Talking about your job and company first class

Worksheet 1- Warmer Games

A: In pairs, ask each other a longer and longer chain of personal questions, asking exactly the same questions as your partner did and adding one more each time, e.g.

A: “Where do you live?” (Student B answers)
B: “Where do you live?” (Student A answers) “What are your hobbies?” (A answers)
A: “Where do you live?” (B answers, using different sentences if you can) “What are your hobbies?” (A answers) “How long does it take you to come to work?” (A answers)
Etc (continue until you can’t remember the sequence of questions)

B: Change pairs and play the same game, but only asking questions about your work or company

C: Work in groups of three or four. Try to ask questions about your partner’s job or company that they can’t answer, e.g. “How many countries does your company operate in?” If they do know the answer, they should answer the question truthfully, e.g. “Almost every country in the world, so maybe more than 180”. If they don’t know the answer, they should make up any answer, e.g. “Exactly 206 countries”. The people who listen to the answer should then guess if the answer is “True” or “Imagination”

D: Continue the game above with questions using the vocabulary that your teacher gives you

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Talking about your job and company first class
Worksheet 2- Job and company vocabulary

Make difficult to answer questions about your partner’s company with the vocabulary below and guess if their answer is true or just something they made up

Dividend
AGM
Sector/ industry
Share price/ stock price
Market capitalization
Head office/ HQ/ headquarters
Market share
Subsidiary
Workforce/ employees
Departments
Chief Executive Officer/ CEO/ Managing Director/ MD
Income/ revenue
Shareholder
R and D/ Research and Development
Initial Public Offering/ IPO
Founder
Cash cow/ most successful product
Direct boss/ line manager
(Chief) competitors

Add the vocabulary above to the questions below (not all the vocabulary is used, all the questions together have the same missing words):
Where is your company’s ____________ usually held? / Which month is your company’s ____________ in? / How many people usually attend your company’s _____________?

How much does your company spend on ______________? / Where is your company’s ___________ department based?

What was your company’s _____________ on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange= on Wall Street) at the close of trading yesterday? / Has your company’s _____________ been going up or down this year? / What was your company’s highest ever _________________?

Who is your company’s biggest ___________________? / What percentage of the stock does your company’s biggest _______________ own? / Does your company have lots of small ______________________s, or only big ones? / How many ________________ s usually attend the AGM?

What is your company’s __________________’s name/ telephone number/ salary/ main free time activity? / What was the __________________’s previous job? / Where does your _____________ live?

What is your company’s _________________? / How much money did your company’s ___________ make last year? / What is the market share of your company’s ____________________?

What was your company’s ____________ last year? / Does your company usually pay a _____________? / Will your company’s _____________ be up or down this year? / When does your company usually pay its shareholders the annual _____________________?

What is your company’s ________________’s address/ telephone number/ fax number/ post code? / How many people work at your company’s _________________? / How many floors does your company’s ________________ have?

Choose a question that you know the answer to (for your company) and you think your partner won’t (for their company, if it is different) and test them on it

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Talking about your job and company First class- Worksheet 3- Prepositions practice game
Work in teams. Start from the first sentence below. Each team can answer as many questions as they like, but if they make a mistake their score for that turn goes back down to zero, so if you are not sure about an answer you might want to stop and let play pass to the other team.
Prepositions with “work”
I work ________________ a food wholesaler
I work ________________ Microsoft.
I work ________________ a sales rep
I am working ______________ a project to produce a new product for next year.
We work ___________ the fashion business.
I work ________________ the 23rd floor
I work ___________________ Tokyo
I work ________________ a large, comfortable office
I work __________________ the company’s Japanese subsidiary
I work __________ my computer ________ 6 or 7 hours a day.
I work _________ about 11 hours a day.
I work __________________ 10 and 12 hours a day.
I work _____________ people from the HR and R&D departments

Prepositions of position
Our head office is ________________ Norway.
We are the biggest manufacturer of sausages ________ the world.
Our HQ is __________ the city centre, about 25 kms ___________ the airport.
I meet my clients _____________ their offices
I’m rarely ______ my desk.

Prepositions of time
I usually start work _________________ 9 a.m.
I hardly ever work _________________ Sundays
I have lots of meetings __________ the morning.
I have been working here ____________ 15 years.
I hope I will be promoted ____________ two or three years.

Prepositions of movement
We import meat products _____________ China
We export farm produce ________________ South East Asia and the Pacific Region.
We deliver our products ____________ ship and air freight.
I report _______ the Head of Sales.

Others
I have a good relationship _____________ my boss
We have more ___________ 20,000 employees.
I’m responsible ________ finding new markets or products for the company.
I’m ___________ charge of the sales team.
I manage a team ______________ 5 people.
I have to negotiate _____________ suppliers.
I often speak to clients ___________ the phone.

Find the similarities are general rules in the examples above.

Match the answers above with the questions below (more than one answer might be possible each time and not all of the answers match with questions)
What’s your job? / What do you do?
What are you working on at the moment?
Where do you work?
What is your workplace like?/ What kind of place do you work in?
What does your company do?
Who do you work for?
What kind of company do you work for?
Where is your head office?
What is your usual weekly schedule?
What are your main duties/ responsibilities?
How long have you been working for your company?
What are your career plans?/ What are your ambitions?/ How do you see your career developing?
Who is your boss/ direct boss/ line manager?
How do you see your career developing in the future?

