Hola
Ferrari
Evian
IBM
AGFA
Philips
Carlsberg
IKEA
BBC 1
Olympic
Pravda
Aker AS
Istambul
Nokia
Denmark
Norway
France
Holland
Spain
Finland
USA
Britain
Turkey
Russia
Germany
Greece
Italy
Sweden
furniture retailer
newspaper
computer company
beer
electronics company
industrial company
mineral water
seaport
airline
car manufacturer
photographic company
mobile phone company
weekly magazine
television channel
UNIT 8. THE CAREER LADDER
Alexandra Pappas is a well known chef from Greece but when she was young she had no idea she would pick this profession. When she left school, she applied for a position of a manager in a local joint-venture advertising company. She was young, so they offered her a job as a trainee. She didn't earn much, but they gave her in-house training, and she went on several training courses.
Alexandra worked hard and her prospects looked good. Her boss was very pleased with her progress and she soon got a good pay rise. After three years she was promoted and after five years she was in charge of a department with five employees under her.
By the time Alexandra was 30, she decided she wanted a fresh challenge and a career change. She wanted to work abroad, so she resigned and started looking for another job. After a month she got a job in an international tourist company which involved a lot of foreign travel. She was very excited about this and at first she really enjoyed the tourist business, but...
After six months, Alexandra started to dislike the travelling and living in hotels. She didn't do well in the job either. After a year the company dismissed her, and Alexandra found life difficult. She was unemployed and really depressed for nine months, because nobody wanted to hire her.
One day she agreed for an unskilled work and got a part-time job in the kitchen of a restaurant. First it was difficult for her but later she got used and even loved the restaurant.
She started learning to cook and enjoyed it very much. Soon she found herself cooking not only dishes she knew but inventing new recipes. She had no idea she would become a chef, but the more she cooked the more she realized there was no end to the learning process. There was always room for growth and it made life so exciting! She went to special courses and had an opportunity to meet and work with some of the best and most talented chefs from all over the world. Every one of these world-famous chefs offered something new she could add to her skills. They also taught her some things she could incorporate into her efforts of improving Greek cuisine.
Two years later she took over the restaurant and was in charge with coaching a lot of young chefs. After a year, she understood she was ready for her own business, so she opened a restaurant. It was so successful that after 20 years she had 10 restaurants. Alexandra retired at the age of 80, a very rich woman. When once she was asked about the reason of her success, she laughed and answered: “The most important thing is to go ahead and cook as much as you can and always taste what you have made. If you like the food you have prepared, chances are other people will like it too.”