Fill in the blank with the correct phrasal verb. 5 exercises from real IT job interview and performance review contexts.
Key verbs in this exercise
take on: accept or assume a role, responsibility, or challenge
move on: leave a job or situation and progress to something new
stand out: be noticeably better or different from others
burn out: become exhausted from sustained overwork
step up: show leadership and initiative beyond your usual role
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
"After three years as a senior engineer, she was ready to ___ a team lead role."
Correct: take on — accept or assume a role, responsibility, or challenge
take on means to accept or assume something new — a role, responsibility, project, or challenge. It is one of the most common career phrasal verbs in English.
In career contexts:
"She was ready to take on a team lead role." ✓
"He decided to take on more responsibility." ✓
"The company is taking on a new client." ✓
Why B is wrong: "take over" means to assume control from someone else — it implies replacing a person: "She took over from the previous team lead." The sentence does not imply replacement, just assumption of a new role.
Why C is wrong: "take off" means to become suddenly successful — "Her freelance career really took off" — or to leave quickly. It is not used for assuming a role.
Why D is wrong: "take out" means to remove, to escort somewhere, or to destroy. Not used in role/responsibility contexts.
Career role phrases:
"I'm ready to take on more responsibility."
"She took on the project management duties."
"He's being asked to take over the team from the outgoing lead."
2 / 5
"He decided to ___ from his current company after five years to explore new opportunities."
Correct: move on — leave and progress to something new
move on means to leave a situation, job, or company and progress to something different. It is a neutral-to-positive career term, commonly used in resignation conversations, exit interviews, and career change discussions.
In career change contexts:
"I've decided to move on from my current role." ✓
"After five years, it felt like the right time to move on." ✓
"She's moving on to a new opportunity in fintech." ✓
Note on "move up": "Move up" means to advance in rank or seniority — typically within the same organisation. The sentence implies leaving the company, which makes "move on" the correct choice.
Why B is wrong: "move out" means to vacate a physical space (home, office). Not used for career decisions.
Why D is wrong: "move forward" is a general phrase meaning to make progress — "Let's move forward with the plan" — but it does not imply leaving a job.
Career change phrases:
"I've decided to move on — it's been a great experience."
"I'm looking to move up within the company."
"She moved on to a senior role at a startup."
3 / 5
"To ___ during the interview, she prepared a portfolio of her open-source contributions."
Correct: stand out — be noticeably different or better than others
stand out means to be clearly noticeable or distinguishable — often because of superior quality, unusual characteristics, or exceptional performance. It is an essential phrase in interview preparation and job application contexts.
In interview contexts:
"What makes you stand out as a candidate?" ✓
"She prepared a portfolio to stand out from other applicants." ✓
"His open-source work really made him stand out." ✓
Why B is wrong: "stand up" means to physically rise, or to defend an idea — "She stood up for the junior developer." It also refers to a type of meeting: "daily standup".
Why C is wrong: "stand by" means to wait in readiness, or to support someone — "I'll stand by you through this." Not used in the competitive interview sense.
Why D is wrong: "stand off" is not commonly used as a phrasal verb in professional contexts. A "standoff" (noun) means a deadlock or confrontation.
Interview preparation phrases:
"What sets you apart — how do you stand out?"
"I want to stand out by demonstrating real-world impact."
"Her open-source contributions helped her stand out from the crowd."
4 / 5
"After working 80-hour weeks for a year, the entire team started to ___."
Correct: burn out — become exhausted from prolonged overwork
burn out means to become physically and mentally exhausted as a result of sustained overwork or excessive stress. "Burnout" (noun) is recognised by the WHO as an occupational phenomenon. It is a critical phrase in IT culture discussions, 1:1 meetings, and performance reviews.
In workplace wellbeing contexts:
"The team started to burn out after months of crunch." ✓
"She burned out and took three months off." ✓
"We need to address burnout before it affects retention." ✓
Why B is wrong: "burn up" means to consume by fire, or to become very angry — "That comment really burned me up." Not related to workplace exhaustion.
Why C is wrong: "burn through" means to use up a resource very quickly — "We're burning through our cloud budget." It describes rapid consumption, not exhaustion of a person.
Why D is wrong: "burn off" means to eliminate through activity — "She burned off the stress with a run." It implies a positive release, not sustained exhaustion.
Team health and performance phrases:
"We need to prevent burnout — let's discuss workload balance."
"The team is burning out — we need to cut scope."
"We're burning through the sprint budget faster than planned."
5 / 5
"The junior developer surprised everyone by ___ during the production incident and leading the investigation."
Correct: stepping up — show leadership and initiative beyond your usual role
step up means to demonstrate greater responsibility, leadership, or effort than expected — especially in a challenging or high-pressure situation. It is widely used in performance reviews, team retrospectives, and promotion discussions.
In incident and leadership contexts:
"He really stepped up during the production outage." ✓
"She stepped up when the tech lead was on leave." ✓
"We need someone to step up and own this migration." ✓
Why B is close but wrong: "step in" means to intervene or substitute for someone — "She stepped in when the lead was absent." It implies filling a gap rather than showing exceptional initiative. The sentence emphasises going beyond expectations, which makes "step up" the better fit.
Why C is wrong: "step out" means to leave a room or conversation briefly — "I need to step out for a call." No leadership connotation.
Why D is wrong: "step back" means to take a broader perspective or withdraw from involvement — "Let's step back and look at the bigger picture." It implies disengagement, the opposite of the sentence's meaning.
Leadership and growth phrases:
"I want to see you step up in the next sprint."
"She stepped up and took ownership of the incident."
"Can you step in for the team lead this week?" (substituting, not leading)