Multiple matching

Multiple matching

My first summer job

Four young people describe their first summer jobs

You are going to read an article in which four young people describe their first summer job. For questions 1-10, choose from the people (A-D). The people may be chosen more than once.

A

Tomás

I spent last July picking strawberries on a farm about twenty minutes from my town. I’ll be honest: I only applied because I wanted to buy a second-hand motorbike, and the farm paid better than the café in the high street. I thought it would be easy money. By the end of the first week, my back and knees complained every time I bent down, and I was going to bed at nine like a little kid. The work itself was the same thing hour after hour, so a couple of us invented competitions, like who could fill a tray fastest or find the biggest strawberry, just to keep ourselves going. I wouldn’t say it changed my life. I still want to study engineering, as I did before, and I’m certainly not planning a career in farming! But I did get the motorbike.

B

Niamh

My first job was on the reception desk at a large campsite. I’d applied to about fifteen places online before they called me, so I was just relieved to get something. The manager was lovely, but she checked everything I did for the first month, which was frustrating at the time, although now I understand why. The worst moment was when a family arrived at midnight to find their booking had been lost. The father was furious, and he took it out on me even though it wasn’t my mistake. I managed to stay calm and found them a space, but I was shaking afterwards. Looking back, there were several things about the booking system that confused me, and I just kept quiet and guessed. I really should have asked earlier. It would have saved a lot of stress for me and for the guests.

C

Kwame

I worked as an assistant at a children’s summer camp. I’d actually applied to be a swimming instructor, so when they gave me arts and crafts instead, I was a bit let down. I’d never thought of myself as creative. On my second day, one of the group leaders was ill, and suddenly I was looking after twelve eight-year-olds on my own. Nobody had warned me that might happen! It was exhausting, not so much physically as mentally, because you can never stop paying attention. But by the end of the summer I had discovered how much I enjoyed helping children make things and seeing them proud of what they’d created. It’s the reason I’ve now applied to train as a primary school teacher, which I would never have considered a year ago.

D

Ingrid

I got my job in a garden centre because my aunt’s neighbour was the manager and mentioned they needed someone for the summer. I didn’t even have an interview, which felt slightly like cheating. The money was fine, but honestly that wasn’t why I wanted to work; I was bored at home and wanted something to do. I’d always been the quiet one at school, the person who hid at the back of the class, so I was terrified of serving at the till. In fact, I ended up loving it. Customers wanted advice about plants, and I found I could happily chat to complete strangers for ten minutes about tomatoes. Some days were very repetitive, watering hundreds of pots, but I didn’t mind that at all; it was peaceful. One woman shouted at me once about a price, but my manager dealt with her.

1. Which person unexpectedly found themselves in sole charge of other people?

2. Which person had a particular purchase in mind when they took the job?

3. Which person discovered that they were more sociable than they had believed?

4. Which person managed to solve a problem that they had not caused?

5. Which person underestimated how hard the job would be on their body?

6. Which person says the experience has changed their plans for the future?

7. Which person got the job without going through the usual selection process?

8. Which person wishes they had been more willing to admit what they didn’t know?

9. Which person was not given the role they had originally hoped for?

10. Which person describes how they and others made a dull task more bearable?