Telling people your job
When people ask you "What do you do?", there are different ways that you can answer.
In all the examples below the speaker is a hairdresser.
Ten ways to say what you do
casual · neutral · formal
- I'm a hairdresser.neutralI'm a nurse at the General Hospital.
- I'm in hairdressing.neutralI'm in banking.
- I work as a hairdresser.neutralI work as a driver for a tea company.
- I'm a professional hairdresser.neutralI'm a professional photographer.
- I do a bit of hairdressing.casualI do a bit of tutoring at the weekends.
- I'm in the hairdressing business.neutralI'm in the hotel business in Bentota.
- I cut hair (for a living).casualI cut hair for a living.
- I work for a hairdressers.neutralI work for a software company in Colombo.
- My day job is hairdressing.neutralMy day job is accounting, but I sing at night.
- I earn my living as a hairdresser.neutralI earn my living as a tour guide.
How to use them
- is simply giving the job as a fact.
- is describing the job as an area with a variety of possible jobs - hair-cutter, stylist, colorist etc.
- We say when we want to make our job sound more important or difficult.
- We say when we want to make the job sound less important or difficult. Also, maybe it is only part-time work.
- is similar to .
- simply describes the action of the job. It makes the job sound less glamorous or difficult.
- is saying who the employer is. Maybe the speaker doesn't actually cat hair. Maybe he / she sweeps the floor.
- says that the speaker makes money by cutting hair but has another profession that he / she wants to follow in the future.
Quick check
Tap an answer. Nothing is saved.
Complete: I work _ a teacher.
"My day job is..." suggests:
Which sentence names the area you work in rather than your job?
See also: Making small talk
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