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Showing posts from November, 2016

Marketing - Sales

Word Meaning after sales service Service that continues after the sale of a product (maintenance, etc.) agent Person or company that acts for another and provides a specified service. B2B e-commerce Business to business e-commerce : use of commercial networks, online product catalogues and other online resources to obtain better prices and reach new customers. B2C e-commerce Business to consumer e-commerce : online sale of goods and services directly to consumers. benchmarking Comparing one's products to those of  competitors in order to improve quality and performance. buyer 1) Any person who makes a purchase. 2) A person employed to choose and buy stock for a company. cash refund offer Offer to pay back part of the purchase price of a product to customers who send a "proof of purchase" to the manufacturer. chain store Two or more shops or outlets that have the same owner and sell similar lines of merchandise. client A person who buys services or advice from a lawyer, an

Investments - Stock Market

Bid The price a buyer is willing to offer for shares in a company. Blue Chip Stocks Stocks of leading companies with a reputation for stable growth and earnings. Bond Certificate issued by companies and governments to their lenders. Capital Money and other property of companies used in transacting the business. Capital stock All shares representing ownership of a company. Commodities Products such as agricultural products and natural resources (wood, oil and metals) that are traded on a separate, authorized commodities exchange. Dividend A portion of a  company's earnings which is paid to the shareholders/stockholders on a quarterly or annual basis. Equity The value of stocks and shares;  the net value of mortgaged property. Equities Stocks and shares which represent a portion of the capital of a company. Futures Contracts to buy or sell securities at a future date. Insider All those who have access to inside information concerning the company. Insider dealing / trading Buying or s

Interview Questions

Before the interview : Prepare and practise giving responses to the questions without trying to memorise them. Find out as much as possible about the company as well as the position you are interested in. Remember to take an extra copy of your CV/résumé with you so that the employer can refer to it. 1 Tell me about yourself. 2 How would you describe yourself? (character / personality) 3 Are you married?  Single?  Do you have partner? 4 What are your strengths / weaknesses? 5 What do you do in your free time? What are your hobbies?  /  Do you have any hobbies? 6 Why are you interested in working for our company? Why do you want to work for this company? 7 What type of position do you think you are suited for / would suit you? 8 How would you describe the position we have to offer? 9 What aspects of the position are you most / least interested in? 10 What would you like to find in this job that you didn't have in your previous job? 11 How do you think you could develop the position?

Conclusions - useful phrases

We must focus our attention on ... What I suggest is ... There is a necessity for ... We need more ... We have no choice but to ... Appropriate measures must be taken The only option we have is to ... These changes are inevitable. We will have to revise our estimation. The result / outcome will be ... I strongly recommend ... To conclude, I am happy / I regret to announce that ...

Commenting trends - useful phrases

Increases : a slight/constant/marked/substantial/increase in sales an increase of about/roughly/approximately/in the region of ... % a little over/above what we predicted the recovery/upturn began in (month) an overall increase in ... an upward trend in the demand for ... sales reached record levels / reached a peak in (month) a strong surge in the sales of ... by (month), the figure had risen to ... we predict that sales will soar in the coming year / over the next ... months Decreases : just under our target way below our expectations a slight / notable / significant decrease in ... the downturn began in (month) the situation began to deteriorate in (month) the number has continued to fall Fluctuations : a slow start developed into steady progress in sales an initial upward trend was followed by ... we note slight fluctuations through the year normal seasonal variations are the cause of occasional downward trends sales have been (rather) irregular the level / the rate has been unstab

Graphs - Charts

Presenting Visuals -  useful phrases & vocabulary : As you will see from this graph ... I'd like to show you this chart on which you will see ... Let me draw your attention to this part of the graph. Let's look more closely at this month's figures. This figure refers to the sales in China only. This pie chart shows our share of the European market today. As you can see, our main competitor has an even bigger share. The bar chart represents sales in our Asian outlets. Here you can see a comparison between ... On the line graph you will note : a strong upward trend in the sales of product A ... despite occasional fluctuations ... with a slight drop during the holiday season ... with occasional variations due to ... the overall performance of product B is good.   The initial surge in sales was followed by a period of slower growth in the second half of the year. The instant success of the product was followed by a   period of stability in the level of sales.

Employment - Jobs

Word Meaning assessment Evaluation of one's abilities background Education - qualifications - experience bonus Additional payment to an employee as an incentive or reward curriculum vitae Summary of one's education and experience to date;  resume dismiss Discharge from employment (to fire, to sack, to let go) employee Person who works for a firm or company. employer Person or firm who employs people. fire To dismiss from a job. fringe benefits Advantages offered in addition to salary (life insurance, retirement scheme, company car, etc.). Also called 'perks', abbreviation for 'perquisites'. hire Employ or take on personnel in a company. interview Oral examination of a candidate for employment. make redundant Dismiss for economic reasons. maternity leave Period of absence for a female employee when having a baby. notice Advance warning of intention to leave one's job - to give or hand in one's resignation. personnel People who work for a firm or company (

Computers & Information Technology

Word Meaning modem A device that enables a computer to send and receive information over a telephone line (internet, email,  fax).  netiquette Network etiquette : a set of informal rules defining proper behaviour on the internet. portal A website that acts as a gateway or entry point to the internet (for example, Yahoo). Typically, a portal offers a search engine and links to other sites grouped into categories, as well as news or other services. program A sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute in order to do a particular job.  Programs are collectively referred to as 'software'. provider Company that provides access to the internet. scanner A piece of hardware, or peripheral device, used to scan a document and create a digital copy. spam Unwanted, irrelevant or inappropriate e-mail messages, especially commercial advertising.  Also referred to as 'junkmail'. spyware Software that collects information, without your knowledge, about your web-s