College graduates, young adults and even adults that are already set in their professional career can benefit from learning more than one language. Recently a report released by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics showed that the employment of US translators and interpreters is expected to increase 22 percent between 2008 and 2018. As globalization continues, more domestic jobs are outsourced and branch internationally meaning the language barrier needs to be tackled.
Ohio State University’s publication The Lantern published an article discussing multilingualism and the job opportunities that go along with it. “When you turn on the television, they’re talking about how the market is crashing in Slovakia, how bailing out Greece is going to help us,” said Spanish lecturer Alejandro Jacky in the article. “It gives you an idea of just how interconnected every culture and every community is these days. We live in such a globalized market, and if you want to stay competitive, you have to access all these different global nodes.” Meaning employees and employers alike are going to have to be able to speak multiple languages in order to access and connect with those global nodes. Furthermore, companies are trying to reach out to and appeal to a diverse consumer base and in order to do so they need employees that both understand and are versed in different languages. “I certainly know in business, (being bilingual is) a door opener. We’ve had students in communications get jobs because they have that international experience, we’ve had students from engineering get jobs, and I think even internships and further research opportunities because of that language experience,” said Ohio State University associate German professor Kathryn A. Corl.
To further reiterate how important being bilingual is, companies often pay bilingual employees more ranging anywhere from 5 to 20 percent more per hour according to the article. However, it is starting to get to the point where just learning a language is not enough. Margie Bogenschutz, senior director of the Undergraduate Career Management and Recruitment at the Fisher College of Business recommends immersing yourself in another culture. She thinks that this is as important, sometimes even more important, than learning the language. The Lantern quotes her saying, “students who take advantage of study abroad programs and international internships learn not only the basic communication, but also the tendencies and trends of a foreign community. Marketing such experiences to potential employers is critical.”
SOURCE: The Lantern
IMAGE: Via Google Images
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