“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”
Even though Stephen King was talking about succeeding at work when he uttered those words, the same could easily apply to learning English.
Help your students work hard to achieve their fluency goals with these ESL conversation questions about employment. After all, hard work pays off.
33 ESL conversation questions about employment and work
- What is your dream job?
- How many jobs have you had in your lifetime?
- Which one was your favourite job and which one was your least favourite job?
- Do you have a job right now? Describe it.
- What day-to-day tasks do you have to do in your job?
- Do you prefer working in a large team or a small team?
- Do you enjoy managing other people at work?
- What are your typical working hours?
- Do you prefer working day shift, afternoon shift, or night shift?
- Do you prefer working with people or with computers?
- Do you enjoy working with your hands?
- Are you required to work on weekends or public holidays?
- What is the best part about your job?
- What is the worst part about your job?
- Do you think that it’s appropriate for a company to require photographs on CVs? Why or why not?
- Do you have to attend a lot of meetings for your job?
- Do you have to answer a lot of emails for your job?
- Do you like your colleagues?
- What do you think about Universal Basic Income?
- What do you think about a 4-day work week?
- When would you like to retire?
- If you could retire tomorrow, would you?
- What is the minimum wage in your country?
- How does the minimum wage from your home country compare to the minimum wage here?
- Do you think we should raise the minimum wage?
- Do you think that employees should have the right to unionize?
- Are you a member of a worker’s union?
- Do you enjoy working? Why or why not?
- Do you want to change jobs? Why or why not?
- Do you think it’s essential to get a university degree to find employment these days? Why or why not?
- List 5 jobs that require a university degree and 5 jobs that do not require a university degree.
- What are some of the highest paying jobs in your home country?
- What are some of the most popular jobs in your culture?
What have been the most effective ESL Discussion Topics and ESL conversation questions in your group and 1:1 English lessons? Share your experience below.
