“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.” – Frank Smith

Companies are looking for potential individuals who can offer more concerning cultural diversity in today’s financial world. The global reach of business spans worldwide across borders and cultures. Employees that can speak more than one language have a particular value to businesses.

Let’s look at 5 ways in which being bilingual helps your career.

1- Advantages in job applications

These days, more and more companies are going global, making connections with consumers, vendors, and clients all over the world. As a result, these companies are looking to hire employees who already have a leg up on other applicants, even when it doesn’t have an obvious connection to the role they’re looking to fill.

2- Business skills

The process of learning a new language has a way of converting your thinking into a more out-of-the-box perspective. Bilingual employees tend to have heightened listening skills and can read the subtle nuances in more than one language. Much of the success in business and sales comes from confidence. When you can easily converse with clients in their language, it puts you on a more even footing giving you the push you need to close the deal.

3- Global Opportunities

Many multinational companies need bilingual customer service representatives, marketing coordinators, and more.

Language learning can offer employees the ability to travel for their work, visiting countries that allow you to be in a setting to practice your language skills truly. In addition to practice, being bilingual will enable you to explore the world around you, learn about the culture, and make both social and professional connections. Finding those professional connections abroad increases your overall networking pool and could give you numerous job options in exciting new places.

4- Earn more money

The financial returns of learning a foreign language vary by language and job, but they can add up to a lot. Jobs with pay differentials based on bilingualism usually pay 5-20% more per hour for bilingual employees.

College graduates who speak two languages make an average of 2% more than those who do not.

5- Open up new career opportunities

Foreign language skills can be particularly beneficial if you’re interested in changing careers to a new and growing field. For example, translators and interpreters are in the top 15 fastest-growing occupations in the United States.

Other fast-growing fields like travel and tourism, healthcare, and national security need employees with bilingual language skills and the ability to work across cultures. Areas such as journalism, education, and international development are always searching for bilingual employees. And knowing a second language can give you an edge if you want to apply for the Peace Corps or become a Foreign Service Officer.

⚠️ IMPORTANT QUESTION! ⚠️

If you could communicate effectively in English, how would your career improve/advance?

Related Articles:

– Effective Oral Presentations for Non-Native English Speakers: https://www.englishpriority.com/effective-oral-presentations-for-non-native-english-speakers/

– How to Improve your English Pronunciation https://www.englishpriority.com/how-to-improve-your-english-pronunciation/

– Business Communication https://www.englishpriority.com/business-communication/

Want to practice even more?…