Chinese phrases on talking about your job

You may be asked to talk about your job at a company party or a social event and you may also have to bring up details of your job if you hope the conversation carry on.

In the situation like this, you should be able to express yourself when talking about your job. They could use one of the following questions:

• Nǐ zuò shénme de?你做甚麼的?
• Nǐ zài nǎ biān gāo jiù? 你在哪邊高就? [very formal]
• Nǐ zài nǎlǐ gōngzuò? 你在哪裡工作?
• Nǐ zài nǎlǐ shàngbān? 你在哪裡上班?

There are few ways to express yourself in professional manner. Let’s look at how to answer these questions and give out more information.

I’m a …我是

• Wǒ shì lǎoshī 我是老師I’m a teacher.
• Wǒ shì gōngchéngshī 我是工程師I’m an engineer.
• Wǒ shì gōngchē sījī 我是公車司機 I’m a bus driver.
• Wǒ shì yánjiūshēng 我是研究生 I’m a post-graduate student.

I work for a … 我在…工作/上班

Another way you could answer the question is to state the kind of place where you work.

• Wǒ zài xuéxiào gōngzuò 我在學校工作 I work for a community college
• Wǒ zài bǔxí bān gōngzuò 我在補習班工作 I work for an online English company
• Wǒ zài gōngsuǒ shàngbān 我在公所上班I work for the local council

I work in 我從事…產業

With this phrase, you can talk about two different things about your work.

• The fields of work you are in
• The department in your company you work in

So if you were talking about the field of work you are in, you could say one of the following:

• Wǒ cóngshì guǎnggào yè 我從事廣告業I work in advertising.
• Wǒ cóngshì xiāoshòu 我從事銷售I work in sales.
• Wǒ cóngshì jiànzhú yè 我從事建築業I work in architecture.
• Wǒ cóngshì fúzhuāng shèjì 我從事服裝設計 I work in the fashion industry.
• Wǒ cóngshì qìchē xiāoshòu 我從事汽車銷售I work in the sales department , in a car company.

Link All Phrases together

We can add all the above phrases and make a brief paragraph.

• Wǒ shì yèwù wǒ zài diànnǎo gōngsī xiāoshòu bù gōngzuò. 我是業務. 我在電腦公司銷售部工作 I’m a salesman, I work in the sales department for a local computer company.
• Wǒ shì lǎoshī wǒ zài gāozhōng rènzhí 我是老師, 我在高中任職. I’m a teacher, I work for a high school.
• Wǒ shì wǎngyè shèjì shī wǒ zài guǎnggào gōngsī gōngzuò 我是網頁設計師 , 我在廣告公司工作 I’m a designer, I’m in the design department in an advertising company.
• Wǒ shì gōngchéngshī. Zài bàndǎotǐ chǎnyè gōngzuò 我是工程師, 在半導體產業工作. I’m a tech person in a semi-conductor company.