Posted August 16 2019
By Ashley Douglas
We utilise our language and communication skills on a daily basis. Minute by minute, we are sending out signals and messages to our colleagues, friends and family. We email, we text, we pick up the phone, we chat.
But could your language skills open up the door to a new job?
More frequently in Scotland, businesses are seeking to recruit proficient communicators in languages other than English. They are seeking French, German, Dutch or Spanish speakers to help add value to their company on the international trading field. You don’t have to be a native speaker, you just have to be proficient enough to hold conversations about business.
Consider your current job: Could you easily translate your day-to-day into German or French?
Businesses are always looking to be taken seriously in international trade deals or providing customer service to the market in which they sell. What better way to do this than to talk to your clients and customers in their language. No barriers, no miscommunication, nothing lost in translation.
So, if you’re coming towards the end of your language degree at university this summer and you are unsure about the future, you don’t have to be so worried. The opportunities are there. You don’t automatically have to go in to teaching your language of choice in order to make a career out of your studies.
Within a burgeoning global economy, countries are trading more frequently with each other. If your negotiating skills are just as hot in Dutch as they are in English, companies will be eager to snap you up. Contact Centre Services, Banking, Retail, Insurance and Manufacturing are just some of the industries that are reaching out to bring multi-lingual candidates on board.
As trade borders become more fluid (and as Britain seeks to strike new deals in the wake of Brexit), the ability to communicate without needing to go through a third party is becoming more pressing. Language is at the heart of providing more personalised and relevant interactions with customers – two musts for modern contact centres.
Translation work is also becoming increasingly prevalent in Scotland, giving you another career path to consider.
Keeping up your language of choice makes you an extremely valuable prospect. Whether that’s through networking events, language labs, au pair exchanges or any other manner in which you can continue to speak fluently, it’s important to keep your vocabulary skills refreshed.
Any language that you are proficient in should be listed on your CV. If you have learned a language at university, and feel that you are confident enough to speak, read and write in it daily, make it a prominent feature on your personal profile. You would be amazed at how many companies will be interested.
As a graduate, it can be hard to know where to look for multi-lingual roles, or perhaps you are uncertain about what type of industry you would like to work in. I recruit for the multi-lingual market across Edinburgh and have built up great relationships with many businesses who are looking to add valuable candidates to their company.
If you would be interested in speaking with me, confidentially, about the multi-lingual roles that are available in the Edinburgh market, get in touch with me on 0131 357 5333 /
Ashley.douglas@hrcrecruitment.co.uk