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IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.

Describe a challenging job/profession you know about.

You should say:

• what job/profession it is
• what qualification it requires
• what the responsibilities of this job are

and explain why you think this job or profession is challenging.

Model Answer 1:
In my humble opinion, I think that every profession can be challenging, depending on, of course, how serious a person really is about his professional roles and responsibilities, but being a professional medical doctor is probably way more challenging than other professions, I presume.

But, no matter how much challenging this profession seems to be, I don’t think that there are any shortages of people in this world who don’t want to be a medical doctor, most certainly because of the financial benefits, service and prestige that the profession carries with it.

Anyway, so what are exactly the responsibilities of a medical doctor that make it so financially promising and prestigious? Well, to answer this question very simply, it is to save the lives of the people – all kinds of people that are – by carefully diagnosing their diseases, conditions and symptoms. Medical Doctors perform health assessments, run diagnostic tests, prescribe medication, create treatment plans and provide health and wellness advice to their patients. Some doctors may also perform physical surgeries on their patients, depending on their physical conditions, in order to help them heal better and quicker.

By the way, it is not really easy to qualify and get a practising license as a medical doctor since one must first finish a 4-5 year undergraduate degree program, followed by completing 2-7 years of residency training (or “internship”) at a medical school or college, depending on the countries where the degrees are offered. Besides, one would also need to complete a post-graduation degree in order to become a “specialist” doctor (such as a specialist in medicine or specialist in heart disease).

Anyway, being a medical doctor is really challenging, primarily because he or she always has to remain utmost careful in treating patients because one simple mistake can cost lives. Besides, for most medical doctors, they have very little or no social life outside of their profession because they have to remain on guard 24/7 for emergencies, life-saving calls, regardless of their own needs and priorities.

Sample Answer 2:
In my opinion being a Police officer is a challenging job. In fact, I can clearly understand this from my acquaintances with a friend of my brother whose name is Jacob and who works a police officer in our city.

To work in the police force, someone must be a by-born citizen of this country and has to finish at least 12 grades. Then comes the physical fitness and to be allowed to be a police officer, someone must have minimum 5 feet 7-inch height and a good physical structure and work stamina. The background of any individual has to be neat and clean to be the part of the police department as the authority always does a background check of the applicant. There is a very rigid training that every selected individual has to pass to be finally appointed in the workforce.

The responsibilities are huge and honest. Every police officer takes the oath to serve the country and people. Their primary responsibility is to establish the law in the society and track the people who do not abide by the laws. They take challenges to find a criminal, they try to keep the peace in the society, they work as the protector of the good people and they hunt down the bad guys.

Being honest and maintaining the vows a police officer takes at the beginning of his/her recruitment is a pretty challenging task. There are plenty of opportunities to be corrupted and earning illegal money and a good police officer has to refrain him/ her from this. The criminals in a society often are the powerful people and a police officer has to take risks to control those criminals. The officer must be ready to work any time needed and often stays away from home and family for a long. In most of the countries, the police officers are not high paying employees of the country but the challenges they take (both psychologically and physically) are greater than most of the other professionals. From my conversation with Jacob (the friend of my brother), I learned many daring and puzzling challenges he has faced. He has even taken challenges that could have easily killed him and yet he is not always honoured by people. This is a professional where new challenges and dangers always wait in the road.

Similar Cue Card Topics

Your ability to talk about this Cue Card would enable you to talk about the following Cue Cards as well:

1. Describe a profession of job you know about.
2. Describe a person who takes risks.
3. Describe a noble profession you know about.
4. Describe a person who is honest.
5. Describe an important profession in your country.

• IELTS Cue Card
• Candidate Task Card

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