Work Vocabulary
Topic Vocabulary >> Work
If you’re employed, getting the necessary qualifications for a job, or still trying to decide what kind
of career you’re interested in, you’ll need to be able to tell the examiner about this if you’re asked
questions about work.
Read the following IELTS-style questions and answers below and pay attention to the phrases
in bold. Use the ‘Definitions’ section at the bottom of the page to check the meaning of any phrases
you don’t understand.
Part 1-style questions
Examiner: What do you do?
Sasha: I do a job-share with a friend in a boutique … I enjoy it … I like working with customers …
unfortunately it’s only temporary work but one of the perks of the job is I get a discount on the
clothes …
Examiner: Do you have any career plans yet?
Carly: Yes … I’d like to be my own boss one day … I’m interested in programming and I’d like to
create apps for myself or for other companies … I know being self employed would be a challenge
but the idea of doing a nine-to-five job doesn’t appeal to me at all …
Examiner: What do you see yourself doing in 10 years’ time?
Marie: I’d hope to be working … not a high-powered job … but I’m quite a creative person
so something where I can work with my hands would be nice … as long as I’m not stuck behind a
desk doing something boring in a dead-end job I’ll be happy …
Part 2-style task
Describe your ideal job. You should say:
what this job is
whether you would need any qualifications
whether it would be easy to find work
and say why you would enjoy this job in particular.
Max: I’ve always loved watching wildlife programmes on TV and often thought how much I’d enjoy
working with animals … perhaps in a safari park … something like that … you’d probably need a
degree to have any chance of being called for an interview and whether there are manyfull-time
jobs I don’t know … I’m sure a lot of parks rely on voluntary work so it might not be easy … and it
probably wouldn’t be well-paid either but money isn’t everything … I’d get so muchjob
satisfaction … I can’t imagine it being the kind of job where you get stuck in a rut … and I think I’d
be good at it as well … I’d love to work with animals I enjoy manual work and I’m a good team
player … so even though the working conditions might not be the best I think that would be my
ideal job …
Part 3-style questions
Examiner: If there are a limited number of jobs available who should be given priority, young
people or older people with more experience?
Anna: Things are so different these days … a few years ago older employees would often take early
retirement or go onto part-time contracts and there were always opportunities for younger people
but now jobs are so scarce. I think younger people need to be given the chance whenever possible.
Examiner: What are some of the important things a candidate should find out before accepting a
job?
Ali: Well … you’d need to know about your area of responsibility … and your salary of course and
then there are things like holiday entitlement … maternity or paternity leave … if you’re thinking
of having children … and what the situation is regarding sick leave … that kind of thing …
Examiner: What are the advantages of having your own business rather than working for someone
else?
Julie: Well … unfortunately being an employee at the moment is very stressful … people have very
heavy workloads … they’re always under pressure to meet deadlines … running your own
business isn’t easy … but I do think it would be far more satisfying …
Definitions
to be called for an interview: to be invited to attend an interview
to be your own boss: to have your own business
a dead-end job: a job with no promotional opportunities
to do a job-share: to share the weekly hours of work with another person
a good team player: somebody who can work well with other people
full-time: the number of hours that people usually work in a complete week
a heavy workload: to have a lot of work to do
a high-powered job: an important or powerful job
holiday entitlement: the number of days holiday allowed
job satisfaction: the feeling of enjoying a job
manual work: work that requires physical activity
maternity leave: time off work given to a woman about to have a baby
to meet a deadline: to finish a job by an agreed time
a nine-to-five job: a normal job that consists of an 8 hour day (approximately)
one of the perks of the job: an extra benefit you get from a job
part-time: working less than full-time
to run your own business: see ‘to be your own boss’
to be self-employed: see ‘to be your own boss’
sick leave: time allowed off work when sick
to be stuck behind a desk: to be unhappy in an office job
to be/get stuck in a rut: to be in a boring job that is hard to leave
to take early retirement: to retire early (retire: to reach an age when you are allowed to stop
working for a living)
temporary work: work done for a limited time only
voluntary work: to work without pay
to be well paid: to earn a good salary
working conditions: the hours, salary and other entitlements that comes with the job
to work with your hands: to do manual work
