Describe a paid job you or someone you know did.

　　You should say:

　　what job it was

　　when and where you or this person did the job

　　how long the job lasted

　　and explain why you or this person chose to do this job.

　　Believe it or not, one of my early jobs was as an English teacher right here in Beijing.

　　I had just graduated from university and I was willing to take anything I could get, so I applied for a range of jobs, including some positions as a teaching assistant in some English language schools. Having studied English, I thought I ought to try and use it in some way. I eventually received a job offer from “Rise and Shine English”, a small business that was just starting up. Most of the time the job involved looking after small children in classes taught by a foreign teacher who was a native speaker of English, but occasionally I would get the chance to teach myself.

　　It was great fun being around children and being able to pass my knowledge to others. The down side was that the hours were long and unsocial, with most classes taking place in the evenings or weekends. Although I loved the kids, working in that sort of environment takes its toll after a while, so after a year or so I called it quits.

　　As I mentioned, I took the job partly because I wanted to use my English, but mostly because it was the first place to offer me a job and I didn’t want to be unemployed. It’s important to get a foot on the career ladder and I’m a firm believer in being financially independent.