Ask and answer the questions above in pairs

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Talking about your job and company first class
Worksheet 3- Prepositions practice game pairwork version
Student A
Choose one of the prepositions below and choose the most difficult one for the other team to guess from. Give them more and more hints for the same preposition until they get the right answer.

In
Our HQ is __________ the city centre.
Our factory is _________ the suburbs.
I have lots of meetings __________ the morning.
I hope I will be promoted ____________ two or three years.
I’m ___________ charge of the sales team.

For
I work ________________ a food wholesaler
I work ________________ Microsoft.
I work _________ about 11 hours a day.
I have been working here ____________ 15 years.
I’m responsible ________ finding new markets or products for the company.

From
Our HQ is about 25 kms ___________ the airport.
We import meat products _____________ China

At
I meet my clients _____________ their offices
I’m rarely ______ my desk.

As
I work ________________ a sales rep

By
We deliver our products ____________ ship and air freight.

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Talking about your job and company first class
Worksheet 3- Prepositions practice game pairwork version- Student B
Choose one of the prepositions below and choose the most difficult one for the other team to guess from. Give them more and more hints for the same preposition until they get the right answer.
On
I am working ______________ a project to produce a new product for next year.
I work ________________ the 23rd floor
I work __________ my computer for most of the working day.
I hardly ever work _________________ Sundays
I often speak to clients ___________ the phone.

In
We work ___________ the fashion business.
I work ___________________ Tokyo
I work ________________ a large, comfortable office
Our head office is ________________ Norway.

With
I work _____________ people from the HR and R&D departments
I have a good relationship _____________ my boss
I have to negotiate _____________ suppliers.

Of
We are the biggest manufacturer of sausages ________ the world.
I manage a team ______________ 5 people.

To
We export farm produce ________________ South East Asia and the Pacific Region.
I report _______ the Head of Sales.

Between
I work __________________ 10 and 12 hours a day.

Than
We have more ___________ 20,000 employees.

Match the answers on the Student A and Student B sheets to the questions below (more than one answer might be possible each time and not all of the answers match with questions)

What’s your job? / What do you do?
What are you working on at the moment?
Where do you work?
What is your workplace like?/ What kind of place do you work in?
What does your company do?
Who do you work for?
What kind of company do you work for?
Where is your head office?
What is your usual weekly schedule?
What are your main duties/ responsibilities?
How long have you been working for your company?
What are your career plans?/ What are your ambitions?/ How do you see your career developing?
Who is your boss/ direct boss/ line manager?

Ask and answer the questions above in pairs

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Talking about your job and company First class
Worksheet 4- Tense practice

Listen to your teacher asking the questions below without looking at your worksheet and decide if each question is talking about the past, present or future

Write “past”, “present” or “future” next to each of the questions below

What position would you like in the future?
What’s an average working day like (for you)?
How did you get that job?
Why did you choose that job?
What things do you like about your job?/ What things do you dislike?
Does you work involve working with other people?
Does the job require special skills or qualifications?
Does your job involve travel?
Will your job involve travel in the future?
How long have you been working in your present company?
How long have you been working in that industry?
How long have you had that position?
How many times did you use English at work last week?
What did you do in English at work yesterday?

Ask and answer the questions above

Change the sentences into other tenses, e.g. “How long have you had that position?” to “How long will you stay in that position?” (some other words might need changing as well)

Fill the gapped sentences below with the same tenses as above without looking, then check your answers above

What____________ an average working day like (for you)? [be]
How _____________ you __________ that job? [get]
Why ___________ you _______________ that job? [choose]
What things _____________ you _____________ about your job? What things __________ you ___________? [like/ dislike]
What position ____________ you ____________ in the future? [like]
_____________ your job ___________ working with other people? [involve]
_______________ your job _____________ special skills or qualifications? [require]
___________ your job ____________ travel in the future? [involve]
How long _____________ you ____________ in your present company? [work]
How long _______________ you _____________ in that industry? [work]
How long ___________ you _______________ your present position? [have]
How many times ___________ you ________________ English at work last week? [use]
What _____________ you _______________ in English at work yesterday? [do]

Change partners and give your answer to one of the questions above. Your partner should make the correct question to get that answer, without looking at the worksheets if possible

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Talking about your job and company first class
Worksheet 5- Describing your job and company Question words practice

Warmer

Ask your teacher as many questions about their company and job as you can using the question word that they give you. The first team to give up loses one point.

Grammar practice

Add the correct question words to the sentences below

_______________ is your company’s name?
_____________ kind of company do you work for?
______________ are your main markets?
_____________ are your main responsibilities?
_____________ countries do you export to/ sell to/ import from?
______________ are its main/ most famous products/ services?
______________ is your company’s head office?
_____________ are your company’s biggest markets?
____________ is the CEO?
_____________ is the chairman?
___________ is your direct boss?
____________ are your main competitors?
___________ often do you use the phone/ attend meetings/ go on business trips?
______________ long do you spend using a computer/ commuting every day?
______________ many people do you supervise?
________________ big is your company?

Ask and answer the questions in pairs

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Answer key
What is your company’s name?
What kind of company do you work for?
What are your main markets?
What are your main responsibilities?
Which countries do you export to/ sell to/ import from?
What are its main/ most famous products/ services?
Where is your company’s head office?
Where are your company’s biggest markets?
Who is the CEO?
Who is the chairman?
Who is your direct boss?
Who are your main competitors?
How often do you use the phone/ attend meetings/ go on business trips?
How long do you spend using a computer/ commuting every day?
How many people do you supervise?
How big is your company?

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Related pages

Business English first classes page

Describing your company and job page