the correct translation appropriate to the grammar structure

underlined.

1. The article having been read we knew the subject much better.

a) так как мы прочитали статью;

b) так как статья была прочитана;

c) прочитанная нами статья;

d) мы прочитали статью.

2. Having stopped the computer he left the lab.

a) останавливая компьютер;

b) останавливающийся компьютер;

c) остановленный компьютер;

d) остановив компьютер.

3. The operating machine was installed in the lab.

a) работающая машина;

b) машина, на которой работают;

c) работа машины;

d) машина работает.

4. Having installed the new computer we obtained the results of the calculations

quicker.

a) установив новый компьютер;

b) после установленного нового компьютера;

c) после устанавливаемого нового компьютера;

d) за установкой нового компьютера.

The Complex Sentence

TEST

Task I.

1. Choose the complex sentence with the Subject Clause from the sentences

given below.

a) He knows that this method is used everywhere.

b) That the computer can solve difficult problems was known long ago.

c) He knows very little about this problem though he read a lot on this subject.

d) The weather being fine we enjoyed going to the country.

2. Choose the complex sentence with the Predicate Clause from the sentences

given below.

a) The important problem that faces us now is to carry the investigation very

urgently.

b) The primary duty of every student is to study hard.

c) The most useful feature of a computer is that it makes calculations fast.

d) He is the person we need for this kind of work.

3. Choose the complex sentence with the Attribute Clause from the sentences

given below.

a) The board of directors decides how the firm is run and must submit an annual

report to the shareholders.

b) Unlike sole traders and partners, shareholders cannot be forced to sell their

personal possessions when the business cannot pay.

c) One of the many mysteries about Venus is where its water has gone.

d) The book published this year can be bought at every shop.

Task II.

Choose the complex sentences with:

a) subject clause

b) predicate clause

c) object clause

d) adverbial clause

e) attribute clause

1. We shall go to the lecture on psychology for it seems to be interesting.

2. Whether individuals and society as a whole should always choose the same amount

of education is a question in wellfare economics.

3. The most the shareholders can loose is the money they originally spent buying

shares.

4. That the shares merely become worthless doesn’t bring any doubt.

5. The problem is what the price of the share is.

6. Economics analyses what, how and for whom society produces.

7. Workers must concentrate on the tasks they do.

8. How the above questions are answered will depend on the type of economic

system.

9. Another difference is that resources in planned economies belong to the state.

10. People buy goods with money they earn.

Task III.

Choose the right translation of the English sentence.

1. The design the scientist had insisted upon was accepted by the commission.

a) Ученый настаивал, чтобы комиссия приняла этот проект.

b) Проект, на котором настаивал ученый, был принят комиссией.

с) Проект ученого был принят комиссией, т.к. он настаивал на этом.

2. Information about the things people need will help firms to decide what to

produce.

a) Люди помогут фирмам решить, что производить.

b) Информация поможет людям решить какие вещи нужно производить.

с) Информация о вещах, которые нужны людям, поможет фирмам

решить что производить.

3. The amount of money consumers have to spend depends on their income and

wealth.

a) Сумма денег зависит от дохода и богатства потребителя.

b) Сумма денег, которую потребители должны истратить, зависит от их

дохода и богатства.

c) Деньги, которые тратит потребитель, зависят от его дохода и

богатства.

4. The main advantage of this type of a company is that it tends to have a large

number of staff.

a) Основное преимущество такой компании – иметь многочисленный

персонал.

b) Основное преимущество такого типа компании заключается в том, что

она стремится иметь многочисленный персонал.

c) Компания стремится иметь многочисленный персонал.

5. That the problem cannot be solved at once depends on the opinion of the

commission.

a) Проблема не может быть решена сразу.

b) Решение проблемы зависит от мнения комиссии.

c) То, что проблема не может быть решена сразу, зависит от мнения

комиссии.

СПИСОК ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ

1. Колесникова Н.Н., Данилова Г.В. Professional English. // Учебное пособие. М.: АТиСО, 2009.

2. Богатырёва М.А. Understanding Mass Media. // Учебное пособие по английскому языку. М.: АТиСО, 2009.

3. Marketing Communications: Public Relations and corporate image. // Prentice Hall, 2010.

4. Hofstede Geert and Gert J. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. // New York: McGrow-Hill. - 2008.

5. Richard Side In Advance: Student’s and Practice book // Longman, 2001.

5. Samuelson P., Nordhaus W. Economics, Fifteenth Edition. // McGraw-Hill, INC, 2008.

6. Social sciences. htm.

7. http://www.ir-magazine.ru

31