O’Connell Advanced Training Solutions
English for Logistics
Worksheet: Job Applications and Relationship Management
Ever wanted to work as a corporate procurement manager? Want to know what the job involves?
That is a typical advertisement as found on LinkedIn. Sound like fun? I thought so!
In this lecture we are going to focus on job advertisements. Our language goals are English skills
in making suggestions and agreeing.
Ready to get started? Fantastic! Let’s go!
© Jacqueline Seidel 2015 Page !1 of !7
O’Connell Advanced Training Solutions
English for Logistics
Worksheet: Job Applications and Relationship Management
Exercise 1
Complete the job advertisement for a corporate procurement manager with words from the box.
fulfilment • negotiation • 3PL providers • procurement
command • vendors • supply chain • relationship
We are looking for a proactive and dynamic professional to take care of our strategic
procurement and supplier ______________ management.
Reporting to the Director of Corporate Procurement, the successful applicant will be
responsible for managing both internal and external customers and for working with the
appointed ______________ .
While liaising with the ______________ team, ______________, and related stakeholders, you
will also be involved in providing business support to optimise finance-logistics processes,
order ______________, and logistics costs.
Other responsibilities include providing initiatives to help maximise company business
profitability and efficiency.
The ideal candidate should have a degree in ______________ management or logistics
management with a deep understanding and knowledge of the China logistics market.
You should have at least 5 years' experience in a multinational company and you should
possess outstanding ______________ skills.
Based in Macau, excellent ______________ of English and Cantonese is a must with
Mandarin an advantage.
If you are interested in this role, please send your CV in Word format to…
Exercise 2
Read the job advertisement again and answer the questions.
1. What area will the new
corporate procurement
manager head?
2. What are the procurement
manager’s main
responsibilities? List two or
three.
3. Who will he/she collaborate
with closely in his/her job?
4. What qualifications are
expected?
5. What kind of experience is
required?
© Jacqueline Seidel 2015 Page !2 of !7
O’Connell Advanced Training Solutions
English for Logistics
Worksheet: Job Applications and Relationship Management
Exercise 3
Now it’s time to start listening. In the
downloadable section you will find an
Audio recording. Please listen to this
recording - in it you will hear three
purchasing managers discussing strategies
for negotiating with a supplier. Please
answer these questions about the
discussion.
1. What kind of relationship do they want with the supplier?
2. What would be the benefits of such a relationship?
3. What market position does the company have?
4. What kind of products do they make?
5. What kind of agreement are they interested in?
Please send me your thoughts via PM, or include your thoughts in a Discussion (via the Udemy
Discussion board for this lecture), so we can share thoughts, ideas and experiences.
Exercise 4
Now let’s build our language tool kit, and match these sentence beginnings with endings. These
sentences come from the dialogue, which you can listen to again to complete this
to point it out that we’re interested in establishing a long-term
1 How do you A
agreement.
that this is a good opportunity to associate with a brand like
2 I think we could B
ours.
3 What are your C feel about that?
Yes, and I also suggest
4 D lower costs considerably.
telling them
In my opinion it would say that it’s their last chance to enter the pharmaceutical
5 E
also be important market.
Good idea. And why
6 F thoughts on that, Gisele?
don’t we
© Jacqueline Seidel 2015 Page !3 of !7
O’Connell Advanced Training Solutions
English for Logistics
Worksheet: Job Applications and Relationship Management
Focus on… Language Focus on… Language
Asking for Opinions Giving Opinions / Making
Suggestions
What do you think?
How do you feel? I suggest that we…
What are your thoughts on that? In my opinion we should…
Do you agree? Perhaps we should…
Would you agree? Why don’t we …
Focus on… Language
Agreeing
That’s a good idea. That sounds good. I agree. That’s right.
Exercise 5
Let’s practice this language! You have received the following email from the purchasing
department in your company. Work out a few suggestions you could give, and reply to this email.
You can send me your reply via PM (through the Udemy messaging system) for feedback, or you
could post your reply in a Discussion for this lecture, where you can also get and share feedback
with fellow students.
© Jacqueline Seidel 2015 Page !4 of !7
O’Connell Advanced Training Solutions
English for Logistics
Worksheet: Job Applications and Relationship Management
Exercise 6
Let’s keep going with using this language. A Spanish courier company receives a quotation for
packing labels and consignment notes. Put the words or phrases into the correct order to make
sentences. The first parts have been done for you…
Quotations
When giving a customer a quotation it is necessary to include details on a number of things, e.g. prices,
discounts and delivery terms. Here are some useful phrases for quotations…
Please find attached our quotation for…
We are pleased to quote as follows…
Prices
The prices quoted above / below include…
We can offer you a price of … per …
We can offer you a 15% discount off the retail price.
We allow a 2% cash discount for payment within 30 days.
Discounts
Our prices are subject to a 25% trade discount off net price.
If your order exceeds 2,000 items, we can offer you a further 10% discount.
Delivery can be effected immediately after receipt of order.
Delivery As requested, we will be able to deliver on pallets to … (address)
We would be able to deliver within 10 days of receipt of order.
© Jacqueline Seidel 2015 Page !5 of !7
O’Connell Advanced Training Solutions
English for Logistics
Worksheet: Job Applications and Relationship Management
Exercise 7
Time to actively use these phrases (from the above table). Are you ready? Great! Match the
beginnings (1-6) with the endings (A-F) of these sentences.
For orders exceeding
1 A will deliver on pallets to Hamburg.
500 pieces,
We grant a cash
2 B to a 25% trade discount off net price.
discount
3 The prices quoted C we grant a discount of 7%.
4 As requested, we D of this article is €30.00.
5 Our prices are subject E above include transport charges.
6 The net price F of 4% on our list prices.
Exercise 8
Ready to prepare your own quotation? Five a customer a quotation by email based on these
details:
7G-DCT Dual-Clutch Transmission
Price: €575.00
more than 100 items: additional 8% discount
price includes 19% VAT
delivery within 10 days after order
You can send me your reply via PM (through the Udemy messaging system) for feedback, or you
could post your reply in a Discussion for this lecture, where you can also get and share feedback
with fellow students.
© Jacqueline Seidel 2015 Page !6 of !7
O’Connell Advanced Training Solutions
English for Logistics
Worksheet: Job Applications and Relationship Management
Exercise 9
Read the following article and then consider the questions, below.
1. What do you think of the strategic sourcing approach?
2. How are goods purchased in your company?
3. Do you buy goods for the company? What is the standard procedure?
You can send me your reply via PM (through the Udemy messaging system) for feedback, or you
could post your reply in a Discussion for this lecture, where you can also get and share feedback
with fellow students.
© Jacqueline Seidel 2015 Page !7 of !7