The Job Application Paragraph
You are writing a short paragraph in Greek for a job application to a tourist office in Rhodes. You want to say you are 18, you finished high school last year, you speak English well and a little German, and you worked in a café for two summers. The advertisement asks for 'good communication skills' and 'availability in July and August'. You must include all these points and stay within 120 words. Your draft currently reads: «Είμαι 18 χρονών. Τελείωσα το λύκειο πέρυσι. Μιλάω καλά αγγλικά και λίγο γερμανικά. Δούλεψα σε καφέ δύο καλοκαίρια.»
1. What is missing from the draft relative to the advertisement, and how would you add it?
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The draft covers age, schooling, languages and café experience, but omits the two things the advertisement actually asks for: good communication skills and availability in July and August. Additions: «Έχω καλές επικοινωνιακές δεξιότητες, γιατί δούλευα με πελάτες σε πολυσύχναστο καφέ» (linking the skill to evidence) and «Είμαι διαθέσιμος/η όλο τον Ιούλιο και τον Αύγουστο». The judgement is that a job application must answer the advertisement's stated requirements explicitly, not just list personal facts. A reader selecting candidates will look for the advertised criteria first; leaving them out weakens the application even though the Greek is correct.
2. How would you connect the sentences so the paragraph reads as a coherent application rather than a list?
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Use connectives that show reason and sequence: «Είμαι 18 χρονών και έχω τελειώσει το λύκειο. Επειδή δούλευα δύο καλοκαίρια σε καφέ, έχω αποκτήσει καλές επικοινωνιακές δεξιότητες. Μιλάω καλά αγγλικά και λίγο γερμανικά, οπότε μπορώ να εξυπηρετήσω τουρίστες. Επιπλέον, είμαι διαθέσιμος/η όλο τον Ιούλιο και τον Αύγουστο.» The connectives «επειδή», «οπότε» and «επιπλέον» turn separate facts into a reasoned argument: experience causes the skill, the languages enable the service, and availability is added as a further point. This is coherence at the level of text, not grammar - each sentence now supports the application's purpose.
3. The advertisement is formal. Which choices in the draft or your revision would you keep, and which would you change, to match the register?
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Keep the first-person statements and the plain vocabulary (καφέ, αγγλικά) - they are appropriate and clear. Change or avoid: slang or casual fillers (λοιπόν, βασικά, τέλεια), and overly familiar phrasing such as «δούλεψα σε καφέ» without context; better «εργάστηκα σε καφετέρια» in a formal application. Use the formal pronouns and avoid direct commands. Keep the paragraph impersonal in tone but personal in content: «Θα ήμουν ευτυχής να συζητήσουμε…» is a suitable closing. The judgement is that formal register in Greek job applications is achieved through verb choice and courtesy formulas, not through long sentences; the draft's content can stay, but the wording should be lifted slightly and the advertised criteria must be stated explicitly.