Talking about your work

In the IELTS Speaking test it is very likely that the examiner will ask you about work or studies. If you have a job, it really helps to learn some useful words and expressions to describe your work.

Stating your profession

Let’s say you are website designer. If the examiner asks you what you do, you can answer in any of the following ways:

I’m a website designer.
I work as a website designer.
I design websites.

Talking about your duties

The examiner may ask you about your duties. You can say:

I’m responsible for … [noun or -ing]
My responsibilities include … [noun or -ing]
My duties involve … [noun or -ing]
It’s also my job to … [infinitive]

Examples of use (a secretary)

• I’m responsible for arranging meetings.
• My responsibilities include answering the phone and writing emails.
• My duties involve welcoming clients to our office.
• It’s also my job to show new employees around the building.

How you feel about your work

The examiner may ask you what you like or dislike about your work. Here are a few expressions you can use in your responses:

What I enjoy most about my work is …
The part I enjoy the most is …
On the whole, I enjoy my work because …
The benefits of my work include …
I find my work interesting/satisfying etc. because … (see Personal opinions with ‘find’)

What I don’t really like about my work is …
The part I don’t like so much is …
The drawbacks of my work include …
The aspects of my job that I don’t quite like include …

To learn some natural structures for talking about your dislikes, check out yesterday’s post.

Examples of use (a company director)

• What I enjoy most about my work is the fact that I don’t have a boss.
• The benefits of my work include the salary and the challenge.
• I find my work really satisfying because I get to meet lots of interesting people.
• The part I don’t like so much is the long hours.
• What I don’t really like about my work is the stress.
• The drawbacks of my work include stress and long hours.

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