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IELTS Work Vocabulary

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 many full-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 much job 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 …  

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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 

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