IELTS Speaking Part 3: Work & Careers (Band 9 Sample)

Q: Why do some jobs pay much more than others?

It usually comes down to supply and demand. Jobs that require years of training or a rare talent — surgeons, say, or top engineers — attract high salaries simply because few people can do them. There's also the question of responsibility: the more that rides on your decisions, the more you tend to be paid. What's harder to justify, though, is why some genuinely essential jobs, like nursing or teaching, are paid so modestly despite the value they create.

Q: Do you think salary is the most important factor when choosing a job?

For most people it matters a great deal, especially early on when they're trying to get established. But I don't think it's the whole story. Once your basic needs are met, things like job satisfaction, a decent work-life balance and a sense of purpose often matter more. I know plenty of people who've taken a pay cut for a role they actually believe in, and rarely regretted it.

Q: How is the world of work likely to change in the future?

The biggest shift, I suspect, will be automation. A lot of routine work — both manual and administrative — will increasingly be done by machines and AI, which will inevitably displace some jobs. But history suggests technology also creates new kinds of work we can't yet imagine. I think the real change will be that people will need to keep re-skilling throughout their careers, rather than training once and doing the same job for forty years.

Q: Should governments do more to reduce unemployment?

I'd say they have a real role to play, yes, though I'd be wary of expecting them to solve it single-handedly. Investing in education and retraining is probably the most effective lever, because it helps people adapt as industries change. Simply creating artificial jobs tends to be expensive and short-lived. So the smartest approach is less about handing out jobs and more about equipping people to find and keep them.