Career Choices and Ambitions

Understand the range of job titles in French and be familiar with their English equivalence. This includes but not limited to professions such as doctor (médecin), engineer (ingénieur), teacher (professeur), nurse (infirmière), etc.
Learn how to express career aspirations in French. For example, “je veux devenir médecin” means “I want to become a doctor”, while “j’aimerais travailler dans le commerce” refers to “I would like to work in business”.
Get comfortable with vocabulary related to qualifications and skills. Terms like diploma (diplôme), degree (licence), skill (compétence), training (formation), or experience (expérience) are commonly used in discussions about careers.
Be familiar with common phrases and structures used to discuss career choices. Phrases such as “J’ai choisi ce métier parce que…” (I chose this job because…) or “Ce qui me plait dans ce travail, c’est que…” (What I like about this job, is that …) can help to structure your responses.
Know how to articulate reasons for career choices. This could involve personal interest (l’intérêt personnel), influence from others (l’influence des autres), financial reasons (raisons financières), or societal benefits (bénéfices sociétaux).
Practice the use of verb tenses when talking about future ambitions. The future simple tense and the conditional tense are both regularly used in this context.
Learn relevant adjectives to describe jobs and sectors. Words like rewarding (gratifiant), challenging (défi), dynamic (dynamique), or routine (routinier), can be extremely useful.
Be prepared to discuss employment trends in French-speaking countries. Understanding phrases linked to unemployment (chômage), job creation (création d’emploi), or working conditions (conditions de travail) will be beneficial.
Learn expressions for different stages of a career, such as starting out (commencer), progressing (progresser), switching careers (changer de carrière), or retiring (prendre sa retraite).
Remember that career choices and ambitions can also relate to further education. Be able to use vocabulary and phrases relevant to university studies, vocational training, or apprenticeships.