Your Career and Resources to Assist You

The career planning process involves gathering information about prospective careers. As an undergraduate you should actively seek information about career possibilities by talking with workers /employees /professionals in various fields, getting part-time or volunteer work experience in related careers, building a coop or internship program into your curriculum and by discovering all the available career resources on our campus.

The Counseling and Career Services’s Career Guide provides information on interest and skill inventories, job hunter’s checklist, sample letters , résumés and suggestions for successful interviewing.

The Careers in Foreign Languages spring 2009 class made a webpage with powerpoint presentations and research papers about various jobs available and what they entail.  Click here to go to that page.

Foreign Languages and Your Career

A language is a powerful tool which is worth nothing to you or to anyone else unless you can use it adequately. Your main goal then should be to gain a high level of proficiency in the language(s) in which you have chosen to major. Short of realizing this goal, you should consider your overall college education as a half success, even if you obtain the B.A. degree. Make every effort, then, to accomplish your foreign language dream; for it can make a true difference in your career. Your success depends on you, and we will assist you in every way possible to succeed, but you have to put in the extra effort required. Nobody else can do it for you.

Foreign Language as an Extra Job Skill

As people in this country become more and more involved in foreign trade, tourism, and international cooperative ventures, the number of jobs open to those who can offer fluency in a foreign language in addition to some other skill is on the increase. And although it is true that some of these jobs do not require a college education, your college-level foreign language proficiency will give you a competitive advantage over those who have not been through college. Here are just a few careers in which your knowledge of a foreign language can help you.

Clerical:

Because so many of the largest U.S. corporations carry on business all over the world, there is an increasing need for secretaries, typists, and receptionists who speak at least one other language in addition to English. The business skills required include typing, shorthand (in both English and the Foreign language), bookkeeping and switchboard phone service. One way to prepare yourself for this kind of job is to learn to use a word-processing software (such as Microsoft Word on the Macintosh, or Word Perfect on the PC) to type and present all your homework and assignments. Learning to use the computer is important, and you should learn to use them for your most basic academic activities on campus.

Tourism:

More and more people from foreign countries visit the United States each year. Hotels and other tourist service businesses, such as restaurants and travel agencies, that wish to attract this trade must employ men and women who can speak at least one foreign language in addition to performing their regular duties. Desk clerks, lobby managers, restaurant personnel, and sightseeing guides with language ability are all needed on either a full-time or part-time basis. Transportation companies also need workers fluent in languages other than English. International flight attendants are usually required to speak another language. Ground attendants, flight announcers, information/reservation clerks and telephone information personnel are also hired because, in addition to their other qualifications, they can speak a foreign language.

Marketing:

Corporations doing business abroad need personnel with foreign language capability at every level. Skilled marketing analysts or management specialists are more likely to be hired for some position because of their foreign language ability.

Finance:

As this country's share of international business grows, there will be an increasing need for banking officers and other professionals in international banking. Your knowledge of a foreign language can supplement your training and experience in finance if you are considered for one of these positions.
Engineering: Companies that manufacture equipment used overseas often need technical and engineering staff members with foreign language proficiency. For these jobs, you must know the appropriate technical vocabulary.

Government:

The Federal Government is the largest single employer of men and women with foreign language skills. The Peace Corps, State Department, U.S. Information Agency, and Armed Forces, for example, need people who can speak another language in addition to their other skills. ln areas of this country, where large numbers of citizens do not speak English, local governments also need employees who can speak a foreign language.

Teachers, Translators, Interpreters:

Foreign languages are taught in elementary schools, high schools, and colleges. Foreign language teachers must have a college degree and, usually, one or more years of education after college. inexperienced language teachers will face keen competition for the available jobs. Bilingual men and women specially trained in linguistics and elementary education can be certified to teach English to students who speak other languages. Qualified candidates for teachers in this field are currently in demand in both this country and abroad. Teachers of English as a second language are also needed in adult education programs.

You should make it a point now to seek advice on career planning from the career services on campus.