ESL WORKSHEET - Beginning a new career

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

STARTING A NEW CAREER

LinguaHouse

Aug. 20, 2025

Level: Intermediate (B1-B2)
Type of language: General English
Tags: Companies and Jobs; Office Life; Work; Business People; Business Skills; Business Ethics; People and Places; Article Based; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old
Publication date: 08/20/2025

This lesson looks at the concept of beginning a new career and what that might involve. Students will read an article on the subject and listen to a radio show with three people discussing their experience. Exercises focus on reading and listening skills, related vocabulary and offer students the opportunity to discuss questions on the topic. (by Joe Wilson)

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English.

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Host: Good afternoon and welcome to our show. Have you been thinking about changing your career? Today, we’re going to be talking to three people who did just that and look at what they did and what their experience was like. First we’ve got Hannah. Hannah, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today. So what did you do to prepare for a career change?
Hannah: What I wanted to do was cut people’s hair. I’d spent four years working in an office as an assistant and realized that there was nothing there for me and there was no one there who I wanted to be.
Host: So what did you do first?
Hannah: I’m lucky that I’ve got a big family. I’ve got four brothers and two sisters. It wasn’t difficult to get my brothers to let me cut their hair. I told them that if I didn’t do it well, I would pay for them to get it done by someone else. They were all young and wanted to look good, so I was cutting someone’s hair at least once a week. After a while, my sisters let me do theirs too. When I was confident, I went to a hairdressers where I used to go and asked if they would let me help for free on a Saturday. It was like free school. Now, I have three stores of my own, and I love my work.
Host: Sounds like it worked out really well for you. Thank you for sharing your story with us. Next is Daniel. So Daniel, tell me, what advice would you give to someone who wanted to change their career?
Daniel: Prepare as much as you can. Luckily now, there’s so much information available on the Internet that it’s easy to be well-informed about a particular subject.
Host: So what did you do before?
Daniel: I had a job as a postman which was great for the exercise, but I knew that what I really wanted to do was be a photographer. I spent a lot of time online learning about photography and practicing with my camera. Because I finished early as a postman, I could go home and spend time learning. After a while, I started helping a local photographer with school portraits. I took some classes to learn more about the subject and began to get some of my own customers through friends. I started working part-time as a postman, and spent the other days doing photography. When I felt I had enough business, I went full time. It took me almost six years, but I love what I do now.
Host: Fascinating, thanks so much. And finally, we’ve got Sabrina. Sabrina, what mistakes did you make when changing your career?
Sabrina: I thought that doing a job I was more interested in would not be like a job at all. I was working as a flight attendant for an airline. It was fun to travel, but the long hours and rude customers stopped me enjoying the job. I realized I was really interested in the clothes I was seeing in different places in the world and started designing some of my own.
Host: How creative. What did you do next?
Sabrina: I took a course that I could do in my free time. My dad bought me some material when he found out, and I started making some of my own clothes. I was so excited when I finally got a job in fashion design. But, it’s still a job, and although I don’t have the same problems I used to have, I still have problems. There’s more stress than before, and I still get a lot of people who are rude to me. I’m going to stay for the experience for now, but I’m going to start my own company in a few years.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/starting-a-new-career. Accessed on August 21, 2025. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2025. All rights reserved.