The ability to speak fluently in two or more languages makes you a highly eligible candidate in the job market today. Just knowing a few basic words and phrases in another language can help you stand out, especially for those interested in a bilingual career.
With the increase in globalization and the deterioration of cultural barriers across the world, effective communication is fast becoming a priority in every field. From community support such as in the healthcare and social work sectors to customer-led services across a range of industries like online tutoring, jobs for bilinguals are on the rise. You can, for instance, become an online tutor for people who are looking to learn your native language or any other language you are proficient in. According to The Wall Street Journal, a survey carried out by the University of Phoenix Research Institute established that the demand for American workers with proficient foreign language skills is set to keep soaring through the next decade. Reports published by AOL also show that bilinguals can earn 5-20% more on the hourly wage.
Bilingual skills can further your career by allowing you to communicate with more people worldwide than monolingual speakers. For example, if your second language is French, you can communicate with millions of people from over 28 countries that have made French their official language. Your language skills will come in handy to many international companies looking to hire French translation professionals who can translate professional documents in French and other languages. Businesses wouldn’t have to hire outside assistance, making the flow of communication internally and externally in the company more efficient.
Therefore, it’s important to think ahead as your choice of a second language significantly influences your employment prospects. An English speaker who is learning Welsh, for instance, certainly won’t have the same opportunities as that of an English native speaker who is learning Spanish. From the findings of its survey, the University of Phoenix recommends Spanish and Chinese as the most marketable foreign languages in the US. Others include Hindi, Russian, German and Portuguese.
We will walk you through the seven most popular jobs for bilinguals.
1. Translators and Interpreters
No surprise with this one! Translators and interpreters serve as a bridge between two languages. Translators convert written information from one language to another, while interpreters do the same with verbal information. The services of these professionals are more commonly needed in hospitals, conference centers, educational institutions, media houses, courts and immigration facilities. Nowadays, there are a lot of remote opportunities, i.e; here you find jobs for a remote translator.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that between now and 2026, the employment of translators and interpreters will increase by 18%, significantly faster than the 7 percent average for all occupations.
2. Emergency Services
In most countries, people can make an emergency telephone call to ask for medical or police help using just three numbers. In North America, the number is 911. In the United Kingdom, the number is 999, as is in some Asian countries. In the European Union, the number is 112.
For many people, facing an emergency situation without the means to explain critical details like medical symptoms or the location of an incident is equally traumatic as the emergency itself. From the emergency telecommunications staff to first responders on the ground, such as firefighters, police officers, etc., jobs for bilinguals are becoming more important with each passing day as being able to speak the languages of victims and their families allows them to provide life-saving services faster, more accurately, and with greater success.
3. PARAMEDICS
Paramedics provide emergency healthcare services. Their job is to sit tight in an ambulance and wait for a call dispatching them to a specific location. Together with emergency care technicians (EMTs), bilingual paramedics are more desirable employers since they can effectively attend to patients without any difficulties in communication.
With the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimating a 15% increase in the demand of EMTs and Paramedics, you would have a better chance of securing a job in this field if you are a proficient speaker of a second language and expanding your bilingual careers. The benefits of being multilingual in the Healthcare Industry are many, right from providing a greater sense of comfort and understanding towards the patients and their culture, to opening up job prospects in other parts of the world for themselves.
Apart from developed countries seeing an increase in ethnically diverse immigrants over the years, various experts from the developed countries have started stepping foot in under-developed and developing nations with programs such as Doctors without Borders, Aid for Africa and organizations such as UNICEF and WHO partnering with pharmaceutical companies to provide necessary medical facilities. For busy professionals working multiple shifts, a self-learning language portal seems like a great option to learn a few keywords that can make a real difference.
4. Human Resources
Many organizations are actively looking to hire bilingual human resource specialists. Unlike monolingual HR professionals, bilinguals are able to help companies bring foreign language-speaking workers on board with ease. This helps to improve workplace diversity, a concept that is currently driving organizations to greater financial success. According to research by McKinsey and Company, companies with an ethnically diverse workforce are 35 percent more likely to do better than those without.
5. Customer Service
Customer service representatives are tasked with handling customer queries and complaints. They are typically the first line of communication with a company’s customers. As the number of people speaking foreign languages increases, so does the need for businesses to hire bilingual customer representatives in a bid to eliminate language barriers with customers who don’t speak English.
By hiring employees who can speak the language of the customer, companies are able to grow their customer base and enhance customer loyalty. The BLS reports that the demand for Customer Service Representatives will grow by 5% within the next 10 years. Multilingual call centers are becoming the norm and are always on the lookout for culturally savvy call handlers, making customer service a growing industry for bilingual jobs.
6. Social Workers or Community Workers
The provision of quality social services is a key objective of not only the federal government but also of the state and local governments. Social workers are the professionals tasked with visiting families, identifying their needs, and facilitating the provision of services such as health care and counseling to those who need it the most.
Since American families come from diverse ethnic backgrounds, bilingualism helps social workers to overcome communication problems and attend to as many households as possible. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the demand for Social Workers will grow by 16% by 2026, much faster than the average.
Disaster relief worker is another key job where language and cultural sensitivity play an important role. These first responders react to natural disasters, wars, or outbreaks of disease in the country. As cultural awareness and effective communication skills are just as important as good judgment and tact for social or community workers, fluency in multiple languages becomes a key component for successful performance, thereby making it one of the top bilingual jobs across the world.
7. Bank Tellers
Although money knows no language, its owners do! According to research by McKinsey and Company, 30-60% of people still prefer managing a part of their banking at a physical branch, despite the boom of online and mobile banking. The customers who walk into banking halls speak different languages, so it’s essential that bank tellers are proficient in a second language. Particularly in the United States, the demand for bank tellers who are bilinguals, fluent in English and Spanish, is skyrocketing as more and more banks look to tap into the growing number of Spanish-speaking communities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it’s safe to say that bilingual jobs are increasingly important today, and being fluent in more than one language will soon become the norm in many industries. Bilingual careers are also becoming more prevalent in society as bilingual job opportunities are increasing.
So, if you would like to venture into one of the above mentioned top bilingual jobs, being fluent in more than one language is not only mandatory but also highly essential in order to succeed and perform to the best of your abilities. More importantly, these professions require constant communication with people of different cultures and ethnicities, and being able to communicate with them in their native language can make all the difference.
For those already in one of these professions or wanting to pursue similar careers, learning a language or more could go a long way, even if it’s just the basics. Moreover, because these bilingual jobs are excessively demanding, the self-learning language portal seems like a great option to brush up on your language skills or add to them with a new one.
Andrie Steliou
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