ESL Podcast 400 - Working in a Dead End Job

employment agency - a business that helps people find jobs

DeShawn had been looking for a job for almost six months, so he decided to go to an employment agency to get some professional help.

dead end job - a job that does not have opportunities for the future; a job that does not lead to another job with greater responsibilities, importance, and pay

Working at a fast food restaurant is a dead end job for many people, so they usually don't stay there more than a few months.

advancement - promotion; moving up within an organization from an unimportant position to one with more responsibility and better pay

Cailee wants to find a job with a lot of opportunities for advancement so that she will always be challenged in her work.

pay scale - a system that sets a minimum and maximum payment amount to each kind of job in a business or organization

According to the company pay scale, a senior manager makes between $75,000 and $92,000 per year.

pay raise - an increase in one's salary; an increase in the amount of money that one is paid for working

Most employees get a pay raise at the end of their first year if they are good workers.

employment history - a record of where one has worked in the past and for how long

His employment history shows that he spent four years in the army before beginning to work in sales.

mind-numbing - boring; extremely uninteresting

That class is so mind-numbing that most of the students fall asleep in the first half-hour!

menial - boring and unimportant; uninteresting because something is too easy to do

During her first day at work, they gave her the menial task of writing addresses on envelopes. She was so bored!

to burn out - to no longer be able to do something because one has done too much of it in the past and is too bored, tired, or sick to continue

Young lawyers who work 70 hours each week often burn out by the end of their third year.

glass ceiling - the idea that people, especially women, who work in an organization can see the top managers and presidents but can never become one of them

Many women think that there is a glass ceiling for them in this company because all of the directors, vice presidents, and presidents are men.

to promote (someone) - to give someone a better job that has more responsibility and better pay within the same organization where he or she was already working

Hank was promoted from Mechanic to Senior Mechanic last month and now he makes a lot more money.

steppingstone - something that helps a person get to another place or to another level, especially at work

Getting a college degree is a steppingstone to most good jobs.

stumbling block - something that makes it difficult or impossible to do something

When the runner hurt his knee, it was a major stumbling block in his athletic performance.

reference - an evaluation of a person as an employee, made by someone who knows one professionally, usually when one is applying for a job

Pauline used to work for me, so she asked me to write a letter of reference when she decided to apply for a new job.

to be trapped - to not have any options; to be forced to do something; to not be able to change something

Once they bought a house, they were trapped in their jobs, because if they quit working, they wouldn't be able to pay for their new home.

personal satisfaction - a feeling of happiness and contentment from what one is doing

Kayeesha worked as a lawyer for years, but she didn't find personal satisfaction until she quit her job and began singing professionally.