In Spanish, ‘jobs’ is often ‘trabajos’, while ’empleos’ fits paid positions and job openings.
English makes it easy to say “jobs” and move on. Spanish asks a follow-up: what kind of jobs? Paid roles? Odd tasks? School assignments? Once you spot the meaning, the Spanish word almost picks itself.
This article shows the Spanish options you’ll see in real writing and real talk, plus ready-to-copy phrases. You’ll also learn the small grammar moves that make your sentence sound natural.
Why “jobs” has more than one Spanish match
“Jobs” can point to work you do, the roles people hold, or tasks that need doing. Spanish uses different nouns for those ideas, so translation is about choosing the noun that fits your scene.
A job listing and a teacher’s homework note may both say “jobs” in English, yet Spanish would not use the same word in both places.
Saying ‘jobs’ in Spanish in real situations
These are the words you’ll run into most. Each one has a “home turf” where it sounds right.
Trabajos for work and pieces of work
Trabajo is the broad, everyday word for work. In plural, trabajos can mean jobs as work people do, or separate pieces of work.
Common pairings: buscar trabajo (to look for work), tener trabajo (to have work), trabajos de verano (summer jobs).
Empleos for paid positions and openings
Empleo points to employment: paid positions, hiring, and job openings. You’ll see it in headlines, government pages, and career sites.
Common pairings: ofertas de empleo (job postings), crear empleo (create jobs), tasa de empleo (employment rate).
Puestos for a specific role or post
Puesto is a “slot” someone fills: a specific role in a company or institution. It fits when you can picture the job title on a chart.
Try: un puesto de gerente (a manager role), un puesto vacante (a vacant position), postularse a un puesto (apply for a position).
Oficios for trades and hands-on lines of work
Oficio is a trade or craft, often learned through practice: electrician, carpenter, mechanic, tailor. It leans practical and skill-based.
It also appears in phrases like aprender un oficio (learn a trade) and oficios varios (odd jobs).
Profesiones for careers that are seen as a profession
Profesión fits careers tied to formal training or a recognized field, such as medicine, law, engineering, teaching, or accounting.
You’ll hear: ejercer una profesión (practice a profession) and cambiar de profesión (switch professions).
Tareas and encargos for tasks and assignments
When “jobs” means tasks to finish, Spanish often uses tareas (tasks, homework) or encargos (errands, small assignments someone asks you to do).
Tareas fits school and to-do lists. Encargos fits “Can you do me a favor and handle this?” moments.
Chambas and curros for casual speech
In parts of Latin America, chamba can mean a job (often informal). In Spain, some people say curro. These are casual and region-tied, so use them when you’re sure the setting matches.
Pick the right word by asking one question
Before you translate, ask: “Do I mean employment, or do I mean tasks?” If you mean employment, start with empleos, puestos, or trabajos. If you mean tasks, start with tareas or encargos.
Then fine-tune with context: job listings lean empleo; a specific role leans puesto; a trade leans oficio; a career field leans profesión.
Grammar that makes your sentence sound natural
Plural, gender, and articles
All the main options here are masculine nouns: el trabajo, el empleo, el puesto, el oficio. In plural: los trabajos, los empleos, los puestos, los oficios.
Spanish uses articles more often than English. “Jobs are scarce” becomes Los empleos son escasos, not “Empleos son escasos.”
Useful verbs that pair with job nouns
- buscar trabajo / empleo (look for work / a job)
- conseguir un empleo (land a job)
- dejar un trabajo (quit a job)
- mantener un empleo (keep a job)
- ofrecer puestos (offer positions)
These pairings show up in dictionaries and in news writing, so they’re a safe bet when you want a sentence that doesn’t feel translated.
How these translations were checked
Spanish varies by region, so I leaned on sources that record broad usage. I checked the Real Academia Española dictionary entries for the core nouns, then compared them with wording used on major job-board categories and public hiring pages. When two words can work, I note the setting that tends to choose one over the other.
Word choice map for “jobs” in Spanish
This table is a fast way to match meaning to the Spanish noun you want.
| Meaning of “jobs” | Best Spanish noun | Where you’ll see it |
|---|---|---|
| Work people do in general | trabajos | Daily talk, general writing |
| Paid employment in an economy | empleos | News, official pages, reports |
| Job openings / hiring | empleos | Job boards, postings |
| A specific position in a company | puestos | HR pages, org charts |
| A trade you learn by doing | oficios | Trades, training, manuals |
| Odd jobs and small gigs | oficios varios / trabajitos | Notices, casual talk |
| Career field tied to training | profesiones | School, career talk |
| School tasks and homework | tareas | Classroom, parent notes |
| Errands someone asks you to do | encargos | Home, workplace errands |
| Casual word for a job | chambas / curros | Region-specific slang |
Sentences you can copy without sounding stiff
Below are sample lines that match how Spanish is often written. Swap in your details and you’re set.
