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3. A MUNKA VILÁGA, NAPI TEVÉKENYSÉG
with my future boss on my starting salary, the office hours and the lunch break, the amount of paid holiday I
would be entitled to. He also shows me round the office and tells me what my responsibilities would be. As the
job and the conditions appeal to me I accept that I would be on probation for the three months. Of course, you
should be adequately paid for your work so that you don’t have to work on the side.
To work Good points, bad points
- in factory - to get on well with boss and colleagues
- for a company, firm, subsidiary - good chance of promotion
- in agriculture - no backbiting
- in heavy, light industry - to have kind and helpful mates
- to run a private practice - to draw a high salary
- to be a guest-worker abroad - to work in pleasant and healthy surroundings
- to do casual work - to lick one’s boots
- to do moonlightning - to do a lot of overtime
- to be underpaid; high number of accidents
- no responsibility; no freedom
Jobs can be grouped in several ways as, e.g. manual and non-manual jobs. The workers doing manual work
often referred to as blue-collar workers. The ones doing mainly brainwork are called white-collar workers.
Some jobs need university qualifications, and these are professions; others don’t and these are skilled, semi-
skilled or unskilled. Skilled people are those who have learnt a trade such as pastry-cook, turner, joiner,
plumber, shop assistant, car mechanic, railwayman, tailor, barber. Unskilled jobs, such as the job of factory
hand, do not require special training.
Other occupations are the followings:
- Professions
Design/electrical engineer, psychiatrist, solicitor/barrister/lawyer, judge, physician(doctor), vet, interpreter,
(chartered) accountant, clerk, model, social worker, university professor, teacher, architect, surgeon, computer
programmer
- Trades and other occupations
caretaker, cashier, dustman, coach, chimney sweep, hotel receptionist, cook, coal miner, house painter, air pilot,
postman, travel agent, technician, salesman, baby sitter, shoemaker, librarian, speech-therapist, glazier, …
• I am afraid I don’t really know exact figures about how many unemployed inhabitants are there
in Hungary. All I know is that at the moment unemployement is still rising. The unemployed may feel guilty
about being out of work even if it is not their fault. They feel they are useless and a burden on a state. They join
the dole queue and receive just enough money not to starve. In my opinion some people don’t want to work,
because they can get enough aid from their councils; others haven’t got a suitable trade and some firms claim
much more than they should. You should have 3-5 years training in your trade and you should speak two
languages fluently although they don’t want to get you enough salary.
People begin to save when there is enough money for all that is needed in the family. Most people save
for a flat, a plot of land, a week-end cottage or for holidays abroad. There are some who save for a car or put
money aside to purchase durable consumer goods or new funiture. Naturally, many people save without any
definitive end, just for the sake of the safety. Others can’t afford to put any money aside because of their
income and it is just about enough to keep body and soul together.
The retirement age in Hungary is 60 for woman and 62 for men, but these age limits are going to be
changed in the near future. There are some occupations from which people can get pensioned off at an earlier
age if they have been in employment for at least 30 years. As far as I know a few such jobs are that of a miner,
a policeman, a fireman and the soldier.
It seems to me that in today’s Hungary wage-earners earn more than salary-earners, especially if they
work in private industry. For example the starting salary wages of a skilled worker with three years’ training are
higher than the commencing salary of a teacher or a doctor with eight or nine years’ training. I would
recommend my son to set up his own business or to tell the truth, more you learn, more you earn at a joint-
venture. If my daughter didn’t want to go to university, I would recommend her to become a hairdresser or a
beautician. Both are good jobs for getting tips.
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