IELTS Cue Card Sample:

Describe the career you hope to have in the future

what the job is
what it involves
why  you will choose it

and explain why you are interested in this job.

Sample answer:

(Job: Retail Manager)

Today I am going to talk about the job I would like to do for my future career. I will tell you what the job is, what it involves and why it appeals to me. In the future, I’d really like to work as a Retail Manager for a huge store in a big city centre.

‘Retail Manager’ is just a formal way of describing someone who has overall charge of a shop. A shop could be large or small, independent or part of a large corporation such as a supermarket or a franchise. I want to work as a manager for a famous store with a worldwide brand. Who knows, maybe even Harrods in London one day! Really the job of a retail manager is to maximise the profits for the business which employs them. However, profit isn’t really what motivates me, what I would find interesting in the job is its enormous variety. To make a profit you have to do many things well. You have to be able to lead and motivate staff; you have to understand your products; you have to provide outstanding customer service and you need to be numerate as well. That means the role requires involvement in human resources, marketing, logistics, information technology, customer service and finance – and that isn’t even the whole list!

The reason I have chosen this job is that I get bored quite quickly. Whatever job I do, it is important to me that it has lots of variety. I also like to be busy, and there are few jobs I can think of which are as busy as retail. There are always new products, new customers and new staff. Every day is different. I also like to learn new things, I am curious about how the world of business works. In retail, I’d need to keep up to date with product knowledge and management skills, I’d be learning new things every day. I am also really interested in famous brands, I want to work for an organisation that is known world-wide and values its staff, which is why I am aiming high!

I am interested in this job because I have lots of experience in retail. I’ve worked in a shop for the past few years on a part time basis alongside my university studies. I started in a clothing shop just sorting stock, then I got the opportunity to work on a till. My manager saw I was interested and gave me more responsibility. After a just 6 months I became a team leader. I not only have my own sales targets, but I have to help other staff reach theirs. I love this aspect of the job, if we provide a good service to customers then they buy more goods, then we reach our targets and get our bonuses. The customer is happy, the staff are happy and my manager and the business owner are happy too! Everybody wins. Sometimes the manager lets me cover for her when she is away. I think I understand the pressures, responsibilities and rewards of the job very well, and I LOVE it!

I am very confident I will reach my career goal of working in retail management. To help me do this I am going to find a new job in another store to widen my experience, and I am going to update my CV and LinkedIn profile to make sure that if an opportunity becomes available I am ready to apply for it straight away!

[ Written by – Lucy Marris | Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam) ]