This document discusses how language skills can benefit careers and the job market. It notes that 74% of employers want language skills and 36% specifically recruit for them, with the main demand being for European languages. Language skills are in demand across diverse sectors like IT, media, law, finance, engineering, tourism and government. The document provides examples of employers advertising language-related jobs and vacancies for linguists in roles where languages are integral or an added advantage. It emphasizes that employers want the right mix of skills, not just language skills alone, and highlights the need to understand what skills employers are looking for in candidates.

1. Languages and Careers
How can languages
work for you?

2. What is the
jobs market for
individuals with
language skills?

3. ‘in an increasingly competitive job market,
it is clear that foreign language proficiency adds
significant value to a candidate’s portfolio of
skills, and can give them a real competitive
edge when applying for jobs’
CBI Education and Skills Survey, 2009

4. • Latest research
• 74% of employers want language skills
• 36% recruit specifically for language skills
• Main demand is still for European languages:
52% want French, 43% German, 28% Spanish.
• Interest also in
Mandarin/Cantonese(38%), Russian (21%) and
Portuguese (10%).

5. According to business

6. According to the public sector
UK police forces – top language = Polish
Other Eastern European, Asian and African
languages also in demand
Metropolitan Police provides interpreting in
approximately 105 languages (yet figures quote
300 languages spoken in London)
Not just the police – local authorities and NHS all
require language skills across diverse languages

7. Change in language use on the Internet

8. Balance of trade

9. • ‘I can’t think of a single career area where language skills
are not an advantage’
Rachel Usher, Independent Schools Careers Organisation

10. All these companies have advertised posts with
languages

11. Vacancies for linguists include
• Jobs where languages are integral
• Jobs where languages are an added bonus
• Jobs where languages are an indicator of general ability and
outlook
The languages required were diverse –
there’s no ‘one’ language to learn

12. Vorsprung durch Technik
Sectors where languages were used included:
IT, creative and media, retail, law, finance,
business, energies and utilities, manufacturing,
computer games production, construction,
property management, engineering, tourism,
hospitality, central and local government

13. Because you’re worth it
• ‘Our company offers international career
opportunities for which we need talented,
multilingual individuals’
Alexander Snelling, L’Oréal UK Ltd

15. Public services
‘Paramedics often don’t have the time to find an
interpreter, like a hospital does. They need information
quickly and so it’s great if paramedics speak the
language of a family that doesn’t speak good English’
Brian Goodwin, Ambulance Service Association.

16. Retail
• High level of interaction with the public
• Customers more likely to buy if addressed in own
language
• Increased multilingualism
(tourism, diversity, globalisation)

17. Some home truths
• UK employers are not all language-aware, but they are
becoming more so
• They can, and do, recruit internationally
• They don’t just want language skills
• They want the right mix of skills for their company

18. Understanding what employers want
• ‘an international dimension’
• ‘ability to build relationships’
• ‘awareness of cultural differences’
• ‘team-working, oral communication, problem-solving’

19. Where can I find out more?

20. www.languageswork.org.uk

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