Work and careers: IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions & answers

Opening question

Warm-up: close to home

1. Cause and effect

   Why do some people change careers several times in their lives?

   2
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   Sample answerBand 8Main causeAnother causeEffect

   1. Main cause→
   2. Another cause→
   3. Effect

   Often it's simply that people change. The career someone picks at eighteen reflects who they were then, and by their mid-thirties their priorities and interests may have shifted completely. The job market plays a part too. Whole industries shrink or disappear, so some people are pushed into a new field rather than choosing it. The upshot is that retraining has become fairly normal, and a varied CV is no longer seen as a sign of indecision. If anything, employers now value people who've seen things from more than one angle.

   plays a part too

   is also one of the causes

   The upshot is that

   the final result is that

   from more than one angle

   from several points of view

   90 words · about 39 seconds spoken

Development: society

1. Compare

   How has the way people work changed in recent years?

   3
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   Sample answerBand 8ThenNowWhy it changed

   1. Then→
   2. Now→
   3. Why it changed

   Until fairly recently, work meant a fixed place and fixed hours. You commuted to the office, sat at the same desk from nine to five and switched off once you got home. Now the boundaries are much blurrier. Plenty of people split their week between home and the office, hold meetings on video calls and answer messages late into the evening. Technology made it possible, but what finally tipped the balance was the period when offices were forced to close. Companies discovered that remote work actually functioned, and employees weren't keen to give up the flexibility once they'd tasted it.

   switched off once you got home

   stopped thinking about work after leaving it

   late into the evening

   until late at night

   tipped the balance

   was the deciding factor

   100 words · about 43 seconds spoken

2. Opinion

   Do you think people work harder now than they did in the past?

   4
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   Sample answerBand 8My viewWhyExampleBut

   1. My view→
   2. Why→
   3. Example→
   4. But

   In some ways yes, though I'd distinguish between working harder and working longer. Physically, most jobs are far less gruelling than they were for our grandparents, who might have done back-breaking labour in fields or factories. What's increased is the mental load, the sense that you're never fully off duty. Think of an office worker checking emails on the sofa at ten at night. They may not be producing much, but they never get a proper break. Then again, every generation tends to believe it has things tougher than the last, so I'd treat that perception with some caution.

   the mental load

   the burden of constant thinking and worrying

   never fully off duty

   always partly working

   with some caution

   carefully, without fully believing it

   99 words · about 43 seconds spoken

3. Pros and cons

   What are the advantages and disadvantages of working from home?

   5
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   Sample answerBand 8UpsideDownsideOn balance

   1. Upside→
   2. Downside→
   3. On balance

   Working from home saves people hours of commuting, which is a huge gain in itself, and it gives them more control over how they organise their day. Parents in particular can fit work around the school run. The downside is isolation. Without colleagues nearby, you lose those casual chats by the coffee machine where problems get solved and friendships form, and younger employees especially lose the chance to learn by watching experienced staff. Overall, a hybrid arrangement seems to offer the best of both worlds, with a few days at home and the rest spent alongside colleagues.

   fit work around the school run

   arrange work hours around taking children to school

   a hybrid arrangement

   a mix of two ways of working

   the best of both worlds

   the advantages of two different things together

   97 words · about 42 seconds spoken

4. Opinion

   Should a good salary matter more than enjoying your work?

   6
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   Sample answerBand 8My viewWhyExampleBut

   1. My view→
   2. Why→
   3. Example→
   4. But

   Personally, I'd put enjoyment first, but I appreciate that's easier to say if you're not struggling to pay the rent. We spend such a large part of our waking lives at work that dreading it every morning takes a real toll on your health and relationships, and no amount of money fully compensates for that. I've known people who left well-paid corporate jobs for something modest, like teaching or running a small bakery, and never once regretted it. For someone supporting a family on a tight budget, though, a higher salary can mean security and opportunities for their children, so it's hardly a frivolous priority.

   takes a real toll on

   causes serious harm to

   no amount of money

   however much money there is

   on a tight budget

   with very little money to spend

   105 words · about 46 seconds spoken

Depth: the abstract and the future

1. The future

   How might automation and machines change the jobs people do in the future?

   7
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   Sample answerBand 8PredictionBecauseBut

   1. Prediction→
   2. Because→
   3. But

   I'd expect a lot of routine work to disappear, not just in factories but in offices too, things like data entry, basic bookkeeping and even some customer service. Machines are becoming capable of handling predictable, rule-based tasks more cheaply and accurately than people can, so for businesses the financial logic is hard to resist. Mind you, new roles will almost certainly emerge that we can't even picture yet, just as nobody imagined social media managers a few decades ago. The real challenge will be retraining people quickly enough that nobody gets left behind.

   hard to resist

   very tempting

   we can't even picture yet

   we cannot imagine at present

   nobody gets left behind

   everyone keeps up with the changes

   93 words · about 40 seconds spoken

2. What if

   If everyone worked a four-day week, what effect would it have on society?

   8
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   Sample answerBand 8If soResultWider effect

   1. If so→
   2. Result→
   3. Wider effect

   If that became the norm, I imagine people would be noticeably less exhausted, and they'd have time for things that currently get neglected, like exercise, hobbies or caring for elderly relatives. Productivity might not suffer as much as people fear, because rested workers tend to focus better and waste less time. Trials in some companies have pointed in that direction. More broadly, it could reshape whole sectors. Leisure and tourism would probably boom, though essential services like hospitals would need more staff to cover the extra day, which wouldn't come cheap.

   became the norm

   became the usual situation

   pointed in that direction

   suggested that conclusion

   wouldn't come cheap

   would be expensive

   91 words · about 40 seconds spoken

3. Pros and cons

   Is it realistic to expect one job to last a whole career anymore?

   9
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   Sample answerBand 8UpsideDownsideOn balance

   1. Upside→
   2. Downside→
   3. On balance

   There's something to be said for the idea of a job for life. It offers stability, a clear path upwards and a deep knowledge of one organisation, and some sectors, like the civil service, still offer that. For most people, though, it's no longer realistic. Companies restructure, merge or close, and the skills you trained in at twenty may be obsolete by fifty. So rather than relying on one employer, it's wiser to rely on your own adaptability, keeping your skills up to date so that you can move on when you need to.

   There's something to be said for

   there are real advantages to

   a job for life

   a job you keep until you retire

   keeping your skills up to date

   continuing to learn what is currently needed

   94 words · about 41 seconds spoken