By Arina Smith
If you speak a second language, you’re increasing your worth in the jobs market.
Over a five year period, the demand for bilingual workers in the US more than doubled from nearly a quarter of a million to over half a million job opportunities.
But it isn’t just America where the market for bilingual workers is strong. If you’re able to speak another language, you can find opportunities in other countries and across different cultures.
Choosing the right career to market your skill is the key to success, so let’s run through 10 of the hottest jobs for bilinguals.
Teaching:
One of the best bilingual jobs to consider is a career in teaching. You’re in a prime position to teach that language, but you can also teach other subjects if your students aren’t fluent in English.
In our backyard, the demand for bilingual teachers is only going to grow. The number of Hispanic Americans is expected to increase from 57.5 million in 2016 to nearly 120 million by 2060.
Looking even further abroad, if you’re capable of speaking a second language, you can teach English in almost any other country you like! You aren’t limited to teaching in your local high school.
As a global language, if you can speak English and combine it with a second language, you’re employable in hundreds of different countries.
Translation and Interpreting:
A career in translation and interpreting is another obvious career choice for bilingual workers.
Public sector organizations, charities, and businesses all require the services of translators and interpreters if they’re dealing with multiple languages. Translation is largely written, whereas interpretation is a more verbal career.
Thanks to over the phone interpreter platforms, interpreters are able to offer their skills remotely. Clients and agencies that need their services can work with them without being in the same room or even the same country as them.
Translators and interpreters aren’t tied to a desk, either. They can market their skills globally. They have the freedom to work as freelancers on a self-employed basis, working for multiple clients.
Human Resource Management:
With more bilingual workers entering the workforce, the challenge for businesses and organizations is how to manage these employees. Their language skills may be lacking, but that shouldn’t be a barrier to their safe employment.
If you’re bilingual, you can help be part of the fix for this problem by working in human resource management. HR managers can help in all areas of non-English employee management, from interviewing employees to training them.
This is especially true in industries where migrant workers with poor English skills are more likely to work, such as laboring work.
Bilingual HR managers can also better understand employee issues. If an employee needs to raise a welfare or workplace concern, but they don’t speak English, an HR manager who can understand them can help.
Customer Service Agent:
Speaking more languages means being able to deal with a larger pool of consumers if you’re considering a career in customer service.
It doesn’t matter if you’re working for a government agency or a small business. If that organization needs to speak to people who can’t speak English, they need bilingual customer service agents.
Customer service agents living in the US who speak Spanish alongside English, for instance, can help speak with the ever-growing Hispanic population. Their complaints, queries, and problems can be resolved in their first language.
Flight Attendant:
If you speak more than one language and you’re looking for an international career, you should consider being a flight attendant.
International flights will often have passengers who speak lots of different languages. Flight attendants can help these passengers feel safe and comfortable during their flight, even if they don’t speak English.
Flight attendants are professionals in easing the concerns of their passengers. They can use their language skills to deal with passenger issues, questions, and problems.
It’s not just a matter of comfort either, it’s a matter of safety. If something goes wrong, a bilingual flight attendant can make sure everybody understands what they should do in an emergency.
Registered Nurse:
Medical issues aren’t fussy about the languages the patient speaks. If a patient is injured or ill, they’re going to be anxious and concerned, which is why being able to communicate effectively is so important.
If you’re looking for a career where your language skills can help make a difference, you should consider training to become a nurse.
Bilingual registered nurses help bridge the communication divide if a patient can’t speak English. They can find out and help treat medical issues, as well as take care of patient concerns.
Bilingual nurses can also take advantage of the many traveling nursing jobs that are on offer. Here are 4 ways you can prepare for a traveling nursing role.
Business Owner:
Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit? You could make the most of your language skills by establishing your own business.
Languages can help you make new clients, build new relationships with suppliers, and find new customers. It can also help you take advantage of a vast workforce of workers who don’t speak English as their first language.
You’re not forced to focus on just English-language countries, either. You can use your language skills and understanding of other cultures to spread your business into more than one market.
It also helps to develop some of your other soft skills, such as your ability to listen. This is beneficial when you’re trying to build relationships in different languages or cultures.
Social Worker:
For a more rewarding career, social work could be a good option if you speak more than one language.
Social workers help to look after and support the needs of the most vulnerable in society. Entire sections of the community, from vulnerable children to homeless people, need the support of social workers.
For those who lack the skills to speak with government agencies or the police, having a social worker available who can speak their language can help bridge the gap.
This can help to reduce the risk that vulnerable people can sometimes find themselves in. Social workers who speak a second language can communicate with their clients better and solve their most urgent needs.
Marketing Manager:
Billions across the globe are unable to speak English. That leaves entire countries and markets closed to businesses that are only English-focused.
Being able to understand, speak to and target these potential new customers is important for any business looking to grow. That’s why a career as a marketing manager can be lucrative if you speak a second language.
Marketing managers who can speak more than one language can help to open up new markets. They can build new relationships with those who don’t speak English. That can mean new customers, which can mean more potential profit.
For the best marketing management roles, you’ll need to study for extra qualifications. Here are 5 top MBA specialisms for bilingual workers in marketing to consider.
Immigration Support Worker:
When a migrant looks to start a new life in a new country, they might not have the language skills they need to navigate the immigration system.
That’s especially true in the United States, where over 20% of the population don’t speak English in their homes. So, if they don’t speak English, who can help support them through their immigration application?
This is what makes bilingual citizens suited to immigration support worker roles. You can help those who want to achieve residency, even if they lack the English language skills to deal with government agencies.
English is not the default language in the United States, after all. If you have the language skills and the desire to help migrants, becoming an immigration support worker could be a good option.
Find the Right Jobs for Bilinguals:
Whether it’s teaching, nursing or marketing, there are jobs for bilinguals who are able to market their skills.
Being able to communicate can help you bridge divides between cultures and communities. That’s why bilingual careers and opportunities are available for low and high skilled workers alike.
It also helps to develop your softer skills. By learning a second language, you can learn to listen better and boost your memory. You’ll also be able to market yourself as a capable employee in different cultures to your own.
Liked our article? Then check out some of our other jobs and careers articles for more tips, ideas, and wisdom to help you battle through the jobs market.
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