MockoProfessional-life vocabulary shows up across every section of the TEF: in listening dialogues between colleagues, in reading texts about company policy, and in the speaking tasks where you describe a work situation or argue a professional point. At B1 level examiners expect more than just "je travaille dans un bureau." You need the words for roles, working conditions, workplace relationships, and professional decisions. This lesson organises that vocabulary so you can retrieve it fast under exam pressure.
What you’ll learn
- Name common job roles, departments, and hierarchical relationships in French
- Describe working conditions, schedules, and contractual arrangements
- Talk about professional development, promotions, and career changes
- Use key collocations (poser sa candidature, signer un contrat) accurately in short answers
Job titles and workplace roles
You need to recognise these roles whether they appear in a job advertisement, a listening dialogue, or a speaking prompt. Note that many job titles have masculine and feminine forms.
- le/la salarié(e): employee (on a salary)
- l'employé(e): employee (general term)
- le/la cadre: manager, executive (white-collar professional)
- le/la directeur/directrice: director, manager
- le/la responsable: person in charge, head of (e.g. responsable des ressources humaines)
- le/la chef(fe) de projet: project manager
- le/la collègue: colleague
- le supérieur / la supérieure hiérarchique: line manager
- le/la stagiaire: intern, trainee
- le/la bénévole: volunteer
- le/la freelance / indépendant(e): freelancer, self-employed person
Elle est responsable des ressources humaines dans une PME de cinquante salariés.
She is head of HR in a small company with fifty employees.
Contracts, hours, and working conditions
These terms come up in reading texts about employment law and in listening tasks about a character's work situation.
- le contrat à durée indéterminée (CDI): permanent contract
- le contrat à durée déterminée (CDD): fixed-term contract
- le temps plein: full-time
- le temps partiel: part-time
- les heures supplémentaires: overtime
- le salaire / la rémunération: salary, pay
- la prime: bonus
- les congés payés: paid holiday
- le congé maladie: sick leave
- le télétravail: remote working, working from home
- les horaires flexibles: flexible hours
- la période d'essai: probationary period
J'ai signé un CDI après trois mois de période d'essai, avec deux jours de télétravail par semaine.
I signed a permanent contract after three months' probation, with two days of working from home per week.
CDI vs. CDD: a very common distinction
- TEF reading and listening tasks frequently ask you to identify the type of contract a character has. Listen for "à durée indéterminée" (permanent) versus "à durée déterminée" (fixed-term). In fast speech, the key word is often just "déterminée" or "indéterminée."
Career development and professional decisions
Speaking task prompts often involve a career decision: asking for a raise, applying for a new post, changing jobs. These verbs and nouns let you discuss such situations clearly.
- postuler (à un poste): to apply (for a position)
- poser sa candidature: to submit one's application
- être embauché(e) / recruté(e): to be hired
- être licencié(e): to be made redundant, dismissed
- démissionner: to resign
- être promu(e): to be promoted
- la promotion: promotion
- la formation (professionnelle): (professional) training
- la reconversion: career change
- évoluer: to progress, develop (in a career)
- le plan de carrière: career plan
- l'entretien d'embauche: job interview
Après dix ans dans la même entreprise, il a décidé de se reconvertir et de postuler à un poste dans le secteur associatif.
After ten years in the same company, he decided to change careers and apply for a position in the non-profit sector.
The workplace environment
Beyond contracts and titles, exam texts regularly describe the atmosphere, organisation, and physical layout of a workplace. These words help you follow such descriptions.
- l'entreprise (f): company, business
- la PME (petite et moyenne entreprise): small or medium-sized business
- le siège social: head office
- l'open space: open-plan office
- la salle de réunion: meeting room
- l'ambiance (f): atmosphere, work environment
- la charge de travail: workload
- la pression: pressure, stress
- le bien-être au travail: employee well-being
- les ressources humaines (RH): human resources
La charge de travail est très importante en période de bilan, mais l'ambiance dans l'équipe reste bonne.
The workload is very heavy during the year-end accounts period, but the team atmosphere stays good.
False friend: "entreprise"
- "Entreprise" means company, not "enterprise" in the English sense of a bold venture. Do not write "j'ai fait une entreprise courageuse" to mean "I made a brave attempt." Use "démarche" or "initiative" instead.
Collocations to use in speaking answers
In TEF oral tasks, using natural word combinations (collocations) sounds far more fluent than searching for individual words. Learn these as fixed phrases.
- chercher un emploi / un travail: to look for a job
- trouver un poste: to find a position
- signer un contrat: to sign a contract
- occuper un poste: to hold a position
- assumer des responsabilités: to take on responsibilities
- gérer une équipe: to manage a team
- faire une réunion: to hold a meeting
- respecter les délais: to meet deadlines
- atteindre les objectifs: to reach targets
- travailler en équipe: to work as part of a team
Je cherche un poste où je peux gérer une petite équipe et atteindre des objectifs clairs.
I am looking for a position where I can manage a small team and reach clear targets.
How to practise this
Professional vocabulary is best learned in realistic contexts, not word lists alone.
Three practice routines
- Job ad reading: find one French-language job advertisement online (on LinkedIn or Indeed France) each day. Identify the contract type, the required experience, and the main responsibilities. You will see CDI, CDD, temps plein, compétences, and expérience in real use within minutes.
- Speaking simulation: record yourself answering this prompt for two minutes: "Décrivez votre travail actuel ou un travail que vous voudriez faire." Use at least five words from this lesson.
- Collocation matching: write the ten collocations from the last section on separate cards (verb on one side, noun phrase on the other). Test yourself until you can produce the complete phrase from just the verb.
Key takeaways
- Know the CDI/CDD distinction clearly: it is one of the most tested professional-life details in TEF listening and reading.
- Job titles in French often have a feminine form (directrice, responsable, stagiaire): examiners use both.
- Career-action verbs (postuler, démissionner, être promu) signal important story events in listening dialogues.
- Learn collocations as fixed units; they sound natural and save you thinking time in the oral task.
- Télétravail and horaires flexibles are current exam favourites: they appear in contemporary texts about the modern workplace.
