A job is what a person does to earn money for a living.
| Types of jobs | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Permanent job | This is a type of job where an employee is hired for an indefinite period. |
| Temporary job | In this type of job, employees are hired for a specific period, which could be a few days, weeks, or months. This is common for seasonal work, such as holiday retail jobs. |
| Contract job | This is similar to a temporary job, but it typically involves a specific project or task with a defined end date. |
| Part-time job | This type of job involves fewer hours per week than a full-time job. Part-time jobs often offer flexibility and are popular among students, parents with young children, and retirees. |
| Full-time job | This is a job where an employee works a minimum number of hours defined as such by their employer. In most cases, full-time jobs are at least 35 to 40 hours per week. |
| Freelance job | Freelancers are self-employed individuals who offer their services to clients. They often work on multiple projects at once and have a high degree of flexibility in their schedules. |
| Internship | This is a type of temporary job, often part-time, that is typically held by students or young professionals looking to gain experience in a particular field. |
| Casual job | This type of job has no guaranteed hours of work. The employee often works on an as-needed basis. |
| Shift work | This type of job requires employees to work during different parts of the day or night, often in rotation with other employees. |
| Remote job | In this type of job, employees can work from anywhere, typically using technology to complete their tasks and communicate with their team. |
There are different expressions to talk about professions and job situations in English.
Here are some common adjectives that can be used to describe job status or professional situations.
| Status | Definition |
|---|---|
| Employed | When you are employed, it means you have a job. 👉 He is employed as a software engineer at a local company. |
| Unemployed | Being unemployed means you don’t have a job. 👉After the factory closed, many workers became unemployed. |
| Self-employed | If you are self-employed, you work for yourself instead of a company or someone else. 👉 She is self-employed and runs her own graphic design business. |
| Underemployed | When you are underemployed, you do not have enough work to do or you have a job that does not match all the skills you have learned. 👉 Despite having a degree in literature, he’s underemployed, working part-time at a bookstore. |
| Retired | You are retired when you have stopped working, usually due to old age. 👉 My parents are retired and spend their time travelling. |
| Voluntary | When you do voluntary work, you do it willingly without receiving anything in return. 👉 He does voluntary work at the local food bank. |
| Jobless | Not having a job. 👉 The economic downturn left many people jobless. |
| Out of work | Currently not employed. 👉 He’s been out of work since the restaurant closed. |
| Salaried | Receiving a fixed amount of money regularly as payment for work. 👉 She is a salaried employee in a nearby factory. |
| Hourly | Hourly workers get paid for each hour of work. 👉He’s an hourly worker and gets paid overtime if he works more than 40 hours in a week. |
| Involuntary part-time | Working fewer hours than desired due to the unavailability of full-time work. 👉 Despite wanting full-time work, she’s been stuck in an involuntary part-time job. |
| Displaced | Removed from a job, usually due to changes in the industry or economy. 👉 The displaced workers were given severance packages and help to find new jobs. |
| Hired | Selected by an employer to do a job, usually through an interview process. 👉 She was hired as a project manager at a construction company. |
| Fired | Dismissed from a job by an employer. 👉 He was fired from his job for consistently being late. |
| Laid off | When you are laid off, you are stopped from being employed, often because of company cutbacks. 👉 The company had to lay off several employees due to budget cuts. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Dismiss | To dismiss someone from a job means to let them go because of certain reasons. 👉 The company had to dismiss several employees due to budget cuts. |
| Application | An application is a formal request, often in writing, for something such as a job or course of study. 👉 She sent her application for the job last week. |
| Employer | An employer is a person or organisation that hires people to do work. 👉 The employer decided to give everyone a raise. |
| Resign | To resign means to voluntarily leave a job or position. 👉 He decided to resign from his position as manager. |
| Sick leave | Sick leave is time off given by the company to allow employees to recover from an illness. 👉 She took a week of sick leave to recover from the flu. |
| Intern | An intern is a student or trainee who works, sometimes without pay, in order to gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a qualification. 👉 Jane is working as an intern at a local law firm this summer. |
| Fire | To fire someone means to dismiss them from their job, often due to unsatisfactory performance. 👉 After repeated warnings, the manager had no choice but to fire him. |
| Personnel officer | A personnel officer is a person who manages issues related to employees in an organisation, such as hiring, training, and administration. 👉 The personnel officer is responsible for hiring new staff members. |
