IELTS Speaking Part 2: A Person Who Works in a Successful Company – Model Answers 2026

This is a new Part 2 topic in the official IELTS Speaking question bank for May–August 2026. You have one minute to prepare and two minutes to speak. Go straight into the person and the company. Do not waste your opening sentence.

Cue Card

Describe a person who works in a successful company.

You should say:
– Who he or she is
– What he or she does in the company
– What business the company does
– And explain why you think it is a successful company

Model Answer

A university friend of mine, James, works at a financial technology company based in Singapore. He joined straight after graduation about three years ago and has moved up quickly since then. We studied together for two years and have stayed in close contact, so I have followed his career fairly closely.

James works as a product manager. His role is to coordinate between engineers, designers, and business stakeholders to make sure software products are built correctly and delivered on schedule. It sounds straightforward but in practice it means he absorbs pressure from every direction simultaneously. He once described it to me as being responsible for everything and in charge of nothing, which I think is one of the more honest descriptions of product management I have ever heard.

The company builds digital payment infrastructure for small and medium-sized businesses across Southeast Asia. Their platform handles transactions, payroll, and accounting in a single integrated system, which solves a genuine problem for businesses that previously had to juggle four or five different tools to manage the same operations. It is the kind of product that works by removing friction rather than adding features.

The reason I consider it genuinely successful is not just the growth figures, though those are significant. The company went from thirty employees to over five hundred in six years and recently expanded into two new markets. What strikes me more is what James says about the culture inside the organisation. People are trusted to make real decisions, compensated fairly, and given room to develop. In my observation, companies that treat their employees that way tend to build something durable. The ones that only optimise for short-term numbers tend not to.

Why This Works

The answer introduces the person, defines the role honestly (including the pressure), explains the company’s product clearly, and then gives a layered reason for success that goes beyond just “they make money.” That depth is what marks a Band 7 response.

📌 Band 7-8 Vocabulary:
– stakeholders — people with an interest or concern in a business
– infrastructure — the basic systems needed for a business or society to operate
– optimise — to make something as effective as possible
– compensated — paid or rewarded for work
– short-term profit — financial gain over a brief period without regard for the future

IELTS Speaking Part 3: Successful Company Questions and Model Answers

Question 1: Do you think governments should provide financial support to companies?

Model Answer:
It depends on the sector and the stage of the company. Governments in the UK and US have both shown willingness to support industries they consider strategically important. The US government’s investment in companies like Tesla through tax credits helped accelerate the entire electric vehicle industry. The UK’s furlough scheme during COVID kept thousands of small businesses alive that would otherwise have collapsed. The argument against it is that government money distorts markets. The argument for it is that some industries need a push to get past the point where private investment becomes viable.

Question 2: Do you think companies should donate money to help society?

Model Answer:
Corporate social responsibility has become standard practice among large companies, though the motivation behind it varies. Some companies genuinely embed it into how they operate. Patagonia in the US donates one percent of sales to environmental causes and has done so consistently for decades. Others use it purely as a PR tool with little real impact. The more useful question is whether a company behaves ethically in its core operations. A business that exploits its workers and then donates to charity is not doing society a favour. Genuine contribution starts with how a company treats the people inside it.

Question 3: Do you think customer satisfaction is important for a company?

Model Answer:
It is arguably the most important long-term metric a company has. Amazon built its entire business model around customer satisfaction, and it became the most valuable retailer in the world as a result. Apple’s Net Promoter Score, which measures customer loyalty, has consistently been among the highest of any technology company. In the age of social media, a single viral complaint can cause serious reputational damage within hours. Companies that treat customer satisfaction as optional rather than central tend to find out why it matters the hard way.

Examiner Tips for IELTS Speaking Part 2 Successful Company

Tip 1: Explain the company’s product clearly.
Do not just say “they make software.” Say what it does, who it is for, and what problem it solves. That specificity shows clear thinking.

Tip 2: Define success beyond profit.
Culture, employee satisfaction, and long-term sustainability are all valid measures of success. Using them shows sophisticated vocabulary and thinking.

Tip 3: For Part 3, name real companies.
Tesla, Amazon, Patagonia, Apple. Real examples from US or UK business culture make your Part 3 answers immediately more credible and specific.

Common Mistakes on This Topic

Describing the company as successful without explaining why
Using only financial metrics to define success
Giving a Part 3 answer that is a general opinion with no supporting example
Opening Part 2 with “I would like to talk about…”

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a confirmed IELTS Speaking Part 2 topic for 2026?
Yes. A Person Who Works in a Successful Company appears in the official IELTS Speaking Part 2 question bank for May–August 2026.

Can I describe a fictional company?
Yes. What matters is that the answer sounds specific and believable, not that every detail is factually accurate.

What makes a Part 3 answer score Band 7 or above?
A clear position, a specific real-world example, and 90 to 100 words of natural, structured English.