Work & Careers

Jobs, offices, professions, and the words that fill a working day.

344 words

# Work & Careers

**Type:** Topic
**Words:** 344

## About
Jobs, offices, professions, and the words that fill a working day.

## Words by Level

### A1
- work - Activity that you do to make or achieve something, especially as a job.
- job - The regular paid work that a person does to earn a living.
- office - A room or building where people work, usually at desks.
- meeting - An organized gathering of people for a particular purpose.
- interview - a formal meeting where someone is asked questions to see if they are right for a job.
- worker - A person who works at a particular job, especially physical work.
- skill - the ability to do something well, usually gained through learning or practice
- project - A planned piece of work with a particular aim, done over a period of time.

### A2
- stage - A raised platform where actors, singers, or speakers perform in front of an audience.
- running - The activity or sport of moving quickly on foot.
- system - A set of connected parts that work together as a whole.
- manager - A person whose job is to be in charge of a business, shop, or part of an organization.
- staff - The group of people who work for a company, school, or organization.
- assistant - A person whose job is to help someone, especially in their work.
- task - A piece of work that you have to do.
- branch - A part of a tree that grows out from the trunk.
- labor - Hard work, especially physical work done for pay.
- organized - Arranged in a neat, efficient way.
- clerk - A person who works in an office keeping records or accounts.
- painter - An artist who creates pictures using paint.
- businessman - A man who works in business, especially as an owner or manager.
- occupation - A person's job or regular paid work.
- receptionist - A person whose job is to welcome and help visitors and answer the phone at the front of an office or hotel.
- businesswoman - A woman who works in business, especially as an owner or manager.
- post office
- colleague - A person you work with, especially in a profession or business.
- employee - A person who is paid to work for a company or another person
- employer - A person or company that pays others to work for them
- employ - To pay someone to work for you
- digger - A large piece of machinery that digs holes or trenches.

### B1
- cloth - Material made by weaving or knitting fibres, used to make clothes and other things.
- working - Present participle of work; doing a job or task.
- mission - An important job or task that a person or group is given.
- career - The job or profession you do over a long part of your working life.
- hire - To give someone a job and pay them to work for you.
- interrupt - to stop someone from speaking or doing something by suddenly breaking in.
- assignment - A task or piece of work that you are given to do.
- promotion - A move to a more important job or higher rank.
- bureau - A government department or office that deals with a particular task.
- profession - A type of job that needs special training or education, such as law or medicine.
- designer - A person whose job is to plan how something will look or work.
- qualified - Having the right training, skills, or experience for a job or task.
- agenda - A list of the things to be discussed at a meeting.
- salesman - A man whose job is to sell things, in a shop or by visiting customers.
- expense - The money that you spend on something.
- craft - An activity that involves making things skilfully with your hands.
- deadline - A time or date by which something must be finished.
- unemployed - Without a job, although able and willing to work.
- employment - Paid work, or the state of having a job
- achievement - Something done successfully, especially after effort or skill.
- canned - Stored and preserved in a sealed metal can.
- workplace - The place where someone works.
- organism - A single living thing, such as an animal, plant, or microbe.
- adviser - An expert who gives advice, especially as part of their job.
- housework - The work of cleaning, cooking, and looking after a home.
- barman - A man whose job is serving drinks in a bar or pub.
- paralyze - To make someone unable to move part or all of their body.
- quote - To repeat the exact words that someone has written or said.
- porter - a very dark sweet ale brewed from roasted unmalted barley
- nailer - a worker who attaches something by nailing it
- wright - someone who makes or repairs something (usually used in combination)
- developer - a person who creates or modifies software
- cowboy - a person who tends cattle, especially on horseback
- carter - a person whose work is driving a cart or transporting loads by cart
- maintainer - a person responsible for keeping equipment, a system, or a place in good condition
- milkman - a man whose job is to deliver milk to homes or businesses
- fireman - a man whose job is to extinguish fires; a dated or gender-specific term for a firefighter
- warden - an official responsible for supervising a place, activity, or body of rules

