“One good conversation can shift the direction of change forever.”

– Linda Lambert.

You’ll have lots of opportunities to talk about your career in your working life. It’s not only a topic in job interviews, but pretty much any time we meet someone new. Everyone wants to know what you do for a living and what you’ve done in the past. 

So, let’s learn the different ways of responding when people ask, “What do you do?”

What’s your profession

“I’m a lawyer.”

“I’m a doctor.”

“I’m an engineer.”

What’s your position

“I’m the CEO of IBM.”

“I’m the Director of Sales of John Deere.”

Where you work

“I work for IBM.”

“I work for a law firm.”

“I work in a hospital.”

“I work in a store.”

“I work on a farm.”

“I work on a construction site.”

What field do you work in

“I’m in the publishing industry.”

“I’m in the advertising business.”

“I’m in the public sector.”

Different ways to say:

Where you have worked

“I was at Cisco Systems.”

“I was with Cisco Systems.”

“I worked for Cisco Systems in San Diego.”

How long have you worked for

“I was at American Express for six years.”

“I spent six years with American Express.” 

“Before coming to Nationwide, I was at American Express for six years.”

What type of work you’ve done

“I’ve worked mainly in retail.”

“I’ve been in sales my whole career.”

“I’ve been in engineering ever since I graduated.”

“When I left University, I went into programming.”

“I started in sales but then moved into marketing.”

“I do a lot of graphic design work.”

“I mainly do photo productions.”

Career transition

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I took a year out.”

“After my maternity leave, it took a while to get back into work.”

“I drifted from one job to another after school.”

“I’m in the middle of a career change.”

“I’m in-between jobs at the moment.”

WEEKLY VOCABULARY 🗣

📌Major: important, serious, or significant.

📌Short-lived: lasting only a short time.

📌Transition: the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.

📌Working life: the period of time you work in your life.

📌Topic: a matter dealt with in a text, discourse, or conversation; a subject.

PHRASAL VERBS ✍

📌To build on success: to use success as a base for more success.

“Megan has built on her success as a lawyer. She is now running her law firm.” 

📌To stay ahead: continue to be more advanced and successful than other people.

“For our company to stay ahead, we should invest more in infrastructure.”

IDIOMS 📒

📌 I’ve never looked back: continue to have success.

📌A big cheese: an important person, a leader (usually about business).

Related Articles:

📌It’s time to advance your career! https://www.englishpriority.com/carrerdevelopment/

📌 LinkedIn Designing your Career – NEXT STEPS with career Strategist Oscar Reyes https://www.englishpriority.com/designing-your-career-next-steps-with-career-strategist-oscar-reyes/

📌 How to use LinkedIn to Find a Job Abroad https://www.englishpriority.com/how-to-use-linkedin-to-find-a-job-abroad/

Want to practice even more?…