One of the most common questions that you would hear when meeting someone new is definitely “What’s your job?” or “What do you do for a living?”. Here we will be introducing some useful words for answering relevant questions or starting a conversation.
Sentence Structure
Q: 你是做什么（工作）的？
nǐ shì zuò shén me（gōng zuò）de?
What do you do? / What is your job?
This is the most common way of asking someone what their job is. 工作 (job/profession) could be omitted in daily conversation, also to mean “What do you do for a living?” In this way, your answer could be vaguer, only limited to the industry rather than the specific job.
A: 我是（一个/一名）老师。
wǒ shì（yī gè / yī míng）lǎo shī。
I am a teacher.
Quantifiers in Chinese are often omitted, such as the 一个 (one/single) and一名(a/an) in this reply. Also note that 一名 is only limited to certain respectable occupations such as 老师/教师 (teacher), 律师 (lawyer) or 运动员 (athlete).
A: 我从事金融行业。 (more formal expression)
wǒ cóng shì jīn róng háng yè。
I work in finance.
A: 我是做建筑的。
wǒ shì zuò jiàn zhù de。
I’m in construction. / I work in construction.
These are the kind of vague answers that I previously referred to. When you don’t want to give out too much information about yourself, this is how you could reply. Also note that these answers are limited to the industry, which couldn’t be used to describe a specific profession. For example, “我从事律师 (I work in lawyer)” is grammatically incorrect, but you could say “我从事律师行业 (I work in the law industry)”. As for the second answer, to say “我是做警察的” is not against syntax rules, but nobody talks this way, as the word 做 (do) somehow indicates that the person is not proud of their job.
Common Occupations
Knowledge Related
Service Related
Ex:
我是…… / 你是…… / 他（她）是……
I am a... / You are a... / He (she) is a...
Job Titles
via Pixabay
Ex:
我是…… / 你是…… / 他（她）是……
I am a... / You are a... / He (she) is a...
Enter your text here...
Industries
| 教育 | jiào yù | Education |
| 出版 | chū bǎn | Publication |
| 广告 | guǎng gào | Advertisement |
| 保险 | bǎo xiǎn | Insurance |
| 销售 | xiāo shòu | Sales |
| 服装 | fú zhuāng | Clothing/Garment |
| 电器 | diàn qì | Electrical appliance |
| 电子 | diàn zǐ | Electronic/Electron |
| 运输 | yùn shū | Transportation |
| 工程 | gōng chéng | Engineering |
| 房地产 | fáng dì chǎn | Real estate |
Ex:
我从事……行业。(more formal)
I work in...
我是做……的。
I am in...
Office Vocabulary
| 工作 | gōng zuò |
1. Engaged in physical or mental work, also refers to machines or tools
| 开始工作 | start to work |
| 铲土机正在工作 | the scraper is working |
2. Job/Occupation
| 找工作 (to) | look for a job |
| 我正在找工作。 | I am looking for a job. |
| 我找到工作了。 | I found a job. |
3. Business/Task
| 工作量很大 | heavy workload | |
| 职业 | zhí yè | Occupation/Profession |
| 职位 | zhí wèi | Position/Post |
| 办公室 | bàn gōng shì | Office |
| 办公场所 | bàn gōng chǎng suǒ | Office space/Workplace |
| 工作场所 | gōng zuò chǎng suǒ | Workplace/Working place |
| 工资 | gōng zī | Wage/Salary/Earnings |
| 薪水 | xīn shuǐ | Salary/Wage |
| 月薪 | yuè xīn | Monthly salary |
| 年薪 | nián xīn | Annual salary |
| 奖金 | jiǎng jīn | Bonus |
| 保险 | bǎo xiǎn | Insurance |
| 求职面试 | qiú zhí miàn shì | Job interview |
| 个人履历 | gè rén lǚ lì | CV/Resume |
| 教育背景 | jiào yù bèi jǐng | Education Background |
| 工作经历 | gōng zuò jīng lì | Work Experience |
| 入职培训 | rù zhí péi xùn | Orientation training |
| 离职 | lí zhí | Dimission |
| 辞职 | cí zhí | Resign/Quit |
| 开除 | kāi chú | Fire/Sack/Discharge |
Job Interview Questions
If one day you are having a job interview in Chinese, then you are definitely beyond our vocabulary contents, which would be much too easy, so here we are sharing some of the most often asked questions by Chinese interviewers. Despite professional competence, the communication skills shown during the interview is also highly important.
| 请先介绍一下你自己。 | Please introduce yourself first. |
| 你来面试什么职位？ Or 你来应聘什么职位？ | What position are you interviewing for? What position are you applying for? |
| 你为什么要应聘这份工作？ | Why do you want to apply for this job? |
| 你觉得自己有什么优势与弱势（弱点）？ | What strengths and weaknesses do you think you have? |
| 你为什么觉得这个职位适合你？ 我们为什么要聘用你？ | Why do you think this position is right for you? Why should we hire you? |
Now that you have learned some useful words and expressions for jobs, you are ready to have a conversation with someone regarding what you do or what they do for a living. Cooperative opportunities arose from anywhere and it is said that the Chinese are known for “discussing business” at wine tables. Asking or answering about professions is a good place to start.