### B2
- crew - The people who work together to operate a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle.
- gang - An organized group of criminals.
- pa - Father; dad.
- personnel - The people who work for an organization or in the armed forces.
- embassy - The official building where a country's representatives work in a foreign country.
- cooperate - To work together with others toward a shared goal.
- retirement - The period of life after you stop working permanently.
- convention - A way of behaving or doing things that most people in a group accept as normal.
- supervisor - A person whose job is to oversee and direct the work of others.
- resume - To start something again after stopping or pausing.
- nursing - The job or skill of caring for sick or injured people as a nurse.
- overtime - Time worked beyond one's normal working hours.
- dental - Relating to the teeth.
- funding - Money provided for a particular purpose or project.
- cripple - To seriously damage something so that it can no longer work properly.
- ax - A tool with a heavy metal blade on a handle, used for cutting wood.
- cooperative - Willing to work with others and be helpful.
- journalism - The work of collecting, writing, and reporting news for newspapers, TV, or the internet.
- offshore - Located in the sea, away from the coast.
- placement - The act of putting something in a particular place; its position.
- electrician - A worker who installs, repairs, and maintains electrical wiring and equipment.
- redundant - No longer needed or useful; more than is necessary.
- advancement - Progress or development in knowledge, skill, or a field of work.
- compute - to work something out using numbers or a computer; to calculate
- clerical - Relating to office work such as keeping records and files.
- workforce - All the people who work for a company or on a project.
- craftsman - A worker who is highly skilled at a trade, especially one done by hand.
- masseur - A man whose job is to give massages.
- deduce - To work something out by reasoning from the facts you have.
- economist - An expert in economics who studies how money, trade, and industry work.
- workman - A man who does physical or manual work for pay.
- numerical - Shown or measured using numbers.
- forestry - The science and work of planting and looking after forests.
- unsatisfactory - Not good enough; not meeting the required standard
- saleswoman - A woman whose job is to sell things, in a shop or by visiting customers.
- balky - Refusing to move, work, or cooperate.
- flail - to wave or swing the arms or legs about wildly and uncontrollably
- mender - a person who repairs something
- collier - someone who works in a coal mine
- mason - a craftsman who works with stone or brick
- miller - a person who owns or operates a mill, especially one that grinds grain into flour
- locksmith - a person whose job is to make, fit, open, or repair locks and keys
- grocer - a person who owns or works in a shop that sells food and everyday household supplies
- prospector - a person who searches an area for valuable minerals, oil, or other natural resources
- woodcutter - a person whose work is cutting down trees or cutting timber into firewood
- wage-earner - a person who works in return for wages or a salary, especially as distinguished from an employer or someone living on investments
- hatter - a person who makes, sells, or repairs hats
- sorter - a person whose job is to separate or arrange items into groups or classes
- day laborer - a worker hired and paid by the day, especially for temporary or unskilled manual work
- feller - a person whose work is cutting down trees
- tradesperson - a skilled manual worker in a particular trade or craft
- ferryman - a man who operates a ferry or carries passengers across water by boat
- beater - a person employed during a hunt to drive birds or other game out of cover toward the hunters
- cooper - a craftsperson who makes or repairs wooden barrels, casks, buckets, and similar vessels
- ringer - a person who rings a bell, especially a church or public bell

### C1
- ministry - A government department responsible for a particular area, usually headed by a minister.
- abortion - The deliberate ending of a pregnancy before the baby can survive on its own.
- elaborate - Having many parts or details; carefully and richly worked out.
- carpenter - A person whose job is making and repairing wooden things
- contractor - A person or company hired to do a particular job under a contract, rather than as a regular employee.
- malfunction - To stop working properly or fail to work at all.
- defect - A fault or flaw that makes something imperfect or not work properly.
- climax - The most exciting or important point of an event, story, or career.
- apparatus - A complex machine or set of equipment built for a particular job.
- confide - To tell someone a secret or private matter because you trust them.
- coordinator - A person whose job is to organize people or activities so they work well together.
- nominate - To officially suggest someone as a candidate for a job, position, or award.
- collaborate - To work together with others to achieve a shared goal.
- occupational - Relating to a person's job or profession.
- productivity - The rate at which workers produce goods or services; how efficiently work is done.
- carpentry - The skill or work of making and repairing things out of wood
- prolifically - In a way that produces a great deal of work or results; abundantly.
- indentured - bound by a formal contract to work for another for a specified time, often without pay in exchange for passage to a new country
- lawyering - the practice or profession of working as a lawyer, involving legal advice and representation
- weaver - a craftsman who weaves cloth
- hawker - someone who travels about selling his wares (as on the streets or at carnivals)
- workflow - the sequence of steps, people, and tools by which work is completed
- stenographer - a person trained to transcribe speech rapidly using shorthand or a stenotype machine
- businesslike - methodical, efficient, practical, and focused on accomplishing a task
- probationary - subject to a trial period before a position, status, or arrangement becomes permanent
- guild - an association of merchants or craftspeople formed to regulate a trade, protect common interests, and provide mutual support
- gold seeker - a person who searches or prospects for gold, especially someone drawn to a gold-rush region
- chambermaid - a woman employed to clean and care for bedrooms, now chiefly in a hotel and historically in a private household
- underling - a person of lower rank who works for or is controlled by someone more powerful, often used disparagingly
- confectioner - a person or business that makes or sells sweets, chocolates, cakes, or other confections
- perfumer - a person who creates, blends, or sells perfumes
- deckhand - a member of a ship or boat crew who performs manual work on deck
- croupier - a casino employee who manages a gaming table, handles bets, and pays winnings
- postmaster - The head of a post office.
- pathologist - An expert in pathology; a specialist who examines samples of body tissues for diagnostic or forensic purpose.

