At Work: Jobs

My name is Martha Glass. I'm thirty-nine years old and I'm a doctor. I chose the medical profession because I wanted to help people and at the same time make good money. When I was younger I wanted to become a teacher or a nurse, but I soon realized there wasn't much money in either of those professions.

My parents almost didn't help me, because they didn't want me to have a career at all. They wanted me to do what so many other girls did. They wanted me to become a secretary, marry the boss, have kids and stay at home. Well, I got married, and I had kids, but I have my career as well.

Hi. I'm Billy. 1 left school when I was sixteen. I didn't have any qualification. I just wanted to earn some money. I got a job in a factory. I didn't mind being a blue-collar worker. All I wanted was enough money to take my girlfriend out on a Saturday night. But then they got robots in to do my job and I was out of work.

I was out of work for sixteen months. It's terrible being unemployed. The days seem so long. I finally got a job as an unskilled labourer, working for a builder. I'm twenty-five now. I suppose I should go to night classes and get some extra training so that I can earn more money as a skilled worker can.

My name is George Rushton. I'm a businessman. I'm fifty years old and I've been working for the same company for twenty-five years. I think I've had a very successful career. I started work with the company as a poorly paid clerk. I was one of those nine-to-five white-collar office workers who spend all day with a pencil in one hand and a telephone in the other.

I hated it. So I was transferred to sales and became one of the company's sales representatives. I travelled all over the country selling the company's products and became the most successful salesperson on the staff. In ten years I have been promoted to manager of the sales department. In another ten years I hope to retire with a good pension.