A language can give you an edge no matter what job you end up in. Here are some examples of careers where language skills are not only useful but essential!
1. Engineering
If you are interested in an engineering career, French and German are very much in-demand as business languages. Many sought after engineering roles prefer some knowledge of German. Engineers are innovators and being able to speak more than one language will allow you to communicate more effectively to solve problems with colleagues and clients at home and overseas. Knowledge of another language also provides you with a deeper understanding of the cultural aspects of projects you work on.
2. Secondary School Teaching
Language qualifications enable you to become a specialist language teacher. Teaching is an important job and pursuing it provides the opportunity to instil your love of language to the next generation.
3. Hospitality
Hotels dealing with international clients like employees that can communicate with their guests. Having a language qualification on your CV is highly attractive in this industry and some companies offer higher wages to employees who can speak another language. Often, hotel chains are global – having an extra language will provide you with more opportunities to work and travel world-wide.
4. International business
Fluency in another language is highly regarded by multinational organisations. You are a valuable employee if you can communicate with team members and customers across the globe. A willingness to work overseas and an interest in other cultures is also highly valued by companies wanting to do business internationally.
5. The Diplomatic Service
As a diplomat, you represent the interests of the nation you work for in a foreign country. In this job you protect and maintain a peaceful global community with many responsibilities like promoting trade and commerce and fostering good relations. You require a degree in international relations, political science or foreign languages to do this work. Skills gained in a language degree will also equip you with cultural knowledge and problem-solving abilities necessary for this job.
6. Translating and interpreting
Translators work with the written word to express meaning from one language to another. In a global marketplace there is always a need for employees who specialise in translating written materials, be it in business, technology, the law or science. Translators are also employed to re-write fiction, poetry and scripts in another language.
Interpreters are like translators but work with spoken language. In this job you will become skilled at enabling communication between people who don’t share a common language. Fluency in two or more languages is required to do this job because you are responsible for conveying an objective explanation of the meaning intended by the parties you are helping. Many jobs require these skills, such as, translating in political and military settings, at conferences and business negotiations, in a courtroom or a healthcare situation.
This article was written in collaboration with the School of Languages at the University of Queensland as part of a program of work to flip the script on the importance of languages into the future.
