Employment conversation questions

You and your job

 * How important is your work for you?
 * Are you able to divide your time effectively between work and leisure?
 * What positive effects does your work have on your life?
 * What negative effects, if any, does your work have on you? What can you do about it?
 * If you could choose, would you change your job? Would you just change some of the conditions but keep the same type of job?
 * Rate the following in order of importance for you (not important; important; very important):
 * decent salary
 * higher salary
 * shorter working day
 * flexible working hours
 * friendly workmates
 * pleasant atmosphere at work
 * Are people willing to move further away from home nowadays in order to find work? Would you?  Have any of your friends done this?
 * Would you be prepared to leave the country in order to look for work? If you HAD to leave the country where would you go to work?
 * In your job, do you prefer to deal with people or machines and systems? Why?

Working hours

 * How many hours a week in general do you think people work in your country?
 * Is there a law in your country about how many hours a week people can work?
 * Do you think people work too many hours?
 * Do you think working longer hours actually means you do more work?
 * Who do you think work longer hours: men or women?
 * Which professions do you imagine work more extra hours: managers and professionals or skilled and manual labour?
 * Why do people tend to work long hours?
 * What negative things can be caused by working too long?
 * How would you react if you were told in the job interview that the timetable would include shift work?
 * How would you react if you were told that you would have to work a lot of overtime?

Employment

 * Why do people have to work? In an "ideal" world would everybody work or nobody work?
 * What does the education system do to prepare people for work or to assist them to find jobs? Is it efficient?
 * Why do people go to university? To obtain job skills? To get a degree?  To have a good time?  To find a husband/wife? To put off having to go out into the "real life" and find a job?
 * In your job are you able to earn commission or get a productivity bonus, or do you only get a base salary?
 * Many people who embark on a career after obtaining a university degree seem to have more difficulty in finding employment than some skilled manual workers. Why is this?
 * Do you know how salaries in your country compare with your neighbours? Do most people consider themselves to be “overworked and underpaid”?  What professions are well-paid?

Job interviews
Main article Job interview conversation questions
 * Do you update your resume before every interview you go to? What information do you change most often?  Job references?  Career details?
 * When you go to a job interview you should arrive on time and fill in the application form neatly. What other things should you always do - or not do - at the interview?
 * How many job interviews have you had? What were they like? How did you feel?  Did you get the job?  What questions are usually asked at interviews?
 * What should you do in an interview? What should you NOT do?

Unemployment

 * Have you ever been on the dole (unemployed)? If you were on the dole did you only apply for jobs you were well suited for or would you try for any job?
 * What is the worst thing about being unemployed? If you have not been unemployed, what would you imagine is the worst thing about it?
 * How much redundancy money are people given when they are made redundant? Is it possible to live off the redundancy money for a long time or do people usually have difficulties in supporting their families?
 * In your country, is it possible for an employer to employees when they are on strike?  Do you think it should be possible to do this?
 * The stress caused by unemployment is high in the ranking of stress-related illnesses. What can be done to combat this form of stress?
 * What are the social effects of being unemployed, for instance, depression, drugs, crime, problems with families?
 * Is there anything good about being unemployed? Are you able to do interesting things in the extra time?
 * What sort of things help people to get jobs? What things prevent them getting jobs?
 * What help does the state give to unemployed people? Should it give more help or less?  Should the state have the responsibility to reduce unemployment?
 * Have you ever done any work experience? Was this useful or just slave labour?
 * Should unemployed people be obliged by the state to take ANY job - even if it’s poorly paid, a long way from where they live or not within their experience. Why/why not?
 * How efficient is the "unemployment office"? What does it actually do?
 * Do you think that the unemployment rate is affected by the amount of (paid or unpaid) overtime that people do? In other words, what would be the effect on unemployment of reducing overtime?
 * If more people worked part-time as opposed to full-time would this be a good way to reduce unemployment?
 * What effect would a shorter working week have on unemployment? What effect would it have on industrial efficiency?
 * What effect would early retirement have on unemployment? Would this cost the state more money?  Why/why not?
 * What effect will the low birth rates have on unemployment? What effect will it have on immigration?

Strikes

 * Should everybody have a right to strike or should employers have the right to fire employees who chose not to work?
 * If a general strike is called should people have a right to not strike, or is it legitimate for strikers to attempt to stop them working?
 * If a particular group is on strike is it legitimate for them to picket any place of business or should they only picket their own workplace?