English Vocabulary in Use Pre-Intermediate (Unit 37: Making a career)


A. Getting a job*

When I left school, I applied for1 jobs in different companies, and finally, after sending out lots of CVs2 and having some interviews3, a small company employed me4. I didn’t earn a lot, but the company gave me some training5, which was good.

* finding a job
1 wrote a letter of application for
2 a document which describes your education and the jobs you have done
3 a meeting where someone asks you questions to see if you are suitable for a job
4 gave me a job
5 help and advice to learn how to do a job or activity

Common mistakes

I had some training. (NOT I had a training.) You can also go on / do a training course [a period of organised help and advice, often in a different place] (NOT formation or stage).

B. Promotion

I worked hard and soon I was promoted [given a better job with more responsibility]. They also gave me a good pay rise [more money]. It was really good experience [knowledge you get from doing something such as a job], and when my boss left the company a few years later, they gave me an important promotion [a move to a higher job in the company].

C. Resignation*

By my mid-twenties, I was getting a bit bored, and decided I wanted to work abroad [in another country]. So, I quit my job [told the company I was leaving; syn resign] and started looking for jobs in the UK. After a couple of months I got a job in London. At first I liked it, but …

* when you say officially you are leaving a job

D. Unemployment*

After six months, I got fed up with the job – and I think I was enjoying myself too much to work very hard. Finally, the company sacked me [told me to leave the company; syn gave me the sack], and after that I was unemployed [without a job; syn out of work] for two months. Finally I got a part-time job [working only part of the day or week; opp full-time job] in the kitchen of a restaurant.

* when people do not have a job

Common mistakes

Claudio didn’t have a job. (NOT He didn’t have a work.)

E. Success and retirement*

I loved the restaurant. I learned how to cook, and two years later I became manager. Three years after that I opened my own restaurant. [belonging to me / it was my restaurant] It was very successful [it did well and made money], and twenty years later, I owned five restaurants, and I was the owner of two hotels. I believe anyone can succeed [be successful] if they work hard enough – and have a little bit of luck. Last year, aged sixty, I retired and went back to Italy.

* the time when people stop work, often at 60 or 65



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