This is a full-length reading passage with questions before and after.  Make sure you use your time effectively and remember the checklist:

			take two minutes to survey the text and establish the general topic
			read the questions and instructions very carefully
			find the specific information quickly
			check your answers

Take no more than 20 minutes.  This is the maximum you should normally spend on any IELTS reading passage.

Here is a list of headings taken from the reading passage, which is in five sections.  Choose the heading which is most suitable for each section.

Recruitment trends across the Channel

Section 1
In the UK, there are three main types of professional recruitment organisation:  employment agencies, executive selection consultancies and executive search consultants.  These three types of organisation are geared to satisfying the needs of different levels of recruitment.  Incidentally, all companies involved in the recruitment of personnel should be licensed annually by the Department of Employment.  Additionally, it is totally illegal for any individual or organisation to be remunerated by a potential recruit in return for finding a job.
Employment agencies cover the lower end of the salary spectrum and tend to concentrate on functional specialisations - secretarial, accountancy, computer technicians, sales, etc., but will recruit up to junior management level.  Generally, potential recruits register with the agency which then tries to place that person with one of its clients.  Executive selection consultancies undertake a specific recruitment on behalf of a client, through advertisement.  The consultancy will analyse the position that has to be filled, draw up an advertisement and advise the client of the most appropriate medium in which to advertise.  Usually, the consultancy will handle the response and select a short list of the most suitable candidates.  Such consultancies mainly operate by functional specialisations and at junior to middle management posts.
Executive search, or 'head-hunting', can be described as the direct approach to a potential candidate with a view to recruiting that person on behalf of a client.  Executive search is used for middle and senior management appointments.

Section 2
Psychometric tests are designed to evaluate numerous aspects of a candidate’s personality and may include other assessments such as IQ, creativity and numerical skills.  Such tests can be administered by the use of computers and may be as short as five minutes or may take a whole day.  Graphology is the analysis of a person’s handwriting to give indications of personality, state of health, intelligence and so on.  Both forms of testing have received considerable attention over the last few years as companies have tried to make themselves more efficient in their methods of recruitment.
As with all forms of personality testing, neither sort of test is absolute.  Many indications are open to interpretation and so can give false impressions or suggestions – the difficulty lies in deciding what is correct. Nevertheless, psychometric testing in the UK is seen as an important and useful tool in the recruitment procedure for senior executives.  Most UK companies either have their own in-house testing facilities, or contract out to a single source of testing.  On the other hand, graphology has never really caught on in the UK to the extent that it has in France.  In face, most UK managers would place greater faith in tea leaves!

Section 3
Despite the UK recession and the high levels of unemployment in both the UK and France, there has been an increasing willingness by employers to go outside their national boundaries in the search for suitable recruits. This is especially true in areas where specialist skill shortages exist, such as in certain disciplines of electronics and pharmacology.
With the advent of the single market, a number of companies, especially US-owned, are taking the opportunity of rationalising their European operations. Rather than having a number of autonomous national subsidiaries, such companies are developing European headquarters or operations/co-ordination centres and are keeping what are, effectively, just regional offices in the various European countries.  Such headquarters need to be staffed by managers able to work with several different cultures – the commonly called ‘Euro-manager’.  There is no doubt that there are increasing opportunities for such people to live and work abroad.  Finally, the increased rate of redundancy amongst middle and senior management has produced, contrary to what might be expected, a perceptible change from advertised recruitment to the directed recruitment that constitutes executive search.

Section 4
Clearly, there are considerable difficulties involved in successful cross-Channel recruitment.  Slowly, however, major French and British companies are becoming more aware of the benefits of having an international dimension to their senior management.  It can be argued that major corporations, such as IBM and Rank Xerox, have long tried to give international experience to their senior managers.  They usually rely on the company for facilities and support and on the expatriate community for social life.  In contrast, the key factor in the personality of successful Euro-managers is a cultural sensitivity which permits them to recognise the strengths (and not only the weaknesses) of the various nationalities with which they work.
True fluency in two or more European languages is essential, together with the ability to communicate. Whatever their other abilities, however, the Euro-managers must, above all, be good at the job, whether it be finance, logistics or sales.  It is all too common to assume that linguistic ability can make up for mediocre¹ professional capability.

Section 5
Without a doubt, individuals must be prepared to be increasingly mobile and adaptable to different cultures, if they are to be really successful in the European employment market in the 1990s and beyond.  Employers will be seeking all the qualities and skills already discussed as our national barriers break down.  Such skills are, however, in short supply today and identifying individuals possessing them is not easy.  To recruit successfully across the Channel requires the existence of recruitment organisations whose staff have both extensive international experience and an excellent knowledge of their own national market.  Clearly, they must have offices in the country where the client wishes to recruit, as well as having the ability to work coherently and to uniform standards.
There is no doubt that international recruitment is becoming more commonplace and so employers, potential employees and recruitment organisations must all ensure that they are prepared to meet the demands of the next decade and beyond.

¹mediocre = not particularly good

Complete this key information from the passage.

Now complete these statements.

Choose the best answers to these questions.