Lesson 80 Vocabulary
English word English Definition English Example sentence
1 to get a promotion ~ to get more responsibilities and a salary increase. I got a promotion thanks to my good sales results.
2 to go to ~ (a promotion) to be given to someone The promotion went to Sam.
3 to get passed over for a promotion Not to get a promotion. Despite my hard work, I got passed over for a promotion.
4 to move into management to be promoted manager I moved into management after undertaking a MBA course.
5 to have friends in high places To have powerful friends. I got that job because I have friends in high places.
6 to set one’s sights on ~ to aim for a certain position I started out as a janitor, but I decided to set my sights on becoming CEO.
7 to climb the corporate ladder to advance through the various levels of hierarchy in a corporation He climbed the corporate ladder quickly, becoming a supervisor, then assistant manager, then manager.
8 to be indispensable to be very important If you are a busy CEO, having a co-CEO is indispensable.
9 to be modest to be humble, to make your achievements seem smaller than they are He won many karate competitions, but he didn't tell anybody; he was very modest.
10 to be ambitious to be very concerned about advancing your position in life He was not ambitious, so he continued working as a mechanic his whole life.
11 to burn the midnight oil to work late into the night In order to finish the project before the deadline we had to burn the midnight oil.
12 to put in long hours to spend many hours continuously at your job I put in long hours during the week, sometimes working from 8am until 10pm.
13 to sit on the sidelines to observe a process happening without interfering I sat on the sidelines as my co-workers competed for the management position that had opened up.
14 to keep track of ~ to keep a record of something I am responsible for keeping track of all of our customers' names and contact information.
15 to stay put to not move, to stay where you are My co-worker asked to be transferred to the Tokyo office, but I just wanted to stay put.
16 to be vying for a position to be competing for or hoping to get a new, better position When the co-CEO stepped down, many people were vying for his position.
17 a go-to person a person who you consult when you have a problem or difficulty His immediate superior was his go-to person in case he ran into any trouble.
18 to work hard to do your job well by using a lot of physical effort He worked hard, digging five holes in the course of five hours.
19 to work smart to do your job well by using labor-saving devices or more efficient systems He worked smart, using spreadsheet software to solve many of his accounting problems.
20 hard skills skills that relate to using machinery and manipulating physical things I have many hard skills, one of which is my ability to type rapidly.
21 soft skills skills that relate to maintaining and deepening personal relationships He didn't have any soft skills, so the office environment was really unpleasant and there was constant conflict.