Office English: Describing your job

你害怕说英语吗？

Are you scared of speaking English?

你不是一个人在战斗。

You're not alone.

我是哈南。

I am Hanan.

我是乔治。

And I'm Georgie.

我们的

And our

新系列《战胜英语演讲焦虑》帮你克服说英语的恐惧。

new series, Beating Speaking Anxiety, helps you fight your fears of speaking English.

听听学习者和专家的分享，获取提升口语的实际建议。

Hear from learners and experts and get practical advice about how to improve your speaking skills.

欢迎访问我们的网站 bbclearningenglish.com，收听《战胜英语演讲焦虑》。

Find beating speaking anxiety on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

你怎么形容你的工作？

How would you describe your job?

跟别人解释我到底是干嘛的，真的特别难。

It's really difficult to explain what my job is to people.

我爸妈都这么多年了，还是不太明白我具体做啥。

I think my parents still, after many years, don't really understand what I do.

每次得跟别人介绍朋友是做什么的，我都觉得自己说得特别傻，因为我自己也说不清楚。

When I have to describe what a friend does to another friend, sometimes I feel like I sound really stupid because I'm I I don't exactly know how to explain it.

今天在《职场英语》里，我们聊聊怎么让别人明白你到底在做什么。

Today on Office English, we're talking about how to make what you do clear to other people.

大家好，欢迎收听《职场英语》，你的职场生存指南。

Hello, and welcome to Office English, your podcast guide to the world of work.

我是菲尔。

I'm Phil.

我是皮帕。

And I'm Pippa.

你可以在 bbclearningenglish.com 找到这一期的文本，边听边看。

You can find a transcript for this episode to read along while you listen at bbclearningenglish.com.

所以，Pippa，节目一开始我们听了一些同事讲他们向别人解释自己工作时的困扰。

So Pippa, we heard from some colleagues at the start of the programme about their experience trying to tell other people what they do.

你有没有遇到过，别人说的职位或工作内容让你听不太懂？

Do you ever have difficulty understanding people's job titles and descriptions?

有啊，我有时候也挺懵的。

Yes, I do have difficulty with that sometimes.

而且很多职位名称都用一堆行话或者特别笼统的词。

And there's often a lot of jargon or generic words used for people's job titles.

比如‘制作人’、‘项目经理’、‘顾问’，这些词背后可能完全是不一样的工作。

So some examples might be producer, project manager, consultant, and that could mean a lot of different things.

所以有时候我真的搞不清楚他们到底干啥的。

So I find that a bit confusing sometimes.

说实话，我也很难跟外行解释我自己的工作是干嘛的。

I'll tell you what, I actually find it quite difficult to explain my own job to people who don't who don't work in the same industry.

光看职位名称，根本说不清什么。

The job title itself says very little.

所以我一般直接说说我每天干点啥，指望别人自己琢磨出来。

So I I tend to find I just describe the things I do every day and hope that people work it out from there.

对。

Yeah.

我们还常常很难看出不同岗位、不同行业之间的共通点，也意识不到自己到底用了哪些技能。

And we can also find it difficult to see similarities with other jobs, other industries and recognise the skills that we use.

所以这期节目，我们会聊聊怎么向公司内部的人、外部的人描述你的工作，还有当你想换工作或转行时，该怎么说清楚自己的背景。

So in this episode, we're going to talk about describing your job to people within your organisation, outside your organisation, and also how to describe your job when you want to apply for a new job or changed career.

好的，Pippa，咱们先说说怎么向公司里的人解释你的工作。

Okay, Pippa, let's start by talking about describing your job to people within your company.

你这么做的时候，得注意些什么？

What do you need to consider when you do this?

别光提你的头衔，想想你到底在做些什么。

Well, think about what you do rather than just your job title.

比如说，你可以说‘我负责销售’，或者‘我处理客户投诉’。

For example, you could say, I look after sales, for example, or I handle client complaints.

这两句话其实就是在说：我管的是这块儿，这就是我的工作范围。

Those two phrases just basically mean I'm responsible for, this is the area that I work in.

对，而且跟别人讲的时候，最好加点背景，说说你的工作跟其他同事或部门有什么关联。

Yeah, and it can be helpful to give some context and talk about how your job relates to other people and other departments in the organization.

我们常会说你在公司里‘属于哪一块儿’。

Sometimes we say where you sit within the organization.

你可以说‘我经常跟某某人或某个部门合作’。

So you might say, I work a lot with a particular person or a particular department.

你还可以提一句‘我向谁汇报’，因为大家可能认识同一个经理，这样更容易理解你的工作内容。

And then you also might say you report to, and you're talking about your manager, because it may be that people know the same manager and so that helps them understand what you're working on.

还有一点在开会时挺有用的，就是告诉别人什么时候该找你，或者在什么情况下会碰到你。

Another thing that might be useful to do, for example, in a meeting, is to tell people when they should contact you or in what situations they might encounter you at work.

