Pre-Intermediate Listening Practice

John: Ah, good morning, Pia Marcotti, isn't it?

Pia: Yes, good morning.....

John: Oh, I'm John Reeves. I manage the sales department here at Rosco International. You can call me John.

Pia: Ok John.

John: Have you already been shown around the company?

Pia: Yes, I got here at 9am and Suzy gave me a tour of the place.

John: And what did you think?

Pia: It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be.

John: Yes, a lot of people say that. Now we have over fifty people working for us here. Did you bring your CV?

Pia: I sent it by e-mail last week.

John: Oh yes, of course. I was reading it only yesterday. Now, where is it....ah, here it is,  here we are. Pia Marcotti, 26 years old, born in Rome...hmmm...ok, let's see. Where did you hear about Rosco International?

Pia: My brother worked for you a couple of years ago and has always spoken well of you.

John: Luigi Marcotti, yes I remember him. How long did he work here for?

Pia: I think it was about 10 months. Now he's living in the UK. He's been working for a magazine in London for around a year.

John: You'll say "hi" to him from me, won't you?

Pia: OK, sure.

John: Now, tell me something about your work experience Pia.

Pia: Well, I worked in the offices of my mother's company when I left university.

John: And what sort of company does your mother run?

Pia: It's a caterers. She does the catering for weddings, graduations, funerals, that type of thing.

John: And how long did you work there for?

Pia: About a year or so. They put me on the phones and I was also responsible for all the advertising and our leaflets, business cards and the website.

John: So you didn't do any of the cooking?

Pia: No ...they kept me a long way from the kitchen.

John: So what did you do after that?

Pia: Well, I traveled for a little while, mostly in Europe and a little in South America.

John: How long did you go traveling for?

Pia: Oh, it wasn't too long. Maybe about six months. I had a job that was going to start at the end of the year so I had about six months free, so I thought "why not?".

John: Did you have any problems with the languages where you went?

Pia: Not really. I speak Italian and Spanish quite well....

John: Oh yes, it's written here on your resume, isn't it? How long have you been studying those languages?

Pia: Well, my father is Italian so I am fluent in Italian. I have studied Spanish for about seven years so I can get by pretty well in that too.

John: Actually, we do have a lot of business with Sicily so your Italian could be really important.

Pia: I would really like the chance to use my Italian for work.

John: What did you do when you came back from your travels?

Pia: Well, as I said before, I already had another job lined up and that was in a small shoe company just outside town.

John: Err...Bradley Footwear, it's called, isn't it?

Pia: Bradford Footwear.

John: Ah yes, here it is. It says here you worked in their sales department. How long did you do that for?

Pia: I was there for three years and I worked in the sales department for two of those three years.

John: Did you enjoy the work?

Pia: Well, it was fun at the beginning, but it's not a very large company and they only have a few customers in the region, so it got pretty repetitive after a while. That's why working for an international company like yourselves would really interest me.

John: OK, let's go and get a cup of coffee and we can continue this conversation afterwards.