Vocabulary At Work

People are often puzzled with how to say posao and zanimanje in English. The easiest way is to refer to everything as ‘job’. But 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 eighteen. People who are employed are 6. _ work (have a job). 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.)

3. _ (countable noun) is a kind of work for which you need special training and a good education, e.g. teaching, law or medicine. For example: After studying law, he entered the legal profession. or He is a barrister. 18. _ profession.