IELTS Speaking Part 2: Topic card; A professional person you know; with model answer, feedback and part 3 questions

October 1, 2019May 13, 2023

This IELTS speaking part 2 topic is a very recent one, and it is quite an easy topic card to talk about. We know many persons who do different jobs but some of them are quite exceptional in their jobs and we call them professionals. The title of the topic card is ‘Describe someone who is professional in his/ her job’. The model answer provided here is a band 8.0 standard. There are some feedback questions and part 3 questions too. Hopefully, this sample answer will help you to prepare for the cue card and some other cards as well.

Here’s the topic card:

In this model answer, the speaker is talking about his/her friend who works as a student councellor in a university. Have a close look at the different sentence patterns and cohesive devices used in the response and how the response progressed.

Model answer: Probable band score 8.0

Thanks for the card. I’m going to tell you about a person who, in my opinion, is one of the most professional persons that I’ve ever met in my life. Her name is Lisa Brooks. Lisa is my co-worker at Stancord University and has been working in this institution for around 7 years as a student councellor.

Lisa is in her 30s and comes from a very educated family. She herself holds two Masters Degrees, one in Social Science and the other in Human Psychology. I heard the story of her getting this job by beating 40 other job seekers easily because of her comprehensive knowledge in her subjects and her outlook towards the job. She also understands the psychology of students from different backgrounds better than any other person in our university. This is why the vice-chancellor hand-picked her from such a long list of bright people.

In our university, we call Lisa a Machine. It’s because she is so dedicated to her job that she can work hour after hour without taking a break. She always arrives early. I tried to beat her in timing but I could never do that because she is dead-serious about her office timing. Her job responsibilities include discussing with students about their career path, personal and family problems and help them to come out of depression and focus on their studies and future career.

The main reason why I’m saying that Lisa is the best professional in her work is that every student, who is sent to Lisa for a career guideline and discuss improvements of skill-sets for future life, finds a clear and focused guideline. Some students, who successfully pass from our institute, return and thank her directly for her guidance and words of inspiration which help them to seek a great career. This proves that she knows her work quite well. Most students go to her office with a gloomy face but every time they come out smiling.

Moreover, Lisa also proves to be a quick problem-solver. She helps many students, who suffer mainly from depression, to overcome it and focus on their career. The students share their personal or family problems with her she never fails to guide them to solve the problems. However, in my whole 4 years’ of working with her, she never shared any student’s personal matters with me. This is additional proof of how professional she is in her duties. She is pro-active, positive attitude, even in the midst of such a work-pressure and helpful manner makes her the jewel of our staff members.

Sometimes, we go out for lunch in nearby restaurants and Lisa tells some funny stories or jokes all the time which makes my day. I like to work with Lisa because I feel I can learn from her every day. I think a professional person not only needs to be skilled in his or her job but also he or she should be outgoing and friendly too. Lisa has all those features which make her the best.

Here are some feedback questions which might be asked by the examiner:

So, when did you first meet Lisa?
Does Lisa help you with any office-related problem?
Did you ever help her?

Here are the questions for Part 3:

What qualities are essential to become a successful professional?
Which qualities do we want to pass on to the next generations?
What characteristics do you think make a person appealing?
Some people feel that working skills are more important than personal qualities. What is your opinion about it?
What will employers consider to employ people in their companies in the future, work experience? Or working skills? Or personal qualities?