Sound MORE Fluent in 20 Minutes with this English Reading Lesson!

Today, you're going to  learn English with the news.

We're going to read a news article together.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course.

I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

First, I'll read the headline.

Got a job offer.

Now it's time to negotiate.

We're talking about negotiating, a very important  skill, especially when it comes to a job offer.

So first, let's take a look at this question.

Got a job offer?

Got a job offer?

This is very natural.

This is something a native speaker  would say, however is a short form.

The full sentence would be  do you have a job offer?

Do you have a job offer?

Native speakers will often replace have with got.

So what we're doing is you're just deleting  the auxiliary verb and the subject because  

it's not necessary to understand,  and then you're changing have to got.

Got a job offer.

Now you could also use got as the verb  and then use the auxiliary verb have.

Have you got a job offer?

But in American English this is more common.

Do you have a job offer?

And then this is extremely common  and for a native speaker here is  

something that native speakers  commonly say every single day.

Got a SEC, Got a SEC.

Do you know what this means?

It means do you have a second, a  second meaning a period of time.

So it's just a casual way of  saying do you have some time?

So if I need assistance, I can say got a SEC?

Can you help me complete the report?

So got a job offer?

Do you have a job offer?

Now it's time to negotiate.

So let's start the article.

Millions of people are quitting  their jobs and finding new ones  

in what has been dubbed the great resignation.

So here to quit, just to make  sure you know this is when you  

permanently leave your position  and it's your choice to do so.

I quit.

I'm permanently leaving this job because I don't  like it and I want to find a different one.

Here.

The expression is to be dubbed,  

and this is when someone or something is  formally or officially called something.

So for example, I saw earlier this week that  

Taylor Swift has been dubbed Person  of the Year by Time Time magazine.

So Taylor Swift has officially  been called Person of the Year.

She has received this title, but she's received  it from someone specific, Time magazine.

So this is the context in which you  would use dub as a replacement for call.

We certainly don't use it to  introduce ourselves with our name.

Perhaps Taylor Swift could introduce  herself as Hi, I'm Taylor Swift.

I've been dubbed Person of the Year by Time.

She could do that to talk  about her official title,  

but she wouldn't do that to introduce her name.

Let's continue.

If you're looking for a job,  you've got the advantage.

So here this is another replacement.

You have got, you have the advantage.

So you could use either one have got  or simply you have the advantage.

The advantage means the  best conditions for success.

This is commonly used in sports, but it  can be used in other contexts as well.

And there's an expression  that we say the upper hand,  

so the advantage can also  be called the upper hand.

You have the upper hand.

So let's say there are two sports teams  and one team is playing in their home city.

That team has the advantage.

That team has the upper hand because  all the fans will be cheering for them  

and supporting them, and they've  practiced on that exact field.

So they have the upper hand.

They have the advantage.

And if you've received a job  offer, it's now time to negotiate.

Now of course, negotiating  is very culturally specific.

In North America, it's expected that  you would negotiate a salary position.

So a salary, meaning you get a set  amount per year, $80,000 per year,  

but in for hourly positions you can  negotiate them but it's not as expected.

As a salary position, it would be  very common for someone to say no,  

the hourly rate isn't negotiable, but that  salary position is almost always negotiable.

What about in your country?

Share in the comments if it is common  or expected to negotiate your job,  

offer the salary in your job offer.

Share that in the comments Before we move on.

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The best part is that you can  learn from topics that are  

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You can choose an existing article from  the categories such as business, science,  

or tech, or you can upload any article  online simply by entering the link.

And now my article's ready to review.

Pays AI has an audio feature so you can  hear the content read by a native speaker.

This will help you improve both your listening  skills and pronunciation at the same time.

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Now let's continue with our lesson.

While salary tends to be the major negotiation  point, so that's what I just talked about, salary.

That's how much you make per year.

It's not the end of the conversation.

So by saying it's not the end of the conversation,  

it means that there are other opportunities to  negotiate beyond the salary, beyond the salary.

So that means more than the salary.

There are other benefits and perks  that can be flexible as well.

So a benefit could be sick time, vacation  time, or a bonus and then a perk.

A perk is something additional you  receive that is more unofficial.

So maybe you get a free lunch every single day.

That could be a perk, so you don't have  to make your lunch and you don't have  

to pay for lunch, or you get a free  Metro pass or a free parking spot.

That could be a perk.

So there are more unofficial things, but those  are flexible, which means you can negotiate them.

So I wrote those examples of  benefits and perks for you.

Now I wrote flexible.

Another way is negotiable.

So to negotiate negotiable, negotiable.

Now you could also say non negotiable  which means it cannot be negotiated.

It isn't flexible.

So the employer might say the  hourly rate is non negotiable,  

which means you will not receive  any higher than advertised.

The hourly rate is non negotiable.

But then you might say how about the benefits?

How about the perks?

Because remember there are other things  to negotiate, at least in North America.

Again, please share how negotiation  works in your culture in the comments.

I think it would be really interesting  to know first stay mom on pay.

You might be wondering about this mom.

What does this mean?

In this context, To stay mum means to stay silent.

So don't talk about pay.

Be silent, Stay silent, stay mum.

Now we have an expression where  we use this more commonly.

Mum's the word.

Mum's the word.

So here's the context.

Let's say you're planning a  surprise party for your mom,  

and you might tell your mom's  best friend or coworker.

Remember, the party for my mom is a surprise.

So you're reminding that  person not to say anything.

And then the person can reply back  and say don't worry, mum's the word,  

mum's the word, which means don't worry,  I won't say anything about the surprise.

I'll be silent.

I'll be quiet.

Now I used mom specifically  because Mom in North America.

America is of course short for mother.

But I want you to notice that the  pronunciation is slightly different here.

Um, notice my mouth.

Um, mom, mom.

But here mum um, it's more of an unstressed mum.

Mum mums the word.

So don't say moms the word.

It's not mom, mother, it's mum, mum, mum.

Mum's the word, mum's the word.

So if someone shares a secret with you  and they say please don't tell anyone,  

you can say mum's the word to reassure  them that you won't say anything.

So first stay mum on pay until the time is right.

Recruiters often ask for a salary  figure, a recruiter, A recruiter.

A recruiter, of course, is a person  who finds employees for a company.

So companies hire recruiters to find  workers for specific job openings.

Recruiters often ask for a salary  figure early in the hiring process.

So perhaps you submit your application  and before they schedule an interview,  

they might reply to your application and  say, oh, what are your salary expectations?

What are your salary expectations?

But this advice is to stay mum, so  not provide that and a salary figure.

A figure is when you give a range,  so a low point and a high point,  

So you might say between 50  to 6050, thousand to 60,000.

Of course that's salary annual  between 50 to 60 a year.

So I wrote that here and notice  that you can summarize thousand  

with the letter K SO60K is 60,000  but try to avoid giving a number.

So remember stay mum on pay.

Now avoid is a gerund verb which  is why you have giving in ING.

So I see a lot of mistakes with this.

Remember avoid plus gerund but  try to avoid giving a number.

So that's why mum's the word  the right time to bring pay up.

So to bring something up is when you talk  about it, so the right time to talk about.