### C2
- cinematography - The art and craft of filming a movie, especially the camera work and lighting.
- servitude - state of subjection to an owner or master or forced labor imposed as punishment
- redundancy - The loss of a job because the work is no longer needed, or the act of dismissing such workers.
- vocational - Relating to a job, or to the skills and training needed for a particular kind of work.
- indolence - Habitual laziness; a dislike of work or effort.
- computerize - To start using computers to do a job or run a system that was once done by hand.
- brewer - the owner or manager of a brewery
- shepherd - a herder of sheep, often on an open range
- carver - someone who carves the meat
- shoemaker - a person who makes or repairs shoes
- undertaker - one whose business is the management of funerals
- tradesman - a merchant who owns or manages a shop
- pedlar - someone who travels about selling his wares (as on the streets or at carnivals)
- majordomo - historical: the chief servant or steward in a wealthy or royal household
- entomologist - a scientist who specializes in the study of insects
- shoemaking - the craft, trade, or process of making shoes
- bricklayer - a craftsman skilled in building with bricks
- heaver - a worker who lifts or carries heavy freight, especially at a dock
- gamekeeper - a person employed to manage game animals and their habitat on an estate, especially for hunting
- maltster - a person or business that makes malt from grain, especially barley
- gravedigger - a person employed to dig graves and prepare them for burial
- nursemaid - a woman or girl employed to look after young children
- charwoman - a woman hired, traditionally by the day or hour, to clean a house or other building; dated
- shopman - a man who owns, manages, or operates a shop; now chiefly historical
- navvy - a laborer employed in heavy excavation or construction work, especially on canals, roads, or railways; chiefly British and historical
- costumier - a person or company that designs, makes, supplies, or hires out costumes, especially for theatre
- costermonger - a street vendor who sells fruit and vegetables from a cart, barrow, or stall
- fishmonger - a person whose trade is selling fish and seafood
- cowherd - a person whose work is tending and herding cattle
- shipwright - a craftsperson who builds or repairs ships, especially wooden ones
- workroom - a room equipped or set aside for practical, manual, or creative work
- roundsman - historically, a poor-law laborer sent in rotation by an English parish to work for local employers, with the parish supplementing the wage
- bootmaker - a craftsperson or manufacturer who makes boots
- harpooneer - historical whaling: a specialist who throws or fires the harpoon, typically stationed in the bow of a whaleboat
- whaleman - historical: a man employed in whaling, especially a crew member aboard a whaling ship; loosely, any whaler
- engraver - a craftsperson or artist who cuts words or designs into a hard surface, or prepares engraved plates for printing
- drudge - a person made to do hard, dull, or menial work
- artel - a traditional Russian or Soviet cooperative association of workers or craftspeople
- scissors-grinder - historical: a person, often an itinerant craft worker, who sharpens scissors and other cutting tools on a grinding wheel
- goldsmith - a craftsperson who makes, repairs, or sells objects made of gold, especially jewelry
- stonecutter - a person who cuts, carves, or dresses stone
- wool comber - a worker who combs wool to align its long fibers and remove short fibers before spinning
- fish curer - a person or business that preserves fish by salting, drying, smoking, pickling, or another curing process
- flax-dresser - a worker who prepares flax or hemp fiber for spinning by breaking, scutching, and hackling it
- brickmaker - a person who makes bricks, especially by preparing clay and molding, drying, or firing it
- carder - a worker who cards wool or other fiber, disentangling and aligning it before spinning
- cutler - a person who makes, repairs, or sells knives and other cutlery
- biographer - a person who writes an account of someone else's life, especially as a profession
- horner - historical: a craftsperson who works animal horn into combs, vessels, handles, or other goods
- millwright - historical: a craftsperson who designs, builds, or repairs mills and their machinery
- laundress - a woman employed to wash and iron clothes; now dated
- saltmaker - a person or business that produces salt, especially by evaporating brine or seawater
- scribbler - historical textile work: a worker who coarsely cards or teases wool before spinning
- stipendiary - receiving a fixed stipend or salary, especially for clerical, judicial, or public service
- ostler - historically, a worker at an inn or stable who cared for travelers' horses
- dustman - a person employed to collect household refuse; an old-fashioned British term for a refuse collector
