Work and employment vocabulary, with practice exercise

October 17, 2024 Contributors, How to use, Vocabulary articles

Vocabulary related to jobs and employment

Here’s a list of must-know business English vocabulary related to work and employment.

You can test yourself on these words in a short exercise at the bottom of the page.

job-hunting
to look for a job; seek employment

  • I’ve been job-hunting for three months, without success.
  • It’s important to remain optimistic and positive when job-hunting.
field of work
a particular branch of study or sphere of work

  • What field of work are you in?
  • She works in the field of medical research.
skills
expertise; the ability to do something well

  • He has many different skills, including IT and programming.
  • language skills, speaking skills, presentation skills
full-time
A full-time job means you work all day and every day, usually except weekends and holidays.

  • Tom works full-time at the carpet shop.
part-time
A part-time job means you work only part of the day or only a few days per week.

  • Mothers with small children at school often look for part-time work.
maternity leave
a period of time away from work given to a mother before and after the birth of her child; on maternity leave, on maternity

  • Mary is still on maternity leave.
paternity leave
a period of time away from work given to a father after the birth of his child; on paternity leave, on paternity

  • In the UK, qualifying dads can take up to 2 weeks’ paternity leave.
lay off /
make redundant
to end someone’s employment because of a company’s financial problems or closure; often used in the passive: be laid off

  • Three hundred employees were laid off when the factory closed.
  • Many people were made redundant due to factory closures during the recession.
fire/sack someone
to end someone’s employment because they have done something wrong
examples; more informal than lay off and make redundant

  • He was fired after they caught him stealing.
  • I was fired from my job. They sacked me for being late too often.
work experience
understanding and knowledge gained from doing a job

  • As well as a relevant qualification, she has ten years’ work experience in the field.
  • Young people have qualifications but very little work experience.
apply
make a formal request for employment, send an application; apply for

  • She applied for three jobs and received three offers!
  • How many jobs have you applied for?
be out of work
to be unemployed

  • I’m out of work. I left my job six months ago and can’t find another one.
be off work
to have a job but not be at work for various reasons

  • He is off work sick.
  • I’m off work next week because we’re moving house.
  • He broke his foot and had to take six weeks off work to recover.

Practice exercise

Complete the text, using one word in each gap. You can check your answers in the key below.

Since graduating from university five months ago, my friend Paul has spent all his time job-____________.

He’s applied _________ several positions in his chosen _________ of marketing.

In addition to his academic qualifications, he’s got fantastic language __________ – he speaks both German and Spanish fluently, and he’s very analytical, meaning he’s good at problem-solving.

However, Paul seems to be facing the same problem as many other graduates nowadays – because he’s only recently graduated, he’s got a lack of work ____________.

Sadly, Paul’s father was made ____________ last month. He was ____________ ____________ after the factory where he had worked for twenty years closed down, so both father and son are currently ____________ of work.

I’m also ____________ work at the moment, albeit for a different reason – I’ve been on maternity ____________ since the birth of my son in September.

Scroll down to see the correct answers.

Exercise key

Since graduating from university five months ago, my friend Paul has spent all his time job-hunting.

He’s applied for several positions in his chosen field of marketing.

In addition to his academic qualifications, he’s got fantastic language skills – he speaks both German and Spanish fluently, and he’s very analytical, meaning he’s good at problem-solving.

However, Paul seems to be facing the same problem as many other graduates nowadays – because he’s only recently graduated, he’s got a lack of work experience.

Sadly, Paul’s father was made redundant last month. He was laid off / made redundant after the factory where he had worked for twenty years closed down, so both father and son are currently out of work.

I’m also off work at the moment, albeit for a different reason – I’ve been on maternity leave since the birth of my son in September.

By Stuart Cook
Stuart is an English teacher and runs the Speakspeak website. He currently lives in Prague and has been teaching for over 25 years. ⎜ Get Stuart's e-books