Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. You can also read the transcript.
Preparation
Transcript
Marcia: Hi! Welcome to WebWare.
Sarah: Thanks. Nice to see you again.
Marcia: You too. Erm, so you said you wanted to come in and have a chat before you started.
Sarah: Yeah, I just wanted to have a look around and ask a few more questions, if I can.
Marcia: Sure, fire away!
Sarah: Well, I was delighted to receive the job offer.
Marcia: Good. We were delighted to offer it to you.
Sarah: But before I sign the contract there were one or two specifics I wanted to talk about.
Marcia: OK, 'specifics'?
Sarah: Well, there's a pay scale, instead of a fixed salary?
Marcia: Yes, as a new employee you'd be at the lower end of the pay scale.
Sarah: But taking my experience into account ...
Marcia: Well, you haven't had that much experience. We see you as an investment ...
Sarah: But that salary would only be a little more than I'm making now. So, instead of asking for a higher level on the pay scale, I thought this could be compensated by adding certain bonuses. For instance, if I make certain sales targets, or even break them, I would be looking for a good cash payment or stock options in the company.
Marcia: Well, that is something we sometimes offer senior members of staff, but to show good faith I'll provisionally offer you the bonus scheme, but I'll have to OK it with Philip first.
Sarah: That's fine. I also see that there are 25 days' holiday.
Marcia: Yes. That's standard.
Sarah: It's not very much for a high-pressure job, though.
Marcia: I can't offer you any more holiday.
Sarah: No, but I was wondering if we could delay my start date, so instead of starting a week from now, as we discussed, I could start in a month's time?
Marcia: You're a tough negotiator, Sarah!
Sarah: That's one of the reasons you hired me!
Marcia: Yes, of course. OK, I think we can do that. I'll look forward to seeing you in a month and earning those bonuses!
Hello Linda Yao,
A fixed salary is the money which a particular person receives for their work every month and which does not change.
Almost all companies have pay scales, as a director earns more than a lower level employee! However, the pay scale can be based on other variables than merely a person's position in the company hierarchy. For example, a person might be at one level of the scale for the first six months of their employment (a probationary period) and then move up, or might move up once certain targets are reached, such as completing a certain number of tasks or achieving a certain level of success.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team