We all work or will work in our jobs with many different kinds of people. In your opinion, what are some important characteristics of a co-worker (someone you work closely with)? Use reasons and specific examples to explain why these characteristics are important.
Sample Response
A large number of people spend most of their time at work. Our life is divided into three equal parts: 8 hours - sleep, 8 hours - work, 8 hours - family time. So, in the most cases, one's co-worker plays an important role in one's life. From my opinion, the essential characteristics of a co-worker are the following. First of all, a person who works closely with me must like his job. I think it is very important for a person to feel satisfaction with his job. My husband is a software developer. He is fond of his job and people enjoy working with him because they see how many energy he puts into his job. Secondly, my co-worker must be persistent and never give up. I like when people who came across a problem try to solve it, find a good decision instead of looking for another person to hand it over. Another important aspect of this is that a good worker should always ask himself "What can be improved?" and suggests new solutions. In addition, he must be a good team player. In the modern world, good communication skills and the ability to work in a team are among the common position requirements. Personally, I think it is great to help each other, share new ideas, develop new solutions, etc. It helps to create a team spirit and improve labour productivity. Finally, my co-worker must be punctual. He or she should finish the job on time I think that It is unacceptable to make the rest of a team wait while a person finishes his or her job. Also, my "ideal co-worker" should always be ready to offer his or her help and be supportive. To summarise, I think if a co-worker possesses all of these qualities mentioned above he can make work with him really enjoyable and productive.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Fix number agreement Original: life Suggested revision: lives Why it matters: The plural possessive our requires lives when referring to people generally.
- 2. Clarify the list Original: 8 hours - sleep, 8 hours - work, 8 hours - family time Suggested revision: eight hours for sleep, eight hours for work, and eight hours for family time Why it matters: Using for and a final conjunction makes the three-part division read naturally.
- 3. Remove the article Original: in the most cases Suggested revision: in most cases Why it matters: Most does not take the definite article in this general expression.
- 4. Correct fixed phrase Original: From Suggested revision: In Why it matters: In my opinion is the standard prepositional phrase.
- 5. Use concise structure Original: are the following Suggested revision: are as follows Why it matters: As follows is the conventional construction for introducing a list.
- 6. Use precise wording Original: must like his job Suggested revision: must enjoy their job Why it matters: Enjoy conveys positive engagement with work more precisely and uses an inclusive singular pronoun.
- 7. Correct collocation Original: feel satisfaction with his job Suggested revision: feel satisfied with their job Why it matters: Feel satisfied with is the natural adjective and preposition pattern.
- 8. Use uncountable quantifier Original: many Suggested revision: much Why it matters: Energy is uncountable here and therefore takes much rather than many.
- 9. Keep tense consistent Original: people who came across a problem Suggested revision: people who encounter a problem Why it matters: The present tense is needed for this general statement.
- 10. Correct collocation Original: find Suggested revision: make Why it matters: English uses make rather than find with decision.
- 11. Complete the verb pattern Original: another person to hand it over Suggested revision: someone else to hand it over to Why it matters: Hand something over requires to before the recipient in this structure.
- 12. Clarify the reference Original: Another important aspect of this Suggested revision: Another important trait Why it matters: The revision names the intended quality directly instead of using the vague reference this.
Suggested Rewrites
- life lives
- 8 hours - sleep, 8 hours - work, 8 hours - family time eight hours for sleep, eight hours for work, and eight hours for family time
- in the most cases in most cases
- From In
- are the following are as follows
- must like his job must enjoy their job
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response identifies several relevant qualities and gives clear reasons for most of them, with the husband example providing useful specificity. Its main limitation is presentation: the entire discussion forms one paragraph, and several ideas are listed rather than fully developed, while recurring grammatical and collocational errors reduce polish. The highest-priority improvement is to organise the qualities into focused paragraphs and develop fewer points with precise examples and more accurate sentence control.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response directly identifies relevant characteristics and usually explains their importance, though several qualities receive only brief support.
Develop fewer characteristics in greater depth and add a specific workplace example for each main point.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas follow a recognisable sequence with clear signposting, but the single-paragraph format weakens organisation and makes the list feel mechanical.
Group related qualities into distinct body paragraphs, each built around one central idea and a developed example.
Lexical Resource
The response uses sufficient range to discuss teamwork, persistence, productivity, and support, but several unnatural collocations reduce accuracy.
Use conventional expressions such as 'in my opinion,' 'how much energy,' 'find a solution,' and 'make working with him enjoyable.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Simple and complex structures are both attempted, but recurring agreement, article, punctuation, and sentence-boundary errors limit control.
Check every complex sentence for complete clause boundaries and correct agreement, particularly around relative clauses and coordinated ideas.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
We all work or will work in our jobs with many different kinds of people. In your opinion, what are some important characteristics of a co-worker (someone you work closely with)? Use reasons and specific examples to explain why these characteristics are important.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.