IELTS Speaking band 8 sample test 2: Work life

Examiner: Let's start by talking about your work. Do you currently work or are you a student?

Candidate: I work full-time as a town planner for Leeds City Council, so I spend a lot of my week reviewing planning applications and talking to developers. I've been in the role for about six years, and before that I did a master's in urban planning. It's a job that suits me, because I get to see the direct effect of decisions on real streets and neighbourhoods.

Examiner: What do you like most about your job or course?

Candidate: I'd say I like the variety most. One morning I might be looking at a drawing of a new apartment block, and the next I'm walking round a park with residents who want a safer crossing. It keeps me on my toes, and I learn something new almost every week. Plus, the people I work with are genuinely dedicated, which makes the long days far more bearable.

Examiner: Is there anything you find stressful about your work or studies?

Candidate: Yes, definitely. The hardest part is the public consultation meetings, which can get heated when a development affects someone's view or their parking. I'm not paid to be a referee, but that's often what the job feels like. Deadlines are another pressure, especially when a large application comes in just before a statutory deadline. I've learned to breathe, stay calm and keep the conversation focused on policy rather than personalities.

Examiner: Now, I'm going to give you a topic, and I'd like you to talk about it for one to two minutes. Describe a job you would like to have in the future. You should say: what the job is, what skills it requires, and where you would work, and explain why this job appeals to you. You have one minute to prepare.

Examiner: All right, please start speaking now.

Candidate: The job I'd love to have one day is landscape architect, ideally on a larger scale, maybe for a national park or a rewilding project up in Scotland. A landscape architect designs outdoor spaces, so you're shaping parks, public squares, woodland paths and even whole river corridors. It's a bit like town planning, but with much more emphasis on plants, soil, water and wildlife, which is what really draws me to it.

Candidate: In terms of skills, you'd need a good eye for design, obviously, but also a solid grasp of horticulture, drainage and site surveying. Most of the work is done on computer these days, so you'd be fluent in CAD and GIS software, and a lot of the job is communicating with clients, contractors and local communities. As for where I'd work, I'd love to be based in the Lake District or the Highlands, in a small practice with a studio in an old stone barn. I'd be out on site a lot, which suits me perfectly, though I'd also be in the office sketching options.

Candidate: Why it appeals to me, I think, comes down to wanting to see the results of my work over time. A building is finished and then it's largely fixed, but a planted woodland or a restored wetland keeps changing for decades. I find that quite moving, actually. I'm also a bit fed up with spaces that are designed purely for cars. I'd rather be part of creating places where people actually want to linger, and where nature has a proper place in the everyday.

Examiner: Thank you. Would you say it's easy to find a job like that in your country?

Candidate: Not easily, to be honest. There are relatively few openings, and most are with big firms in London, so you often have to be quite flexible about where you live.

Examiner: Let's move on to talk about work more generally. How is technology changing the way people work?

Candidate: I think technology has changed work in two quite different ways. On the one hand, digital tools have made it much easier to collaborate. In my job, we use online mapping and shared models, so a planner in Leeds can review a scheme with a colleague in Sheffield without either of us getting in a car. On the other hand, there's a risk that people are always on call. Email and messaging apps have blurred the line between office hours and home life. I suppose the challenge is using technology to free up time, rather than simply filling it with more emails.

Examiner: Do you think job security is more or less important than job satisfaction?

Candidate: For most people, I'd argue job security comes first, simply because you can't enjoy a job if you're worried about paying the mortgage. That said, I think satisfaction matters more in the long run. Someone who feels secure but bored will eventually stagnate, and that can be just as damaging. Take a colleague of mine who stayed in a stable post for fifteen years and then burnt out, because she'd stopped feeling any sense of purpose. In my view, the ideal is a combination of both, but if I had to pick one, I'd go for satisfaction, since it tends to bring security with it.

Examiner: What qualities make someone a good leader in the workplace?

Candidate: I'd put listening at the top of the list. A good leader needs to hear what's really going on, especially from people on the ground, rather than relying on reports. Honesty comes close behind, because people can usually tell when they're being fed a line. Then again, I think some people overvalue charisma. The best leaders I've worked with were quite quiet and steady, and they were decisive when it counted. Above all, they were willing to admit when they'd got something wrong, which I think builds far more trust than looking infallible ever does.