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ESL Podcast 400 – Working in a Dead End Job
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 400 – Working in a Dead End Job
GLOSSARY
employment agency – a business that helps people find jobs
* DeShawn had been looking for a job for almost six months, so he decided to go
to an employment agency to get some professional help.
dead end job – a job that does not have opportunities for the future; a job that
does not lead to another job with greater responsibilities, importance, and pay
* Working at a fast food restaurant is a dead end job for many people, so they
usually don’t stay there more than a few months.
advancement – promotion; moving up within an organization from an
unimportant position to one with more responsibility and better pay
* Cailee wants to find a job with a lot of opportunities for advancement so that
she will always be challenged in her work.
pay scale – a system that sets a minimum and maximum payment amount to
each kind of job in a business or organization
* According to the company pay scale, a senior manager makes between
$75,000 and $92,000 per year.
pay raise – an increase in one’s salary; an increase in the amount of money that
one is paid for working
* Most employees get a pay raise at the end of their first year if they are good
workers.
employment history – a record of where one has worked in the past and for
how long
* His employment history shows that he spent four years in the army before
beginning to work in sales.
mind-numbing – boring; extremely uninteresting
* That class is so mind-numbing that most of the students fall asleep in the first
half-hour!
menial – boring and unimportant; uninteresting because something is too easy to
do
* During her first day at work, they gave her the menial task of writing addresses
on envelopes. She was so bored!
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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 400 – Working in a Dead End Job
to burn out – to no longer be able to do something because one has done too
much of it in the past and is too bored, tired, or sick to continue
* Young lawyers who work 70 hours each week often burn out by the end of their
third year.
glass ceiling – the idea that people, especially women, who work in an
organization can see the top managers and presidents but can never become
one of them
* Many women think that there is a glass ceiling for them in this company
because all of the directors, vice presidents, and presidents are men.
to promote (someone) – to give someone a better job that has more
responsibility and better pay within the same organization where he or she was
already working
* Hank was promoted from Mechanic to Senior Mechanic last month and now he
makes a lot more money.
steppingstone – something that helps a person get to another place or to
another level, especially at work
* Getting a college degree is a steppingstone to most good jobs.
stumbling block – something that makes it difficult or impossible to do
something
* When the runner hurt his knee, it was a major stumbling block in his athletic
performance.
reference – an evaluation of a person as an employee, made by someone who
knows one professionally, usually when one is applying for a job
* Pauline used to work for me, so she asked me to write a letter of reference
when she decided to apply for a new job.
to be trapped – to not have any options; to be forced to do something; to not be
able to change something
* Once they bought a house, they were trapped in their jobs, because if they quit
working, they wouldn’t be able to pay for their new home.
personal satisfaction – a feeling of happiness and contentment from what one
is doing
* Kayeesha worked as a lawyer for years, but she didn’t find personal satisfaction
until she quit her job and began singing professionally.
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 400 – Working in a Dead End Job
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. Which of these would be part of a dead end job?
a) Advancement
b) Menial work
c) Personal satisfaction
2. What does Kurt mean when he says that there was a glass ceiling in his job?
a) The building was made of glass.
b) He got cut a lot at work.
c) There were not opportunities for advancement.
______________
WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?
to burn out
The phrase “to burn out,” in this podcast, means to no longer be able to do
something because one has done too much of it in the past and is too bored,
tired, or sick to continue: “After seven years of graduate school, Kelly was burnt
out on studying and going to school.” The phrase “to burn up” means to have a
very high fever or a very high body temperature: “This child is burning up! We
need to take him to the doctor’s office right away.” Finally, the phrase “to burn
down” means for a building to be destroyed by a fire so that there is nothing left:
“When the candle fell over, the house made of wood quickly caught on fire and
burned down.”
reference
In this podcast, the word “reference” means an evaluation of a person as an
employee, made by someone who knows one professionally, usually when one is
applying for a job: “People have to send a list of three references when they
apply for that job.” The phrase “with reference to (something)” means regarding
or about: “Hello, I’m calling with reference to your ad to sell your car.” When
writing an academic paper, a “reference” is a book or article that one used to find
information: “Don’t forget to list your references at the end of your essay.”
Finally, as a verb, “to make a reference to” means to refer or to mention a book,
article, or other source of information that one used while writing a paper: “Did
you make a reference to any books from other countries, or did you read books
only by American authors?”
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 400 – Working in a Dead End Job
CULTURE NOTE
American companies “recruit” (look for new employees) in many different ways.
One of the simplest and most inexpensive ways is to place an “ad”
(advertisement or announcement) in the local newspaper. Sometimes they place
ads in “journals” (academic magazines) for professionals in a “field” (an area or
type of work).
Many companies also use the power of the Internet for recruitment. Companies
often post “job descriptions” (a summary of what the job is and what the company
is looking for in a new employee) on their website. Other companies use
employment websites specifically for job announcements to “post” (upload
something to the Internet for others to read) their job announcements.
“Jobseekers” (people who are looking for a new job) can read job
announcements on those websites and then “apply” (send in the required papers
to be considered for a job) for those jobs.
Companies that have a lot of money and need to hire for “top” (very important)
positions often use “executive search firms,” which are also known informally as
“headhunters.” These companies call people who are working in similar jobs at
other companies and try to get them interested in coming to the company that is
“hiring” (looking for a new employee). They often do this by offering to pay more
money than what the other company is currently paying.
Finally, many American companies recruit on college “campuses” (areas with
many college buildings). They send a representative to a college campus to
speak with interested students before they have completed their education.
Some of these students are offered jobs to work after they finish college even
before their graduation from the university.
______________
Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – b; 2 – c
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 400 – Working in a Dead End Job
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 400: Working in a
Dead End Job.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 400. I’m your host, Dr.
Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in
beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com. Go there to download a Learning Guide for this
episode to help you improve your English even faster.
This episode is called “Working in a Dead End Job.” It’s a conversation between
Kurt and a woman who works at an “employment agency,” a company that helps
you find a job. Let’s get started.
[start of dialogue]
Agency employee: Tell me why you’d like to sign up with our employment
agency.
Kurt: Well, right now I’m working in a dead end job. There are no opportunities
for advancement. I’m already at the top of the pay scale, so there’s no chance of
another pay raise.
Agency employee: Okay, I’d like to find out a little more about your employment
history. Tell me about your last job.
Kurt: Oh, that was a mind-numbing position. I did menial work all day and I
burned out in six months.
Agency employee: What about the job you had before that?
Kurt: The problem with that job was that there was a glass ceiling. They would
never promote a person like me.
Agency employee: And what about the job you had before that?
Kurt: I only took that job as a steppingstone to the next one, but it turned out to
be a stumbling block instead. My boss didn’t like me and wouldn’t give me a
good reference.
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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