- pieman - a man who makes or sells pies, especially a street vendor
- potman - a man employed in a public house to serve drink, collect empty pots or glasses, and perform other tasks
- coppersmith - a craftsperson who makes or repairs objects of copper
- woodchopper - a person whose work is cutting trees or chopping wood
- purser - a senior crew member on a passenger ship or aircraft responsible for passengers and administrative matters
- taskmaster - a person who imposes hard, continuous, or exacting work on others
- currier - a craftsperson who dresses and finishes tanned leather by scraping, softening, coloring, and treating it
- teamster - a person who drives a team of draft animals, especially while hauling a wagon or freight
- watchmaker - a craftsperson or company that makes, maintains, or repairs watches
- wheelwright - a craftsperson who builds and repairs wheels, especially traditional wooden spoked wheels
- whitesmith - a craftsperson who works in tin, tinplate, or pewter; a tinsmith
- gaucho - a skilled horseman and cattle worker of the South American pampas, especially in Argentina and Uruguay
- gunsmith - a craftsperson who makes, modifies, maintains, or repairs firearms
- bonne - a French nursemaid or children's governess, especially in an English-speaking household
- coadjutor - a person who works jointly with and assists another; a helper or colleague
- shikari - a hunter or skilled tracker, especially in the Indian subcontinent
- distiller - a person who makes distilled spirits or purifies liquids by distillation
- ratcatcher - a person employed to catch or destroy rats and other vermin
- superannuate - to retire someone from service, often with a pension, because of age or infirmity
- piecework - work for which payment is based on the number of items or units produced rather than the time spent
- hosier - a person who makes or sells stockings, socks, and other hosiery
- pastrycook - a cook or shopkeeper who specializes in pastries, cakes, and desserts
- drover - a person who drives cattle, sheep, or other livestock, especially over a long distance
- washerwoman - historical: a woman employed to wash other people's clothes and household linen
- commissionaire - chiefly British, historical: a uniformed attendant or doorman at a hotel, theater, office, or other public building
- barmaid - chiefly British: a woman who serves drinks in a bar or pub
- innkeeper - a person who owns or manages an inn
- scullion - historical: a low-ranking kitchen servant who performed menial work such as cleaning pots and dishes
- abigail - historical: a lady's maid or female personal attendant
- sabbatical - an extended period of authorized leave from regular work, often for study, travel, or research
- métier - an occupation or field of work for which a person is particularly well suited
- slavey - dated, informal, and often offensive: a female domestic servant who performs general or menial household work
- florist - a person who grows, arranges, or sells cut flowers and ornamental plants
- furrier - a person who prepares, makes, repairs, or sells garments and other goods made of fur
- gasfitter - a tradesperson who installs, connects, maintains, or repairs gas pipes, fixtures, and appliances
- woodman - a person whose work is cutting trees or chopping and preparing wood
- raftsman - dated: a person who operates, travels on, or works aboard a raft
- workday - a day on which a person normally works rather than taking time off
- nurserymaid - historical, chiefly British: a female domestic servant employed to care for young children, often as an assistant to a nurse or nanny
- arriero - a muleteer or other person who transports goods using pack animals, especially in Spanish-speaking regions
- estanciero - in South America, especially Argentina and Uruguay: the owner or manager of an estancia, a large ranch or landed estate
- goatherd - a person who tends, guards, and guides a herd of goats
- ploughboy - historical: a boy employed to guide draught animals pulling a plough or to assist a ploughman
- hydrographer - a specialist who surveys, measures, and charts oceans, rivers, coasts, and other bodies of water, especially for navigation
- farrier - a craftsperson who trims and shoes horses' hooves
- lamplighter - A person employed to light streetlights at dusk and snuff them at dawn.
- seamstress - A woman who sews clothes professionally.
- sawyer - a person employed to saw wood, especially timber in a sawpit or sawmill
- directress - A female director.
- gunmaker - One who manufactures guns.
- lackey - A footman, a liveried male servant.
- ambassadress - dated: a female ambassador or a woman acting as an emissary
- dairymaid - historical: a woman or girl employed to milk cows and perform other dairy work
- lumberjack - a person whose work is to fell trees.
- parlourmaid - historical: a domestic maid responsible for receiving visitors, serving meals, and caring for reception rooms

