| Word | Definition | Translation | Word in context | Vocabulary building | Examples and remarks |
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| salary |
A salary is weekly/ monthly or yearly payment for work. (When applying for a job, you usually negotiate what your annual salary will be.) |
Gehalt/ Lohn |
What is a good salary for teachers in your country? |
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Company CEOs earn a high salary (a lot of money). If you don't earn very much, you have a low salary. Some employees, such as sales representatives, are paid a basic salary, which can be quite low, plus commission (a percentage of everything they sell). See also gross pay and net pay . |
| salutation |
The salutation is the opening greeting of a letter. |
Begrüßung (- sformel) |
Note the differences in punctuation between salutations in UK and US-style business letters. For the UK you should write "Dear Ms Jones" (no punctuation), while for the US you should write "Dear Ms. Jones:" (a full stop after Ms and a colon at the end of the line). |
to salute (verb) |
Soldiers salute (verb) by raising their right hand to their head to greet a superior officer. |
| scholarship |
A scholarship is money for studying awarded on merit. |
Stipendium |
I was able to study abroad because of the scholarship. |
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| screening |
As part of the recruitment process, companies may get in touch with potential interview candidates (usually by phone) and ask them some questions to check their suitability for the job. This is known as candidate screening. |
Auswahlmethode |
Screening is usually conducted by a member of the human resources department. The screening interview is designed to eliminate unqualified candidates. |
to screen (verb); candidate screening/ screening interviews |
To screen a candidate for a job. |
| (to) search for |
To search for something means to try to find something. |
suchen/ forschen nach |
She has spent many hours on the internet searching for information about the company. |
to search (verb) |
To search something means to look through it carefully. All of our bags were searched at the airport before we were allowed to leave. Zoe searched the net for specific information about possible jobs in her field (= she used the internet for her job search). |
| self-starter |
A self-starter is someone who uses their own initiative and does not have to be told what to do. |
Eigeninitiative ergreifen |
Many companies put self-starter right at the top of their list of desirable employee skills together with interpersonal and communication skills, teamwork (skills) and analytical skills. That's why you'll find the word self-starter in many job advertisements. |
self-employed (adjective); self-starter, self-motivated (adjective); self-initiative (noun) |
self- is a common prefix in the context of work: a selfemployed person is someone who works for themselves rather than being employed by a company. He or she has to be a self-starter, selfmotivated and have selfinitiative. |
| skill |
A skill is something you have learnt to do well. Some skills, such as computer skills, often require special training. Other skills, such as communication or leadership skills, can be acquired anywhere, at college or through sport or voluntary work, without formal training. |
Fähigkeit/ Kompetenz |
When you write your job application, you must highlight your skills and qualifications to show that you have what the company is looking for. |
to learn/ acquire (verb) a skill; skilled/ unskilled/ skilful (adjective); skilfully (adverb) |
Soft skills are "emotional" skills such as leadership, negotiating or interpersonal skills. Hard skills are technical or physical skills such as computer skills. Transferable skills are skills that you have acquired some time in your life, from previous work experience, education, societies, hobbies, parenting and so on, and that can be used in other areas as well. The prime minister answered several difficult questions skilfully (adverb) (= cleverly and tactfully). See also key skills and experience. Note that you can write either skillful (US) or skilful (UK) |
| skills CV |
See functional CV. |
Lebenslauf, dessen Schwerpunkt Fähigkeiten und Bildung sind |
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| small talk |
Light conversation is often referred to as small talk. In an interview, there will normally be some small talk, which will include a few icebreaker questions, before the real interview begins. |
Geplauder/ "small talk" |
It is a good idea to think of some subjects for small talk for your interview. Your hobbies or countries you have visited are good subjects to discuss in this situation. |
to make (verb) small talk |
I don't really enjoy making small talk. |
| social security |
In the UK, social security is the name for government insurance schemes for health, pensions, unemployment and so on. In the US, social security is the government pension fund. It is the largest deduction from your paycheck. |
Sozialversicherung |
With the unemployment rate being so high at the moment, many people in Britain have to live off social security. |
to draw social security / to receive social security benefits (verbs) |
Employed people pay social security contributions. See also benefit . |
| stipend |
A stipend is a fixed amount of money given to someone to pay for costs |
Gehalt/ Stipendium |
She was paid a monthly stipend of €300 while doing her internship at the publishing company. |
to be paid / receive a stipend (verb) |
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| student loan |
A student loan is money students in higher education borrow. A student loan helps a student cover costs at university. It usually has to be paid back over a period of time at a very low interest after university. |
Studentendarlehen |
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| style sheet |
In the context of a word-processing or layouting program, a style sheet defines formats such as font (for example, Arial, Times New Roman), font size (points), line spacing, margin widths and more. Style sheets are important for giving a consistent look to any document by ensuring that the same styles are used throughout the document. |
Stilvorlage/ Formatvorlage/ Muster |
It's a good idea to use a style sheet when you are writing your CV and cover letter. The style sheet will help you to create a clean, consistent layout. |
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Cascading style sheets (CSS) are style sheets used together with HTML (hypertext mark-up language) to produce an internet page. Style sheets in a wider sense (also called style manuals or style guides) are rules on how to format a document and are especially important in the publishing industry and for scholarly publications. |
| summer job |
A summer job is any job a student does during the summer. It is not necessarily related to the student’ s studies. |
Sommerjob |
Although my summer job working as a hotel receptionist in my home town had nothing to do with the subjects I'm studying, I was still able to gain valuable experience of dealing with people and develop my organisational skills. |
to do / get / apply for a summer job (verb) |
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