Spanish Jobs Vocabulary: 50+ Work Words You Need

Spanish jobs vocabulary starts with trabajo /tɾaˈβaxo/ for work or a job, empleo /emˈpleo/ for employment, and profession names such as médico /ˈmeðiko/, profesora /pɾofeˈsoɾa/, and ingeniero /inxeˈnjeɾo/. To talk naturally about work in Spanish, you also need workplace words, schedules, pay, job applications, and the gender patterns that change many professional titles.

Spanish is spoken by more than 600 million people worldwide, according to El español: una lengua viva from Instituto Cervantes. It is an official language in 20 countries, so workplace vocabulary varies by region, but the core terms in this guide work from Madrid to Mexico City, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, and beyond.

If you are still building everyday basics, begin with common Spanish words and add the work language below. Learning vocabulary through scenes in offices, hospitals, shops, and restaurants also helps you hear how people actually speak under time pressure.

The essential words for jobs in Spanish

The broadest word is trabajo /tɾaˈβaxo/. It can refer to your employment, the activity of working, or an individual assignment. Tengo mucho trabajo /ˈteŋɡo ˈmutʃo tɾaˈβaxo/ means “I have a lot of work,” while busco trabajo /ˈbusko tɾaˈβaxo/ means “I am looking for a job.”

Empleo /emˈpleo/ is narrower. It usually refers to paid employment or a formal post. A person may say tengo un empleo fijo /ˈteŋɡo un emˈpleo ˈfixo/ to say they have a permanent job.

The Real Academia Española defines both words broadly, but their everyday distribution matters. Use trabajo in ordinary conversation; use empleo when discussing the labor market, a vacancy, or the conditions of a position.

profesiones

Spanish profession names often show the gender of the person. Profesor /pɾofeˈsoɾ/ becomes profesora /pɾofeˈsoɾa/, and abogado /aβoˈɣaðo/ becomes abogada /aβoˈɣaða/.

This is not merely a grammar exercise. Job titles appear on email signatures, business cards, applications, introductions, and official documents. A feminine title should be used when the professional uses it: la médica /la ˈmeðika/, la ingeniera /la inxeˈnjeɾa/, and la presidenta /la pɾesiˈðenta/ are normal contemporary Spanish.

Some titles do not change at all. Periodista /peɾjoˈðista/, artista /aɾˈtista/, and gerente /xeˈɾente/ can refer to men or women. The article provides the gender: el periodista /el peɾjoˈðista/ or la periodista /la peɾjoˈðista/.

John Butt and Carmen Benjamin’s A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish explains that grammatical gender is expressed across articles and adjectives as well as nouns. That agreement is why you say una abogada excelente /una aβoˈɣaða ekseˈlente/, not un abogada excelente.

Workplace vocabulary in Spanish

A profession tells people what you do. The next group lets you discuss where and how you do it.

oficina

Oficina /ofiˈsina/ means office, while empresa /emˈpɾesa/ means company. You might work en una oficina /en una ofiˈsina/, para una empresa /paɾa una emˈpɾesa/, or remotely, desde casa /ˈdezðe ˈkasa/.

A compañero de trabajo /koɱpaˈɲeɾo ðe tɾaˈβaxo/ is a coworker. In some contexts, Spanish speakers shorten this to compañero /koɱpaˈɲeɾo/ when everyone knows they are discussing work. Be careful: the same word can mean classmate, partner, or companion.

Jefe /ˈxefe/ is the everyday word for boss. Supervisor /supeɾbiˈsoɾ/ and directora /diɾekˈtoɾa/ can be more specific depending on the organization. In a formal email, addressing someone by their name and role is often safer than repeatedly calling them jefe.

horario

A horario /oˈɾaɾjo/ may mean your schedule or the opening hours of a business. ¿Cuál es tu horario? /ˈkwal es tu oˈɾaɾjo/ can ask “What hours do you work?” or “What is your schedule?”

A turno /ˈtuɾno/ is a shift. Workers in retail, hospitality, medicine, factories, and customer service may say trabajo en el turno de noche /tɾaˈβaxo en el ˈtuɾno ðe ˈnotʃe/, “I work the night shift.”

