In pairs, discuss the following questions. 1. What training have you had over the years for your job? 2. Have you found out information in your spare time that will help with your job? Why/why not? 3. Do you think the job that you do now will require the same skills in five years’ time? Why/why not?

Read the following article and consider the vocabulary. In the next step, you will be asked to put the vocabulary in the correct gaps (1 – 8). You may need to change the form of the words.

Read the article again and complete the following summary with one, two or three consecutive words.

Read the statements and consider your responses. Your answers will not be shared with your manager or employer, and are for the purpose of practicing and applying your comprehension of business English.

Now add up your score and discuss it with a partner. Consider the following questions. • Did you score 4 or 5 on any statements? What were they? What do you think you can do to improve in these areas? • Which areas do you feel quite confident in? Is it possible that you could help others with these areas? • Did anything on the questionnaire surprise you? • If you had to add anything to the questionnaire, what would it be?

Check your answers from the Fill in Blank step above by listening to this summary: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/undefined/upskilling/audioplayer/upskilling_bemp3 [If we have the mp3 file, we can import it and host it as a native audio file]

In pairs, discuss the following questions. 1. What tasks have you done in the past that you found daunting at the beginning? 2. Is it possible to future-proof your job? How/why not? 3. What skills are paramount in your job? Why is that? 4. When was the last time you did something unprecedented in your life? What was it? Why did you do it? 5. Have you ever witnessed the ravages of a particularly bad storm or a natural disaster? What was it like? 6. What subjects are the most divisive in your country? Why is that?

Consider the following titles and match them to paragraphs A – D. You will not need all of the titles. 1. Small investments 2. Widening the focus 3. The schools of tomorrow 4. The ground moving beneath our feet 5. A possible answer 6. Promoting cultural understanding

Imagine you are your manager. Write an evaluation of yourself using the third person (he/she/they). Outline your qualities as well as areas that could be improved upon. Use the work you did on the questionnaire to form your ideas.