Important and vital ways in which being bilingual can help with boosting your career.

1. How Being Bilingual Can Boost Your
Career

2. • Each day, our society becomes more diverse
and cross-cultural.
• With recent population studies showing that
the Hispanic population has reached a record
55 million people in the United States:
– The case for being bilingual in the workplace has
become a sought after skill by many human
resources managers.

3. • While I am a believer in America-based
companies that promote English speaking
abilities amongst workers, my point is this:
– Having foreign language skills opens doors to new
career opportunities.
• I know that this personally has been the
situation in my life.

4. • In today’s global economy, the ability to
communicate with stakeholders who hail from
diverse backgrounds is key.

5. • Moreover, as companies continue to expand
internationally, language speaking skills have
allowed certain professionals to have an
advantage in their respective workplaces.

6. • Research conducted by Rosetta Stone showed
that people who spoke at least one foreign
language typically had an annual household
income that was $10K higher when compared
to households comprising of only English
speakers.
• Additionally, 17 percent of professionals who
speak at least one foreign language reported
earning more than $100K per year.

7. • However, it does appear that North America is
a bit behind the curve when coming around to
the importance of bilingualism in the
workplace.
• According to a survey conducted by
Korn/Ferry International, a California-based
recruiting agency, 9 out of 10 recruiters in
Asia, Europe, and Latin America said that
being bilingual is key to achieving success in
our modern world.

8. • Now compare that to the 66 percent of North
American recruiters who agreed.
• It appears that we need to shift our mindset a
bit as a society if we are going to compete
globally.

9. BILINGUALISM CAN BOOST YOUR
CAREER.
As an advocate of bilingualism, and a fluent Spanish
speaker, I can truly attest to the competitive edge it
gives a professional in their career, especially since I
happen to work in healthcare and human resources.

10. Consider some of the following:
• Bilingualism will increase your chances of getting
hired to a competitive position.
• Most job seekers are aware that the number of
applicants to any given job opening have increased,
while the number of potential opportunities has
decreased.
• Being bilingual will make you stand out from the
crowd.
– In fact, in 2014, CNN Money named bilingualism as the
hottest core skill that any job seeker can have.

11. • You will have the chance to pursue new and
diverse opportunities.
• Let me just state for the record that having
language abilities truly opens doorways to
richer and more valuable life experiences.
• This especially holds true when it comes to
the types of jobs you will suddenly be
qualified for as a bilingual professional.

12. • While it’s true that there are many jobs
located here in the United States (especially in
healthcare) where Spanish speaking is a
desired skill, consider too the opportunities
presented to a bilingual job seeker in a foreign
country.
• International organizations are constantly
looking for people who can speak several
languages—and guess what comes with that?
Travel!

13. • Speaking another language helps you better
understand diversity—while bridging the
culture gap that is present in so many
organizations.
• Having the ability to communicate is valuable,
but also having the capability of relating to
people from a different background or culture
is precious to today’s modern workplace.

14. • Being aware and considerate of different
forms of etiquette and behavior can go a long
way when differentiating yourself from your
peers.
• Moreover, this cultural sensitivity and
awareness stands out to leadership teams—it
will help you find success and climb the
corporate ladder faster.

15. • Speaking another language can increase your
income.
• Being bilingual translates into increased revenue
for an organization, and this is something that
employers do take note of when handing out
raises and performance-related perks.
• Reports show that hourly rates for a bilingual
employee tend to be 5-20 percent higher than a
professional who only speaks one language.

16. • Bilingualism can help you attract more customers.
• Let’s pretend you are in a field such as sales.
– You want to increase the size of your target market
without necessarily expanding the scope of your
geographic territory.
– Learn a second language like Spanish and automatically
have access to new customers.
• Right now, there are an estimated 500 million Spanish
speakers worldwide.
– 50 million live in the United States.
• So whether your company is looking to expand or you
simply want to appeal to new customer groups—
learning a language can help you sell to more people.

17. • Ultimately, being bilingual delivers many life
benefits.
• While learning a foreign language is not an
easy task, the perks that come with this skill
pay off in spades—especially in your career.

18. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
CAN YOU SPEAK MORE THAN ONE LANGUAGE?
HOW HAS BEING BILINGUAL ADVANCED YOUR
LIFE AND CAREER?