Professional English for Careers and Recruitment

Posted on Mar 1, 2026 in English

English Proficiency Exam 1: Describing Your Work

To find out what someone’s job is, you say: “What do you do?”

Correcting Work Descriptions

Pierre is talking about his work. Here are the corrected versions of his statements:

  1. I work on the development of new supermarkets.
  2. In fact, I’m running the development department.
  3. I am a manager of a team looking at possibilities in different countries; it’s very interesting.
  4. One of my main responsibilities is to make sure that new supermarkets open on time.
  5. I am also in charge of financial reporting.
  6. I deal with a lot of different organizations in my work.
  7. I am responsible for planning projects from start to finish.
  8. I work closely with our foreign partners, and so I travel a lot.

Working Hours and Flexibility

In some companies, managers, employees, and workers have to start at 8:30 am and leave at 5:00 pm (they clock in and clock out).

Key Terms and Examples

  • To work in shifts (trabajar en turnos):
    1) It’s difficult changing from one shift to another. When I change shifts, I have problems adjusting to a new routine for sleeping and eating.
    2) I may be on the day shift one week and the night shift the next week.
  • System of flexitime (sistema de horario flexible):
    1) This means we can work when we want, within certain limits.
    2) We can start at any time before eleven and finish as early as three, as long as we do enough hours each month.
  • It is a 9 to 5 job (regular working hours): The work isn’t very interesting, but I like to be able to go home at a reasonable time.

Personal Work Profiles

  • My husband works in an office from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm; he has a very stressful job.
  • I’m David, and I work in a café from 8:00 pm until midnight; I work at times like weekends.
  • My wife works in local government, and she can have this job for as long as she wants it; she has a very secure and interesting job.
  • Our son is working on a farm for four weeks; he must be doing a very important job.

Professional Interview Questions

  • What do you do? I work in a photo studio.
  • What are you in charge of? I retouch the photographs taken and provide designs to customers.
  • What are your responsibilities? I design and print photographs.
  • What time do you leave for work? I leave work at 3:00 pm and begin my college studies at 4:30 pm.
  • What sort of job would you like to do? I’d like to work as an assistant manager in a company.

Job Characteristics and Examples

  • Boring: A machine operator who only has to press buttons all day.
  • Exciting: Being a recognized musician gives many economic and personal benefits.
  • Tiring: Being a door-to-door field salesman is a very tiring job.
  • Repetitive: An operator in a bottling plant who constantly molds and inflates bottles.


English Proficiency Exam 2: Recruitment and Selection

The Hiring Process

The process of finding people for particular jobs is recruitment or, especially in American English, hiring. Someone who has been recruited is a recruit or a hire. The company employs or hires them; they join the company. A company may recruit employees directly or use outside recruiters, recruitment agencies, or employment agencies. Outside specialists called headhunters may be called on to headhunt people for very important jobs, persuading them to leave the organizations they already work for. This process is called headhunting.

Job Application Vocabulary

  • Applying for a job (solicitud de trabajo): Yesterday, I presented my application for a job.
  • Situation vacant (ofertas de trabajo): Who has applied for this vacant position?
  • Application form (solicitud): How should I complete this application form?
  • Appointments page (página de citas): How can I be featured on the appointments page?
  • C.V. (hoja de vida): Where should I submit my CV?
  • Covering letter (carta de presentación): I need a formal cover letter.
  • Situation (situación): It is a very stressful situation.
  • Post (publicación): The publication of results will be in an hour.
  • Position (posición): I hope I have achieved the best position in the list of entrants.

Selection Procedures and Methods

Dagmar Schmidt, the head of recruitment at a German telecommunications company, explains the selection process:

“We advertise in national newspapers. We look at the backgrounds of applicants, their experience in different jobs, and their educational qualifications. We don’t ask for handwritten letters of application as people usually apply by email; handwriting analysis belongs to the 19th century.”

“We invite the most interesting candidates to a group discussion. Then, we have an individual interview with each candidate. We also ask the candidates to do a written psychometric test to assess their intelligence and personality.”

“After this, we shortlist three or four candidates. We check their references by writing to their referees (previous employers or teachers that candidates have named in their applications). If the references are okay, we ask the candidates to come back for more interviews. Finally, we offer the job to someone. If they turn it down, we have to think again. If they accept it, we hire them. We only appoint someone if we find the right person.”