Getting a Job or Dropping Out?

Topic 117 Getting a Job or Dropping Out?

21 May 2021

1. Where is is easiest to get work in Australia? Where is it hardest to get work? Would you move inter-state to get a job?

2. Describe how you would get a job in your home country. How would you advise someone coming to live in that country?

3. What are some questions job interviewers ask? What questions are illegal for job interviewers to ask in Australia?

4. If you had a pension for life, would you still work? What would you do with your time?

5. Which countries have the longest working hours and fewest holidays? Which countries have the shortest working hours and the most holidays? Why do these differences exist? What are some results from these differences?

6. Why are women often paid less than men? Is this difference wrong, or can it be justified?

7. A Universal Basic Income (UBI) is an idea for the government to pay everyone a monthly income big enough for food and shelter. You would get a UBI even if you didn't have a job, but also if you had a job. Some countries are experimenting with UBI. Do you thing a UBI is a good idea? Why or why not?

8. Do you expect to have a typical career, buy a house, raise a family etc.? Some people choose to "drop out of the rat race". What do you think of the dropout choice? For example, in the early 1970's many young people rejected 'respectable' careers and became 'dropouts'. They were called hippies. Their motto was "Make love, not war" (They were against the war in Vietnam). At this time your organizer, Thor, backpacked through S.E. Asia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey .. and through to England. He was 26 y.o.

9. Many skills and professions are disappearing quickly because of the Internet and automation. New careers are also appearing. What are some of these old dying careers, and new careers? In 20 years tme, will your own profession exist?

10. At what age will your working life begin? At what age will your working life end? In most careers now it is very hard to get a job after 50 y.o. (I am told that in China, for IT work it is even hard to get work after 35 y.o). But you might live to 90 years old, or longer. What will you do from 50 to 90 years old?