Talking about Jobs and Occupations in Spanish

¡Hola y bienvenido! In the previous lesson, we introduced the vocabulary for jobs in Spanish, particularly the names of several common occupations and professions and ways to use them in meaningful sentences. Although we did a lot there, we have not contextualized the topic and seen the vocabulary and grammar in use through real conversations. That being said, this lesson will introduce some specific situations in which you might need to talk about jobs and occupations in Spanish, the questions you may be asked and their possible answers. Comencemos…

Vocabulary review: A list of common of jobs and occupations in Spanish

First, we will review the names of common jobs and occupations in Spanish using some nice graphics. These words are part of the vocabulary needed to understand the conversations later.

Next, we will show you a video with a more complete list of jobs and occupations in Spanish, besides the explanation on the basic structure of sentences for this topic and key questions you need to know before moving forward in this lesson. It includes many cool examples on this topic.

Describing your job and Saying “What do you do?” in Spanish

So, “What’s your job” in Spanish

To review a little, the basic way to ask “what’s your job” in Spanish is with “¿En qué trabajas?” and “¿Qué haces?” It is easy to notice that some names of jobs and occupations in Spanish are written very similarly in both languages, which makes it easier to remember them. Our first example will be using the simple past of verbs in Spanish. For this tense, we should use a tilde over the last vowel for most verbs, e.g. “estudié” (I studied) and “viví” (I lived). In addition, when narrating something, it is important to use sequencing words such as “primero” (first), “luego” (then), “después”(later) and so on. Last, remember that adjectives and “me gusta” (I like) might be useful to say what you think about a specific occupation.

Example No. 1

Mi trabajo

Alguien me preguntó ayer ¿En qué trabajas? Cuando era pequeño yo quería ser arquitecto porque me gusta dibujar, pero no soy muy bueno en matemática. Luego quería ser bombero y después quería ser empresario. Después de pensar mucho, estudié para ser doctor. Ser doctor requiere (de) mucha responsabilidad, pero me gusta mi trabajo. Es interesante y al mismo tiempo puedo ayudar a los demás.

Describing your job in Spanish and sharing more information

When talking about jobs and occupations in Spanish, we can also add information about the place or company we work for. For example, if you are a teacher (maestro), you would probably work in a school (escuela) and if you are an engineer (ingeniero) perhaps you would work for a company (compañía/empresa). People may also ask what’s your job like in Spanish using “¿Cómo es tu trabajo?” and “¿Qué tal es tu trabajo?”

In order to describe your job in Spanish you may need adjectives like “interesante”, “aburrido”, “pesado” (hard), “difícil”and “fácil” (easy). Check all of this in the example below:

Example No. 2

¿Qué haces?

• María: Oye ¿Qué haces tú?
• Paul: ¿Yo? Pues yo soy ingeniero civil. Trabajo en una empresa de construcción.
• María: Yo soy maestra de medio tiempo. También soy administradora de mi propio negocio. ¿Qué tal tu trabajo?
• Paul: Es un trabajo interesante, pero siempre tenemos muchas cosas que hacer… tú sabes, todo trabajo es difícil de una manera u otra.
• María: Dímelo a mí que tengo dos trabajos.

My dream job in Spanish

Something cool about jobs and occupations in Spanish is that you can also talk about them as wishes or goals to say things like “Quiero ser policía cuando sea grande” (I want to be a police officer when I grow up) or using “Me gustaría” as in “Me gustaría ser científico” (I would like to be a scientist). These types of sentences are great for talking about dream jobs in Spanish – “Los trabajos de ensueño”. You can learn a little more about ways to express wishes in Spanish in this lesson. Besides, you can also use the future tense to say things like “Voy a ser doctor” (I’m going to be a doctor).

Example No. 3

Mi nombre es Cristian Jiménez. Tengo 18 años. Me gustan distintos tipos de trabajos, pero debo decidir qué estudiar en la universidad. Me gustaría ser diseñador de interiores para aprender de combinaciones de colores, cómo adaptar espacios y cosas así. También me gusta la tecnología, especialmente los juegos de videos, así que quiero ser programador o diseñador gráfico para crear juegos geniales. Creo que todo lo que tenga que ver con diseño, un poco de arte y creatividad es lo mío.

Listening Activity No. 1: Jobs and occupations in Spanish

Key expressions in the conversation:

• Yo quiero ser… cuando crezca means I want to be…when I grow up
• Eso suena interesante means That sounds interesting

Listening Activity No. 2: Telling about your job in Spanish

Writing assignment:

Write a paragraph similar to the one before talking about your job in Spanish (lo que tú haces) and the things that you like and dislike about your occupation (lo que te gusta sobre tu trabajo).

Related Spanish Worksheets:

• Jobs and Occupations in Spanish – PDF Worksheet
• Dialogues about Jobs and Occupations in Spanish – PDF worksheet
• Job Schedules in Spanish – PDF Reading Worksheet
• Important jobs in Spanish – PDF Reading Worksheet