比如说：‘如果你对这部分有什么问题，随时给我发邮件。’

So you could say something like, if you ever have any questions about this element, you should email me.

这样别人就能清楚地知道，平时工作中什么时候会找你打交道了。

And then that makes it really clear when the people that you're meeting are gonna actually interact with you at work.

当然，每个公司都有自己内部的行话，就是公司里人平时说的话。

Of course, organisations have their own internal jargon, the language they use within the organisation.

但刚来公司的人，可能还不熟悉这些术语。

But of course, people who are new to your organisation might not know that jargon yet.

是啊，有些老员工其实也没完全搞懂，就是天天用着而已。

Yeah, and sometimes people who've been there a long time still don't really understand it.

他们就是天天挂在嘴边，用惯了。

They just use it every day.

我们刚才聊了怎么跟同事介绍自己的工作。

So we've talked about how to describe your job to people you work with.

那要是对外人呢？比如朋友、家人？

But what about people outside of your workplace?

或者客户、顾客这类外部的人，又该怎么说？

Perhaps friends and family, or maybe clients and customers.

菲尔，你觉得这需要区别对待吗？

Do you need to approach this differently, Phil?

我觉得得看具体情况。

I think it does depend on the context.

如果你是出于工作原因见人，比如参加展会或者见客户，那就得保持正式和专业。

So if you're if you're meeting someone as part of your job, maybe you're at a conference or you're a client, you've gotta keep things formal and professional.

你可能会说，我代表……然后报出公司名字。

So you might say, I represent, and then the name of your company.

你大概还会说，我负责……接着说明你的职责范围。

And you'd probably say something like, I'm responsible for and then say what you're responsible for.

不过在那种场合，确实得保持比较正式的语气，跟跟朋友聊天肯定不一样，对吧？

But yeah, you probably keep it on quite a formal level there, which would be different if you're talking to your friends, wouldn't it?

对。

Yeah.

要是跟朋友聊，可能就说得更笼统一点。

If you were talking to your friends, might just talk more generally.

你可以说‘我主要负责’，或者找点大家都能懂的共同点。

You might say, I mostly work on or you might find a relatable element.

比如你可以问：‘你听说过这个产品或这家公司吗？’我做的工作跟这个挺像的。

So you could say something like, oh, do you know this product or this company?

我做的工作跟这个挺像的。

My work is similar to that.

我们找工作的时候，经常得介绍自己目前的工作。

Now, one common time we need to talk about our current job is when we apply for a new one.

尤其是当你打算转行——也就是换到一个以前没干过的领域——的时候，要清楚地说出自己的工作和技能，其实挺难的。

It can be difficult to clearly explain your jobs and skills, especially if you're planning a career change, which means to work in a different area to the one that you've worked in before.

对，这种情况下，你得先说清楚自己是做什么的，再补充细节。

Yes, so in this situation, you want to say what you do and then give more detail.

比如说，你可以说：‘我有……方面的背景’，实际上就是指。

For example, you could say, I have a background in a particular area, which in practice means.

‘实际上就是指’这句话，能帮你带出你每天具体做些什么、工作到底包含哪些内容。

And that phrase in practice means, allows you to introduce what you do day to day, what your job actually involves.

这里有个特别实用的表达，叫可转移技能。

A really useful expression we have here is transferable skills.

就是你在现在或以前的工作中学到的那些能力，能用到新工作里，直接搬过去就能用。

And what we mean by that are the skills that you have, that you use in your current job or a job you've done in the past, which you can transfer to a different job and you can use them.

你可以说，我在销售方面很有经验。

So you might say something like, I have a lot of experience with sales.

我很擅长说服客户，所以我觉得自己挺适合这个岗位的。

I'm very good at persuading clients, so I think I'd be useful in this role.

这就是一个可转移技能的例子。

That's an example of a transferable skill.

对。

Yeah.

申请工作的时候，最好也说说你为什么想换行当。

And it might be good to, in your application for a job, for example, talk about why you'd like to change.

你可以承认自己以前干的是别的领域，但现在想转到稍微不一样一点的方向。

So acknowledge that you've worked in a different area and that you're maybe changing to a slightly different one.

你可以说，我想把我的技能用到新的挑战上。

So you could say something like, I'd like to apply my skills to a new challenge.

这样你就不是在刻意回避自己之前没做过这行的事实。

And then you're not just trying to hide that you haven't worked in this area before.

本期《职场英语》就到这里，如果你想了解更多用英语求职的技巧，不妨去看看我们网站上的《求职申请》系列。

That's it for this episode of Office English, but if you'd like more tips for applying for jobs in English, try the Job Application series on our website.

下方笔记里有链接。

There's a link in the notes below this episode.

下周我们还会回来，继续帮你提升商务英语。

We'll be back next week with another episode to help you with your business English.

我们下期再见。

Bye for

再见。

now.

拜拜。

Bye.