The vocabulary around pay carries regional nuance. Sueldo /ˈsweldo/ and salario /saˈlaɾjo/ both mean salary or wage. In Mexico, quincena /kiŋˈsena/ often refers to a twice-monthly pay period and, by extension, the paycheck received then. In Argentina and Uruguay, aguinaldo /aɣiˈnaldo/ commonly refers to an extra annual salary payment required under local labor rules.

Job search and interview vocabulary

Looking for work requires a separate set of words. These appear in job listings, recruiter emails, online forms, and interviews.

contratación

A job advert is an oferta de empleo /oˈfeɾta ðe emˈpleo/. A specific opening is a vacante /baˈkante/. The word puesto /ˈpwesto/, literally “place” or “position,” is another frequent term: un puesto de marketing /um ˈpwesto ðe ˈmaɾketiŋ/.

To apply, say solicitar un puesto /solisiˈtaɾ um ˈpwesto/ or presentar una solicitud /pɾesenˈtaɾ una solisiˈtuð/. In everyday Latin American Spanish, postularse /postuˈlaɾse/ is also common, especially in phrases such as me postulé para el puesto /me পোস্টuˈle paɾa el ˈpwesto/.

Your resume may be a currículum /kuˈrikulum/, a CV /se ˈβe/, or a hoja de vida /ˈoxa ðe ˈβiða/. The regional distinction is useful, but no recruiter will be confused by currículum vitae /kuˈrikulum ˈbite/.

Francisco Moreno Fernández’s Variedades de la lengua española emphasizes that vocabulary changes across national varieties without making one variety less correct. That is especially visible in employment language: a job seeker in Colombia may send a hoja de vida, while one in Spain more often sends a currículum.

Useful sentences for work conversations

Memorize a few full sentences, not isolated labels. They let you turn vocabulary into usable speech.

• Trabajo como diseñadora. /tɾaˈβaxo ˈkomo diseɲaˈðoɾa/ means “I work as a designer.”
• Estoy buscando empleo. /esˈtoj busˈkando emˈpleo/ means “I am looking for work.”
• Tengo experiencia en ventas. /ˈteŋɡo ekspeˈɾjensja en ˈbentas/ means “I have sales experience.”
• La reunión empieza a las nueve. /la reuˈnjon emˈpjesa a las ˈnwebe/ means “The meeting starts at nine.”
• ¿Me puedes enviar el contrato? /me ˈpweðes emˈbjaɾ el konˈtɾato/ means “Can you send me the contract?”
• Necesito pedir vacaciones. /nesesiˈto peˈðiɾ βakasjoˈnes/ means “I need to request vacation.”
• Quiero cambiar de trabajo. /ˈkjeɾo kamˈbjaɾ ðe tɾaˈβaxo/ means “I want to change jobs.”
• Fue una entrevista muy buena. /fwe una entɾeˈβista muj ˈbwena/ means “It was a very good interview.”

For professional introductions, start with a confident greeting. Spanish hello phrases can help you choose between hola /ˈola/, buenos días /ˈbwenoz ˈdias/, and more formal options.

How to retain Spanish work vocabulary

Group words by the places and scenes where they occur. Learn reunión /reuˈnjon/, equipo /eˈkipo/, proyecto /pɾoˈjekto/, and fecha límite /ˈfetʃa ˈlimite/ together because they belong to a meeting scene.

Then make the vocabulary personal. Replace generic examples with your actual role, industry, schedule, and career plans. A learner who says soy enfermero /soj eɱfeɾˈmeɾo/ or trabajo en tecnología /tɾaˈβaxo en teknoˈloxja/ is building language they can use immediately.

Finally, listen for register. A character may complain about horas extras /ˈoɾaz ˈekstɾas/ to a friend but use jornada laboral /xoɾˈnaða laβoˈɾal/ in a formal meeting. Films and TV shows are particularly useful for noticing that shift in tone. For more practical listening ideas, see how to learn Spanish with movies.

Spanish work vocabulary becomes much easier once you treat it as a set of real interactions: introducing yourself, explaining your role, scheduling a meeting, applying for a position, and talking about your day. Start with the 15 words closest to your own work life, then expand through the scenes and conversations you hear.