### C2+
- undertaking - a task or project, especially a difficult one; a formal pledge
- avocation - a hobby or minor occupation pursued alongside one's main vocation
- accede - to agree to a request, or to assume an office
- derivative - imitative of others' work; a thing based on another source
- firing - the act of discharging a weapon, dismissing staff, or baking pottery
- incompatible - unable to exist or work together harmoniously
- abridgment - a shortened version of a written work; a condensation
- accession - the attainment of a rank, office, or throne
- botch - to spoil through clumsiness; a bungled piece of work
- bungle - to carry out clumsily or incompetently; a botched job
- hustle - to move or work energetically; to push or jostle
- journeyman - a trained worker qualified in a trade; a competent but unremarkable performer
- managerial - relating to the work or skills of a manager
- absenteeism - the habitual practice of being absent from work or duty
- bishopric - the office or diocese of a bishop
- depose - to remove from office or power; to testify under oath
- entropy - a measure of disorder or of energy unavailable for work in a system
- fag - a tiring or tedious task; (British informal) a cigarette
- furtherance - the advancement or promotion of a plan or interest
- hobo - a migratory worker or homeless vagrant, especially one riding trains
- insinuate - to suggest indirectly; to introduce or work in subtly
- jobless - without paid employment; unemployed
- jut - to extend or project sharply beyond a surface
- opus - an artistic work, especially a musical composition numbered in a composer's output
- overture - an orchestral introduction to a larger work, or an opening approach or proposal
- presidentship - the office or term of a president
- protuberate - to bulge out or project beyond a surface
- sus - suspicious or suspect; to suspect or work something out
- vocation - a strong sense of suitability for a particular career or calling
- beetle - an insect with hardened forewings; also to project or overhang
- benchfellow - one who shares a bench; a companion or colleague (archaic)
- bravo - a shout of approval; also a hired assassin or daring villain
- cabdriving - the occupation of driving a taxicab
- calling - a strong inner urge toward a vocation or profession
- chancellery - the office, staff, or residence of a chancellor
- confrere - a fellow member of a profession or association; a colleague
- employable - having skills or qualities that make one suitable for work
- examinership - the office or process by which an insolvent company is placed under court protection
- featherbed - to pamper, or to overstaff a job by enforcing wasteful labor practices
- grillwork - ornamental work made of crossed metal bars
- groundwork - the preliminary work that forms a foundation
- imitator - one who copies the behavior or work of another
- inauguration - the formal ceremony marking the start of an office or undertaking
- investiture - the formal ceremony of conferring rank, office, or authority
- jean - a heavy twilled cotton cloth used for work clothes
- licensure - the granting of a license, especially to practice a profession
- occupationless - having no job, profession, or regular activity
- plasterwork - decorative or structural work made of plaster, especially on walls and ceilings
- plumbery - the trade or work of a plumber; plumbing
- powwow - a Native American gathering or ceremony; an informal meeting for discussion
- severance - the act of ending or separating; pay given on termination of employment
- swink - to labour or toil hard; archaic word for hard work
- temp - a temporary employee, especially in an office
- tenancy - the possession or occupation of land or property by rental tenure
- unionization - the process of forming or joining a labor union
- unionize - to organize workers into a labor union
- workfellow - a fellow worker; a colleague
- workless - without work; unemployed
- aulnager - Alternative form of alnager.
- coal-heaver - a worker who carries or unloads coal
- woodsawyer - a worker whose occupation is sawing wood or timber
- inventress - dated: a woman who invents; a female inventor
- shopboy - historical: a boy or young male assistant employed in a shop
- apir - historical, Chilean mining: a worker who carried broken ore from an underground mine to the surface in a leather pack on the back
- neatherd - archaic: a person who tends cattle or oxen; a cowherd
- ice cutter - historical: a worker who cuts and harvests blocks of natural ice from a frozen lake, pond, or river
- knife grinder - a person whose trade is sharpening knives and other edged tools, traditionally while traveling from place to place
- ploughwright - a craftsperson who makes or repairs ploughs
- coal-whipper - historical: a dock worker who unloaded coal from a ship's hold using a rope-and-counterweight hoisting system
- corn chandler - British, historical: a retailer or merchant dealing in cereal grain, seeds, animal feed, and related agricultural goods
- teataster - a professional who samples, evaluates, and grades tea for quality, flavor, aroma, or blending
- house-parlourmaid - historical British: a female domestic servant who combined the cleaning duties of a housemaid with the table service and reception duties of a parlourmaid
- porkman - a person who produces and sells pork.
- coalheaver - historical: a laborer employed to unload, carry, or shovel coal
- gownsman - a member of a profession traditionally marked by a gown, especially a cleric, lawyer, or university member

A1 (8)

A2 (22) Pro

B1 (38) Pro

B2 (55) Pro

C1 (35) Pro

C2 (111) Pro

C2+ (75) Pro

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