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Collection of most common office vocabulary in English

Companies are gradually raising their recruitment standards by requiring candidates to have English fluency and certificates. As a result, whether you are currently employed or not, learning English office vocabulary is beneficial. PREP's article below will introduce 150+ most common office vocabulary, allowing you to communicate confidently in the workplace!

I. Office vocabulary in English
II. Tips to memorize office vocabulary
III. Exercises on office vocabulary with detailed answers
1. 1. Exercises
2. 2. Answer keys
IV. Achieve Band 7+ and Beyond

I. Office vocabulary in English

Let's take a look at office supplies vocabulary with PREP, and if you are not in the above target group, it’s still a good source to enrich your vocabulary!

1. Office vocabulary - Department

What departments or divisions would a company have? Refer to the table below to firmly grasp English vocabulary for offices - Department names, Preppies!

No	Office Vocabulary	Pronunciation	Example
1	Department	/dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The company has several departments, including the accounting, administration, and marketing departments.
2	Accounting Department	/əˈkaʊntɪŋ dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The accounting department is responsible for managing the company's finances.
3	Administration Department	/ədˌmɪnɪˈstreɪʃn dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The administration department oversees the day-to-day operations of the company.
4	Audit Department	/ˈɔːdɪt dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The audit department is responsible for ensuring the company's financial records are accurate.
5	Customer Service Department	/ˈkʌstəmər ˈsɜːrvɪs dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The customer service department handles customer inquiries and complaints.
6	Financial Department	/faɪˈnænʃl dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The financial department is responsible for managing the company's financial resources.
7	Human Resources Department	/ˌhjuːmən rɪˈsɔːrsɪz dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The human resources department is responsible for managing the company's employees.
8	Marketing Department	/ˈmɑːrkɪtɪŋ dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The marketing department is responsible for promoting the company's products or services.
9	Operation Department	/ˌɑːpəˈreɪʃn dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The operation department is responsible for managing the production and delivery of the company's products or services.
10	Production Department	/prəˈdʌkʃn dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The production department is responsible for manufacturing the company's products.
11	Quality Department	/ˈkwɑːləti dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The quality department is responsible for ensuring the company's products or services meet the required quality standards.
12	Research and Development Department	/ˌriːsɜːrtʃ ən dɪˈveləpmənt dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The research and development department is responsible for developing new products or improving existing ones.
13	Sales Department	/seɪlz dɪˈpɑːrtmənt/	The Sales Department is responsible for promoting and selling the company's products or services to customers.
14	Outlet	/ˈaʊtlet/	The company has opened a new outlet in the city center to expand its reach to customers.
15	Agency	/ˈeɪdʒənsi/	The advertising agency helps businesses create and execute marketing campaigns to reach their target audience.
16	Labor union	/ˈleɪbər juːniən/	The labor union represents the collective interests of the employees and negotiates with the employer for better working conditions and benefits.

2. Office vocabulary - Job title

Which words would you use to introduce your job title at the office? Let‘s refer to the office vocabulary list below to answer those questions confidently.

No	Office Vocabulary	Pronunciation	Example
1	Chairman	/ˈtʃermən/	The chairman of the company announced the new policy changes.
2	CEO - Chief Executives Officer	/ˌsiː iː ˈəʊ/	The CEO is responsible for making the final decisions for the company.
3	President	/ˈprezɪdənt/	The president of the university made an announcement about the new scholarship program.
4	Vice President	/ˌvaɪs ˈprezɪdənt/	The vice president of sales is responsible for increasing revenue for the company.
5	The board of directors	/ðə bɔːrd əv dəˈrektərz/	The board of directors meets once a month to discuss the company's performance.
6	Founder	/ˈfaʊndər/	The founder of the company had a vision for changing the industry.
7	Director	/dəˈrektər/	The director of marketing created a new advertising campaign.
8	Senior Managing Director	/ˈsiːniər ˌmænɪdʒɪŋ dəˈrektər/	The senior managing director oversees all operations of the company.
9	Deputy/Vice Director	/ˈdepjuti/vaɪs dəˈrektər/	The vice director of finance is responsible for managing the company's budget.
10	Assistant Manager	/əˈsɪstənt ˈmænɪdʒər/	The assistant manager is responsible for training new employees.
11	Manager	/ˈmænɪdʒər/	My manager is so responsible for the job.
12	Supervisor	/ˈsuːpərvaɪzər/	The supervisor is so tricky that everyone is scared of her.
13	Representative	/ˌreprɪˈzentətɪv/	There are 5 representatives from France.
14	Team leader	/tiːm ˈliːdər/	My team leader is so friendly.
15	Intern	/ɪnˈtɜːrn/	She worked in the White House as an intern.
16	Collaborator	/kəˈlæbəreɪtər/	A new production by Andrew Davies and collaborators.
17	Associate	/əˈsəʊsieɪt/	A close associate of the author denied reports that she had cancer.
18	Contractor	/ˈkɑːntræktər/	He is a building contractor who was working on hurricane repair in Florida.

3. Office vocabulary - Stationery

Below is the English vocabulary for offices - stationery that PREP would like to send to you. In the office, there are many items that sometimes we need to borrow from our colleagues but don't know what their English names are. Please refer to this article!