| Recruit | To recruit means to find suitable people and get them to join a company, an organisation, the armed forces, etc. 👉 The army is trying to recruit more young people. |
| Salary | A salary is the amount of money that an employee is paid each year for their job. 👉 She earns a good salary as an engineer. |
| Redundant | Being redundant means losing your job because your employer no longer needs the work you do. 👉 Many factory workers became redundant after the new automation technology was introduced. |
| Personnel | Personnel refers to the people who are employed in an organisation or business. 👉 The personnel department manages all issues related to staff. |
| Promoted | Being promoted means moving to a higher level or position in your job. 👉 After working hard for two years, he was promoted to a managerial role. |
| Redundancy pay | Redundancy pay is money that a company must pay to an employee who is made redundant. 👉 He received generous redundancy pay after being laid off. |
| Shiftwork | Shiftwork is a system of employment where an individual's work period is less than 24 hours and workers are scheduled to work at different times. 👉 Nurses often have to do shiftwork, working at different times of the day or night. |
| Bonus | A bonus is an extra amount of money that is given to an employee, in addition to their normal salary. 👉 She received a bonus at the end of the year for her outstanding performance. |
| Curriculum vitae | A curriculum vitae (CV) is a written summary of one's education, work experience, and other qualifications. It is often used when applying for jobs. 👉 He sent his curriculum vitae to several companies in hopes of finding a job. |
| Prospects | Prospects refer to the possibilities of future success in a job or career. 👉 The prospects for advancement in this company are very good. |
| Retire | To retire means to stop working permanently, usually because of old age. 👉 My father plans to retire next year when he turns 65. |
| Assessment | An assessment is a process of making a judgement or forming an opinion about something or someone, usually in the workplace to evaluate job performance. 👉 The manager will do an assessment of every employee's performance at the end of the year. |
| Notice | A notice is a formal declaration from an employee informing an employer that they will quit their job after a certain period of time. 👉 He handed in his two weeks' notice and decided to look for another job. |
| Background | In the context of jobs, a background refers to a person's experience, qualifications, and education. 👉 She has a strong background in marketing which makes her suitable for this role. |
| Full-time | A full-time job is a job that requires working the full number of hours considered normal or standard by the employer, typically 40 hours per week. 👉 She works full-time as a nurse in a local hospital. |
| Apprenticeship | An apprenticeship is a system where a person learns a job by working for a person in a specific field. 👉 He started his career with an apprenticeship in carpentry. |
| Flexitime | Flexitime is a system of work that allows employees to choose, within certain limits, the hours for starting and leaving work. 👉 Many employees appreciate the flexitime system as it helps balance their work and personal life. |
| Employee | An employee is a person who is hired to work for another person or business in exchange for compensation. 👉 As an employee, she is entitled to certain benefits such as health insurance and paid time off. |
| Apprentice | An apprentice is a person who works for an employer in a skilled job for a fixed period in order to learn the particular skills needed in their job. 👉 She's an apprentice carpenter with a local construction company. |
| Skeleton staff | Skeleton staff means the smallest number of people needed for a business or organisation to operate effectively. 👉 The store will be operated by a skeleton staff on public holidays. |
| Overtime | Overtime refers to time worked beyond the regular hours. 👉 He often works overtime to meet project deadlines. |
| Interview | An interview is a formal meeting at which someone is asked questions in order to find out if they are suitable for a job or a course of study. 👉 He has an interview for a new job tomorrow. |
| Internship | An internship is a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather than merely employment. 👉 She did an internship at a law firm over the summer. |
| Maternity leave | Maternity leave is a period of time that a mother takes off from work following the birth of her baby. 👉 She's on maternity leave until the end of the summer. |
| Staff | Staff refers to all the people who work for a particular company or organisation. 👉 The staff are very friendly and helpful at the hotel. |
| Hire | To hire means to give work or a job to someone in exchange for wages or a salary. 👉 The company is planning to hire 50 new employees this year. |
| Payslip | A payslip is a piece of paper given to an employee to show how much they have earned and any deductions like taxes and insurance. 👉 He checked his payslip to see the amount of tax deducted. |
| Fringe benefits | Fringe benefits are extra benefits supplementing an employee's salary, for example, a company car, health insurance, etc. 👉 His fringe benefits include health insurance and a company car. |