When you mean paid work
Hay empleos en mi zona, pero no en mi área. (There are jobs in my area, but not in my field.)
Busco trabajo desde hace dos meses. (I’ve been looking for work for two months.)
El puesto requiere experiencia. (The position requires experience.)
When you mean tasks
Tengo muchas tareas hoy. (I have a lot of tasks today.)
Me dejaron encargos para la tarde. (They left errands for me for the afternoon.)
When you mean odd jobs or side gigs
Hago trabajos ocasionales los fines de semana. (I do occasional jobs on weekends.)
Hizo oficios varios para pagar la renta. (He did odd jobs to pay rent.)
One small detail: Spanish often drops the “a” in “apply for a job” and picks a verb that matches the region. In many places you’ll see postularse; elsewhere solicitar is common. Both sound natural when paired with puesto or empleo.
Phrases for job search, hiring, and resumes
Spanish has set phrases that show up again and again in job contexts. Learning these gives you a big boost in reading listings and writing about work.
| English phrase | Spanish phrase | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| job opening | vacante / puesto vacante | Vacante is common in listings |
| job posting | oferta de empleo | Plural: ofertas de empleo |
| apply for a job | postularse a un puesto / solicitar un empleo | Both are widely used |
| work experience | experiencia laboral | Seen on resumes |
| full-time job | empleo a tiempo completo | Part-time: a tiempo parcial |
| salary | salario / sueldo | Region varies |
| benefits | prestaciones | Common in Latin America |
| job interview | entrevista de trabajo | Also: entrevista laboral |
Jobs in Spanish when you’re talking about a person
English can say “Jobs” and mean “people with jobs.” Spanish often uses the same nouns, yet it may choose a person-centered noun instead. If you mean workers, you can say trabajadores. If you mean employees, empleados fits. This switch is handy when you want the sentence to point to people, not positions.
Try these patterns:
- Los trabajadores del hospital (the hospital’s workers)
- Los empleados de la tienda (the store’s employees)
- Contratar empleados (hire employees)
Use this people wording in essays and reports. It reads clear, and it dodges the “jobs vs work” trap that trips up many learners.
Common mix-ups and clean fixes
Using empleo when you mean homework
If a teacher says “jobs,” they often mean assignments. In Spanish, that’s tareas. Empleos would sound like paid roles.
Overusing trabajo for job openings
Trabajo is broad and works in many sentences. When you’re talking about openings and hiring, empleo or vacante reads more natural.
Small nuance between trabajo and puesto
Trabajo can name the work itself or a job someone has. Puesto points to the slot in an org. If your sentence has a title, pay, or a reporting line, puesto often reads cleaner. If you mean “I need work,” trabajo is the natural pick.
Translating “job” as oficio in every case
Oficio is great for trades and for “odd jobs” phrases. For office roles or corporate positions, puesto fits better.
Pronunciation notes you’ll be glad you saw
Spanish spelling is steady, so once you learn the sound rules, most words behave. Here are quick cues for the words in this article:
- trabajo: trah-BAH-ho (the j is a throaty sound)
- empleo: em-PLEH-oh
- puesto: PWEHS-toh
- oficio: oh-FEE-syoh (in many regions) / oh-FEE-thyoh (in much of Spain)
- profesión: pro-fe-SYON (stress on the last syllable, marked by the accent)
Short practice you can do in five minutes
Try these mini drills. They’re small, yet they lock in the meaning split that causes most translation slips.
Drill 1: Choose the noun
- “Jobs are scarce this year.” → Los ____ son escasos este año.
- “I have three jobs to finish.” → Tengo tres ____ por terminar.
- “They offered me a job.” → Me ofrecieron un ____.
Drill 2: Rewrite one sentence your way
Write one line about your life using each noun: trabajo, empleo, puesto, tarea. Keep each sentence short. Read them out loud once. Done.
Trusted references for Spanish word meanings
If you like checking definitions or usage notes, these sources are widely used by learners and teachers:
- RAE Dictionary entry for “trabajo”
- RAE Dictionary entry for “empleo”
- RAE Panhispanic Dictionary of Doubts
- Cambridge Spanish-English “empleo”
- Collins Spanish-English “trabajo”
Next steps when you write about work in Spanish
When you see “jobs,” pause for a beat and pick the meaning. Use empleos for paid positions and openings, puestos for a specific role, trabajos for work in general, and tareas for assignments.
If you want one phrase to remember, ofertas de empleo is the standard label for job postings across many Spanish-speaking regions.
That’s it.