Work: questions and Band 8 answers
The examiner asks three to five short questions on two or three everyday topics in the first four to five minutes. These are the 12 questions about work in the BandLadder test bank, with sample answers for the most frequent ones. Aim for two or three sentences each: answer, reason, one detail.
Sample answers
What do you do for work?
I currently serve as a digital marketing consultant for a boutique agency based in London. My primary focus is on developing content strategies for small businesses, which involves a great deal of data analysis and creative planning to help our clients reach their target audiences effectively.
Let's talk about what you do. Do you work or are you a student?
I am a full-time professional working in the tech sector. After graduating from university last year, I transitioned straight into a role as a junior developer, which keeps me quite busy with daily coding sprints and team meetings.
Do you like your Job?
Honestly, I find it incredibly rewarding because of the constant intellectual challenge. Every project presents unique problems that require me to think outside the box, and the collaborative atmosphere in our office makes the long hours feel much more manageable and fulfilling.
What work do you do?
My job involves managing logistics for an international courier company. I spend most of my day coordinating with overseas branches to ensure that shipments are cleared through customs without any unnecessary delays, which requires a high level of attention to detail.
Why did you choose to do that type of work (or that job)?
I have always been fascinated by global trade and the complex systems that keep the world connected. Choosing this career path allowed me to combine my interest in geography with my desire for a fast-paced environment where no two days are ever the same.
Do you work or are you a student?
At the moment, I am employed as a secondary school teacher. I decided to enter the education field because I wanted to make a tangible difference in my local community by helping teenagers develop the critical thinking skills they need for their future careers.
Details are invented. Use the shape, not the sentences: examiners mark memorised answers down.
More work questions to practise
- What do you do?
- Which do you prefer physical work or work involving thinking?
- Can you tell me about your job?
- Do you think today we have less physical labour than we did in the past?
- What's your job? Why did you choose that kind of work?
- Do you think those boring jobs will be done by machines in the future?
Useful vocabulary
- boutique agency
- A small, specialized company that offers highly personalized services.
- intellectual challenge
- A difficult task that requires deep thinking and intelligence.
- fast-paced
- An environment where things happen very quickly and actively.
- tangible difference
- A real and noticeable change that can be measured.
- coding sprints
- Short, intense periods of time focused on programming tasks.
- logistics
- The detailed coordination of complex operations involving many people.
- Keep your answers concise but provide one specific detail to extend your response naturally.
- Use a range of job-related vocabulary rather than repeating the words from the question.
Answer out loud and get a band
The AI examiner asks Part 1 questions like these, listens, and scores fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, with the words that cost you.
Practise Part 1 with the AI examinerOn your phone? Get the BandLadder app.