When introducing ourselves, we tend to talk about different areas of our life, such as work. Unlike English speaking societies in which asking or being asked about your profession can often be a conversation starter, Spanish-speakers may prefer to ask personal questions instead.
That being said, you will still need to introduce yourself and your work when speaking with a Spanish person. This article will analyse the range of answers you can use when discussing what you do at work.
What do you do? ¿De qué trabajas? (¿De qué trabaja? when using usted) O ¿A qué te dedicas? (¿A qué se dedica? If you use usted)
1. Remember not to employ the preposition un/una when introducing your profession with Ser.
Soy profesor/ Soy abogada/ Soy mecánico (I am a Teacher/ I am a Lawyer/ I am a Mechanic)
2. When introducing yours or someone else’s profession, the verb trabajar must be followed by either “de” or “como”.
Trabajo de contable/ Trabajo de jardinero / Trabajo de médico // Trabajo como contable/ Trabajo como jardinero/ Trabajo como médico (I work as an accountant/ I work as a gardener/ I work as a doctor)
3. You can mention either the industry or the sector in which you work. In this case, you must add the preposition “en” after the verb.
Trabajo en finanzas/ Trabajo en banca/ Trabajo en seguros (I work in finance/ I work in banking/ I work in insurance.)
4. The preposition “en” is also mandatory when specifying the city or the country in which you work.
Trabajo en París (I work in Paris.)
5. To mention the specific company or the institution that you work for, you can also use either “en” or “para”.
Trabajo en/para la Unión Europea (I work for the European Union.)
6. “En” is also used when mentioning your place of work if it is a general place: a school, hospital, court, etc.
Trabajo en un hospital (I work at a hospital.)
7. To be more specific, you can mention the different tasks you do at work. The phrases estar a cargo de, dirigir, gestionar, and ser responsable de relate to managing an area, department or team, and specific tasks, and performances at a company.
Gestiono la contabilidad de la empresa (I manage company accounting.)
Dirijo el departamento de Recursos Humanos (I manage the Human Resources department.)
Soy responsable del marketing de la firma (I am responsible for the company’s marketing.)
Estoy a cargo de un equipo de cinco empleados (I am in charge of a team of five employees.)
8. Don’t forget that you can also use any other specific verb to describe your daily tasks:
Imparto clases de matemáticas (I teach maths lessons.)
Desarrollo programas de software (I develop software.)
Diseño estrategias de análisis de datos (I design data analysis strategies.)
With this list of verbs and prepositions, you should now be confident about describing your profession and your daily tasks. Hopefully this list will increase your confidence and give you plenty of speaking practice. Happy learning!
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