No	Office Vocabulary	Pronunciation	Example
1	Calculator	/ˈkælkjuleɪtər/	I need a calculator to help me with this math problem.
2	Calendar	/ˈkælɪndər/	I use a calendar to keep track of important dates and appointments.
3	Clipboard	/ˈklɪpbɔːrd/	The doctor uses a clipboard to keep all the patient's medical records organized.
4	Computer	/kəmˈpjuːtər/	I use my computer for work and entertainment.
5	Correction Pen	/kəˈrɛkʃn pen/	I made a mistake in my notes, so I used a correction pen to fix it.
6	Crayon	/ˈkreɪɑːn/	The children used crayons to draw pictures in their coloring books.
7	Envelop	/ɪnˈveləp/	I needed to send a letter, so I put it in an envelope and sent it in the mail.
8	File cabinet	/ˈfaɪl kæbɪnət/	The office keeps all its important documents in a file cabinet.
9	File folder	/ˈfaɪl ˈfəʊldər/	I organize my paperwork in file folders to keep them neat and tidy.
10	Glue	/ɡluː/	I used glue to stick the pieces of the broken vase back together.
11	Scissors	/ˈsɪzərz/	I need a pair of scissors to cut this paper.
12	Paperclip	/ˈpeɪpər klɪp/	I use a paperclip to hold all the pages of my report together.
13	Pencil	/ˈpensl/	I prefer using a pencil over a pen because I can erase my mistakes.
14	Pins	/pɪn/	Please use pins to attach the papers to the bulletin board.
15	Note	/nəʊt/	I wrote a note to remind myself of the meeting time.
16	Printer	/ˈprɪntər/	The printer is out of ink, so we need to buy more.
17	Projector	/prəˈdʒektər/	We need to set up the projector before the presentation.
18	Rubber Stamp	/ˌrʌbər ˈstæmp/	The document needs to be stamped with the company's rubber stamp.
19	Sellotape	/ˈseləteɪp/	Can you please pass me the sellotape so I can fix this tear in the paper?

4. Office vocabulary - Contracts, welfare

In order to ensure your benefits at work, you should memorize some words about contracts and welfare in the list of English vocabulary for officers below.

No	Office Vocabulary	Pronunciation	Example
1	Agreement	/əˈɡriːmənt/	They signed a rental agreement for the apartment.
2	Health Insurance	/helθ ɪnˈʃʊrəns/	Employers with 200 or more workers are required to offer health insurance for employees and their dependents
3	Holiday entitlement	/ˈhɑːlədeɪ ɪnˈtaɪtlmənt/	Employees are entitled to 20 days of holiday entitlement per year.
4	Holiday pay	/ˈhɑːlədeɪ peɪ/	I received my holiday pay at the end of the year.
5	Leaving date	/liːvɪŋ deɪt/	His leaving date is next month.
6	Maternity leave	/məˈtɜːrnəti liːv/	She is taking six months of maternity leave.
7	Pension scheme	/ˈpenʃn skiːm/	The company has a generous pension scheme for its employees.
8	Promotion	/prəˈməʊʃn/	He got a promotion to manager after working for five years.
9	Resign	/rɪˈzaɪn/	I decided to resign from my job to pursue a new opportunity.
10	Salary	/ˈsæləri/	He received a raise in his salary after a year of working for the company.
11	Sick leave	/ˈsɪk liːv/	She took three days of sick leave because she had the flu.
12	Training scheme	/ˈtreɪnɪŋ skiːm/	The company offers a training scheme to help employees develop new skills.
13	Travel expenses	/ˈtrævl ɪkˈspens/	Travel expenses are reimbursed by the company when the employee makes a claim.
14	Working hours	/ˈwɜːrkɪŋ ˈaʊərz/	Personal use of the internet by office workers is costing British firms 233 million working hours a month.

II. Tips to memorize office vocabulary

How to remember office-themed English vocabulary quickly? Check out some useful learning tips from PREP now!

1. Create an ideal learning environment

Offices are the ideal learning environment that you should make use of.

It is best to communicate with coworkers in English and use the workplace vocabulary you have learned. Only by speaking those words out loud and putting them into a sentence do they stick with you. You won't be able to understand those words if you merely write them down.
Make a to-do list in English instead of your first language, employing those words you have learned. For example:
- Updating marketing news for team leaders.
- Writing a financial report for managers.
- Collecting statistics of exported products.

2. Communicate confidently in English

As PREP advised above, speak in English as much as possible - we will learn faster through the mistakes we make. You should leverage every opportunity to speak English, for example when introducing yourself, or simply trying to speak English in ordinary conversations.

3. Stop translating into your target language

If you truly want to understand the meaning of new words, you should think in English, which will result in improved reflection and memorization.

4. Practice daily

When learning vocabulary, you need to combine all the listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills to be able to understand the meaning and memorize these words completely!

III. Exercises on office vocabulary with detailed answers

1. Exercises

Exercise 1: Match the following Office Vocabulary with their corresponding images

Office Vocabulary	Image
1. Agreement
2. Calculator
3. CEO - Chief Executives Officer
4. Worker
5. Calendar

Exercise 2: Make a sentence for the following office vocabulary

Working hour
Manager
Salary
Projector
Travel expense

2. Answer keys

Exercise 1:

Exercise 2:

The working hours for this job are from 9 AM to 5 PM.
My manager always supports me whenever I need it.
I really want a job with a high salary level.
The projector was broken yesterday.
The company reimbursed her travel expenses for the business trip.

IV. Achieve Band 7+ and Beyond

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Master Tu Pham

Founder/CEO at Prep

Founder of Prep Smart Test Preparation Platform. With over 10 years of experience in teaching and test preparation, Mr. Tú has helped thousands of students achieve high scores in the IELTS exam. In addition, Mr. Tú Phạm is also a consulting expert in British Council programs and a speaker at many leading educational events, programs, and conferences.