Describe a job you would like to do.
A strong long turn names the subject in the first sentence, spends most of the two minutes on the last bullet — the why — and arrives at a prepared final line rather than trailing off.
The question, as the examiner gives it
Describe a job you would like to do.
You should say
- what the job is
- what it involves
- why it appeals to you
- and explain what you would need to do it
60 seconds to prepare, up to 2 minutes to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 199 words at a natural pace — roughly what 120 seconds holds.
Answer it yourself first
Record your own answer first. A model you have read three times comes out with a flattened rhythm, and examiners are trained to hear exactly that. Read it afterwards for the vocabulary and the shape, not to memorise the sentences.The job I would genuinely like, if I could arrive at it without the intervening twenty years, is running a small independent bookshop, and I am entirely aware of how that sounds. What it involves, from talking to somebody who does it, is about eighty per cent things nobody imagines. Ordering, returns, stock that does not sell, chasing invoices, and standing up for nine hours. Perhaps two per cent is recommending a book to somebody, which is the part everybody pictures. Why it appeals to me is not the books exactly. It is that the entire job is one place, and you can see the whole of it, which is the opposite of what I do now, where I have never met most of the consequences of my work. What I would need is capital, a location, and about two years of working in one first, because the failure rate is high and it is almost always the same failure, which is somebody who loves books and does not like retail. I have said all this to my wife twice and she has pointed out both times that I do not especially like strangers, which is a fair objection.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- intervening
four syllables with the stress on the third
- independent
four syllables with the stress on the third
- invoices
a specific business noun, three syllables
- stock
the precise retail noun for goods held
- consequences
four syllables with the stress on the first
- capital
the financial sense of the noun
- retail
the noun the closing line turns on
How a strong answer is built
- 1Name the job and acknowledge the cliche.
- 2Describe what it actually involves, unromantically.
- 3Explain the appeal with something structural.
- 4Say what you would need, including the realistic obstacle.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Describe a job you would like to do.” be?
You get 60 seconds to make notes and then speak for up to two minutes without interruption. Aim to still be talking at ninety seconds: finishing at forty is the commonest way to lose marks on this part.
Should I memorise the model answer?
No. Record your own version first, then read the model for the shape and the vocabulary. A memorised answer changes rhythm and pace noticeably, and examiners are trained to hear it — it usually costs more than the better wording gains.
Does sayit score this answer?
It scores what a microphone can observe: an estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.
What the band on your result means
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.One question a day until your test
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