If you’re studying a second language like Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, or German, then you might find it easier to find work. Bilingual employees are in high demand, and employers will look favourably on your ability to speak an additional language because they want to build robust global workplaces where they can help a diverse range of customers.
Whichever language you’ve chosen to study, or even if English is your second language, you could use your skills in these seven careers:
- Human Relations
- Medicine and Health Careers
- Software Development
- Tourism
- Business Analysis
- Aged Care
- Engineering
Human Relations
If you’re working in HR, then you’ll be helping people find employment and a large number of people use HR consultants (in one form or another) if they are moving internationally for work. You could work with international students, refugees, new migrants, and people travelling on work visas, and being able to speak a second language could help you support these people more effectively. Some firms will try to hire people with a range of language skills, so that they have the capability of serving people in-house from a range of other languages.
Medical Professional
Having even basic second language skills (like those you learn in high school) could come in handy in a situation where your patient or their loved one doesn’t speak English as a first language. Medical situations can often be stressful, and being able to communicate in the patients first language can ensure they understand what’s happening and can have their questions answered. Of course, you won’t always know the right language for every situation, but as with HR professionals, having a mix of bilingual speakers within a medical facility can make it easier to find the right language when it’s needed.
Software Developer
Software Development is a global industry, and a second language could help you stand out when you’re working with international clients. Your skills could help you explain the software to an international audience, or even make it easier to enter new markets.
Tour Guide
Many tourism operators will expect you to have some basic language skills if you want to work as a tour guide, whether that’s with international tourists, or if you’re taking groups of English speakers overseas. Depending on where you work, you might thrive with strong skills in one specific language, or basic skills in a variety of languages.
Business Analyst
Like Software Development, business is often global and being bilingual can help you communicate effectively with business partners in other places. You may even be able to work overseas with your skills, or be involved in taking businesses into new markets.
Aged Care Worker
We have an ageing population, and more people are going to require care over the coming years, but not all of these people speak English as a first language. If you’re going into aged care, you could find that being bilingual helps you communicate effectively with your residents and helps them feel more comfortable in the space.
Engineer
Engineers and Engineering Technicians work with a huge variety of people, from project managers to builders, government planners and financial estimators, and they may also get the opportunity to work on international projects. Being able to speak more than one language could help you apply for work on bigger collaborative projects, and it could also help you work more efficiently with multilingual worksites.
How will you use your language skills?
Regardless of the path you choose, your skills should make you more employable in just about every situation. Plus, learning a language is an exciting skill that stretches your brain, and if you’re planning on going to university your application may receive a bonus because of your language skills.
Want to find out more? Check out these articles:
Career benefits of being bilingual
