Working Vocabulary

People are often puzzled with how you say ‘posao’ and ‘zanimanje’ in English. The easiest way is to refer to everything as ‘job’. However, English has much more to offer…

A job (countable noun) is the regular paid work that you do for an 1. _ , especially when you work for a company or public organization. A friend of mine told me his last job was with a computer firm and his 2. _ job is in advertising. But, he would like a job in TV. Are there any jobs (not work or works) in TV? He might 3. _ for a job there. It might be hard to get a job (or 4. _ a job) there or 5. __ down a job (keep a job when this is difficult).

Work (uncountable noun) is used in a more general way to talk about activities you do to earn money, either working for a company or for yourself (like employment). This friend of mine started work when he was 18. More people are 6. _ work (have a job) in Croatia than 10 years ago. However, there are people 7. _ of work (without a job). They are 8. _ for work, but they have difficulties 9. _ work. Another friend of mine is 10. __ to work (start a job again after a while) after being on a maternity leave. You should try to avoid questions such as ‘What is your job?’ or ‘What is your work?’, but say ‘What do you do (for a living)?’ Be also aware that you usually have a lot of work to do when you are busy, and not a lot of job.

Post and position (countable nouns) are more formal words for a job in a company or organization, used especially in job advertisements and when you are talking about someone moving to a different job, e.g. This post would suit a recent graduate. They need to 11. _ a post, because Mr Smith 12. _ (from) his $50,000 a year post in July. He has left for a teaching position (or post) in Germany. He will 13. __ up (start) his new position in October.

1. _ (countable noun) refers to an 15. _ position, e.g. We have no vacancies for photographers at the moment. However, it can also refer to empty rooms in a hotel where you often see signs ‘No vacancies’ (no free rooms available).

2. __ (countable noun) is used to talk about the kind of work someone usually does, mainly in official forms, e.g. Please state your name, address and occupation in the box below. You should avoid occupation to talk about your own job. (NOT My occupation is an accountant. BUT I am an accountant.)

| English | Croatian |

|———|———-|

| employer | poslodavac |

| current job | trenutačan posao |

| to apply for a job | prijaviti se za posao |

| to hold down a job | zadržati posao |

| to look for work (a job) | tražiti posao |

| to find work (a job) | naći posao |

| to land a job | dobiti posao, posebno posao koji nije lako dobiti |

| to return to work | vratiti se na posao |

| in work | zaposlen |

| out of work | nezaposlen |

| to fill a post | popuniti radno mjesto |

| to resign | ostaviti (posao); odstupiti |

| to take up | preuzeti |

| vacancy | slobodno radno mjesto |

| unfilled | nepopunjen |

| occupation | zanimanje |

| by profession | po profesiji |

Exercise 1 Match the expressions to their Croatian equivalents.

1. permanent job ______

2. current job ______

3. temporary job ______

4. part-time job ______

5. full-time job ______

6. apply for a job ______

7. get a job ______

8. in work ______

9. out of work ______

10. look for work ______

11. find work ______

12. start work ______

Exercise 2 Complete the sentences with work or job.

1. I’ve been looking for a __ for three months, but I haven’t had much success so far.

2. He’s been out of __ for three years.

3. I’ve applied for a __ with a company in London.

4. I finally got a temporary __ in a law firm.

5. He found __ with an engineering firm.

6. I haven’t had a steady __ since 2010.

7. She will return to __ next month.

8. I’m only doing my __.