Work and business vocabulary: the words that lift a frequent topic.
Work is one of the most frequent themes in the whole test, in Task 2, in Part 1 and in Part 3. Everyone has a view on jobs, careers and business; the marks are in precise, topic-specific language. Swap the everyday word for the right collocation and the same point reads a band higher.
Why this matters. Lexical Resource is a quarter of your mark, and on a familiar topic the examiner has heard “a good job is very important” a thousand times. The lift is not rarer words; it is accurate collocation, job security, a work-life balance, career progression, the labour market, used naturally. A common workplace phrase used correctly beats a showy word used wrongly, every time.
Four clusters that cover most Work questions.
You do not need a glossary. You need a handful of accurate collocations in each of these areas, ready to deploy.
Employment & careers
job security · career progression · the labour market · self-employment
How people find work and build on it, the angle Part 1 and most Task 2 questions reach for.
Job security matters to graduates entering a competitive labour market.
The workplace & conditions
working conditions · a work-life balance · remote working · workplace culture
What the job is actually like day to day, the lexis that keeps an answer concrete.
A healthy work-life balance can matter more than a higher salary.
Business & the economy
a start-up · entrepreneurs · economic growth · multinational companies
Where work comes from, and what drives it, the policy angle Part 3 reaches for.
Start-ups drive innovation but face a high rate of failure.
Change & the future of work
automation · the gig economy · upskilling · redundancy
How work is shifting, the trends examiners increasingly set questions on.
As automation spreads, the ability to upskill is becoming essential.
Precision beats rarity
The Lexical Resource trap is reaching for a “big” word and using it wrongly, “remuneration” dropped in where “pay” would do, “laborious workforce” for ordinary staff. A common workplace collocation used correctly (job security, a competitive salary) scores higher than a rare word used incorrectly. Reach for the precise phrase, not the impressive one.
The same point, from Band 6 to Band 8.
At Band 5
Work is discussed with very general words (job, money, boss, good), repeated often, with occasional wrong collocations (do money, make a work). Precise topic vocabulary (job security, career progression) is absent, and meaning becomes vague when a less familiar idea is attempted.
At Band 6
“Having a good job is very important because people can earn money and have a better life.” The idea is fine, but the language is general, “good job”, “earn money”, and could be about almost anyone.
At Band 7
“Job security and a reasonable work-life balance now matter to many people as much as a competitive salary.” Topic-specific collocations (job security, work-life balance, competitive salary) carry real information.
At Band 8+
“As automation reshapes the labour market, the ability to upskill is becoming as valuable as job security itself.” Precise lexis, abstraction (the labour market), and a controlled complex sentence.
The upgrade most worth making.
Each swap takes a vague, everyday phrase and replaces it with the collocation an examiner expects on this topic. Use them where they fit naturally, not all at once.
| Instead of… | Use… | For example |
|---|---|---|
| a good job | a rewarding / well-paid job | A rewarding job keeps employees motivated. |
| get a job | secure / land a job | Graduates struggle to secure their first job. |
| money from work | a salary / a competitive wage | A competitive salary attracts skilled staff. |
| moving up at work | career progression | Clear career progression retains good staff. |
| work from home | remote / hybrid working | Remote working has become widespread. |
| balance work and life | a work-life balance | A healthy work-life balance prevents burnout. |
| start a business | launch a start-up | Launching a start-up carries real risk. |
| lose your job | be made redundant / laid off | Automation has led to many redundancies. |
Two cautions. Do not carpet-bomb the answer with every term, accuracy and natural fit matter more than density. And keep it formal but not stiff: job and role are both fine; do not force rare jargon you cannot control. For the general method behind upgrading by band, see vocabulary & cohesion →
Say it another way.
The Lexical Resource descriptors reward paraphrase, and an answer that echoes the question’s own words proves nothing about your range. Each row takes a phrase the question will hand you and shows the version worth writing instead.
| The question says… | You can write… | For example |
|---|---|---|
| get a job | secure / land a job | Graduates struggle to secure a first job that uses their degree. |
| lose your job | be made redundant / be laid off | Thousands were made redundant when the plant closed. |
| moving up in your career | career progression | Career progression matters more to many workers than the starting salary. |
| working from home | remote / hybrid working | Hybrid working has quietly redrawn the map of every city. |
| balancing work and life | a healthy work-life balance | A healthy work-life balance is agreed to matter and rarely allowed to. |
One caution. Paraphrase the idea once, early, and then move on. Recycling every synonym you know reads as display, not control, and control is what the band descriptors actually reward.
Twenty to drill.
Choose the more precise, topic-appropriate option for each gap. Press Check answers for your score and the reason behind each one. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Ten to produce.
Recognising the right word above is the easy half. Now type the word each sentence needs. The first letter is given, and every answer appears somewhere on this page. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Then use it where it counts. Now take it into the exam. Work & career is a set topic in the speaking topic bank and the essay question bank, so drill it there next, and let the word upgrader ladder the plain words you still fall back on.
You can collect topic words. Using the right one, accurately, under timed pressure is the work.
Memorised “big” words used wrongly cost marks; precise collocations used naturally earn them, and the difference is hard to judge in your own writing.
In a lesson I mark your topic vocabulary the way an examiner does, where a collocation is exactly right, where it is forced, and where a plain word would have been stronger. Lessons are £20 for fifty minutes, one to one, in proper British English; the first lesson doubles as a full assessment. This page is drawn from the vocabulary work in The Proper English Grammar Guide to IELTS Speaking.
The book of the method
The Proper English Grammar Guide to IELTS Speaking
The method this site drills for free, written down properly: five response frameworks, thirteen grammatical structures taken to automation, vocabulary by band, pronunciation with audio demonstrations one scan away, and first-language guidance for eight language families. 614 pages, built from more than two thousand documented one-to-one lessons. Most guides teach every candidate the same English; this one starts from what your first language makes you do.
Paperback on Amazon →Kindle edition →The free 79-page companion →