Careers & Employment Information

Learn a Language for Career Advancement


To learn a language for career advancement is one of the best ways to get ahead in the job market. In the 21st century you will need every advantage you can get to keep yourself competitive in the marketplace, and adding foreign language skills is a great way to gain an advantage. Here are just some of the reasons to learn a second language :

Improved overall communication skills. Surprisingly, language learners improve their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in English as well as their new language. Overall communication skills improve, and that is a boon to any potential employer. For the business owner or entrepreneur, it is even more important for you to maximize your ability to communicate with employees, clients or potential business contacts.

Improved problem solving abilities. Learning a language also develops analytical skills, improves problem solving ability and increases flexible thinking and creativity. Businesses need employees with a wide range of abilities. If you have your own business, there is an even greater need for you to cultivate these abilities in yourself.

Broadens job skills and career options. Learning a foreign language improves your overall job skills, and makes you more valuable as an employee. It also broadens your potential career options, should you decide on a different career path.

Opportunities in many industries. There are many industries in which adding a foreign language would immediately be useful. Tourism, hotels and restaurants, advertising, marketing, military and defense, security, communications and journalism, just to name a few. Being able to communicate with customers, clients and contacts in their own language, even just to put them at ease and make them more comfortable with you and your business is clearly a great asset.

Career advancement. Knowledge of a foreign language can make you more valuable to your company, giving you a better chance of a promotion or a raise. You may also improve your potential for reassignment or relocation, and therefore also an increase in pay.

Overseas business opportunities. Obviously, learning a second language could get you a possible assignment in another country. The potential experience you could gain could lead to a whole new plateau in your career, or a new career opportunity altogether.

Competetive advantage in international business. The current climate of globalization is most likely here to stay. More and more businesses are becoming internationalized by mergers and acquisitions. Multinational businesses, global corporations, conglomerates and joint ventures are increasingly common. This means that learning another language is essential if you are going to be involved in any international business. It's the only way to maintain a competitive advantage.

Liberal arts training increasingly sought after. Less employers are looking for specialized skills and abilities. Prospective employers are increasingly looking for more adaptable workers with wide ranging abilities and flexible skill sets. General business skills, communication abilities and foreign language skills are the type more employers are seeking today.

Cost effective method of improving your marketplace value. Many businesses will contribute to or pay for an employees training or education. Foreign language is one of the few skills that can be learned a variety of ways including formal classroom study, tutors, language schools and even self-study. It's one of the few skills you can gain on your own and affordably.

Increased business contacts. The opportunities here are tremendous. From your employers or clients point of view, you may have just doubled your potential list of business contacts when you add a new language to your arsenal. It's a way to gain a powerful advantage over your competitors.

We could probably add many more examples to this short list, but the point is made. When you learn another language, you add important skills to your repertoire and increase your value as an employee or businessperson. You increase your opportunities for your business and for yourself. You improve your communication skills, your ability to interact with more people and your overall business skills. Best of all, you make an investment in yourself. When you leverage that investment in your business life, you can profit from the rewards for the rest of your life.

Ron is a long-time language enthusiast, exploring Spanish, French, Swedish, Esperanto and others. Learn more about studying a language on your own at Language Learning Advisor This guide for self-study language learners has reviews and recommendations of language learning methods and products, links to online learning resources, learning tips to maximize your study time and effectiveness and articles on language learning.


MORE RESOURCES:
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Boston Globe

Amid ugly job picture, tech related employment holds up
ZDNet - Jul 3, 2008
The US economy lost 62000 jobs in June for the sixth straight month of employment losses with an unemployment rate of 5.5 percent, but underneath the ...
Little doubt that US is in recession; rest of the world can't ... The Age
Fragile economy takes toll on jobs Los Angeles Times
Jobs continue to fade Chicago Tribune
ABC News - Amerisurv (press release)
all 376 news articles


Reuters

Why tech jobs are beating the employment odds
ZDNet - Jul 3, 2008
... impressively choreographed fireworks displays, we?re capping off one of the most depressing weeks for employment reports in the better half of a decade. ...
Treasurys rise ahead of employment report The Associated Press
US employment slump 'may continue into 2009' Vedior
Treasurys advance after ADP jobs report MarketWatch
International Business Times - Forbes
all 161 news articles


Earthtimes (press release)

Trouble for Small-Business Employment
U.S. News & World Report, DC - Jul 2, 2008
Last month, I declared small-business employment "not too shabby" after looking at May's survey from Automatic Data Processing and the consulting firm ...
ADP National Employment Report Shows US Employment Decreased by ... CNNMoney.com
ECONOMY: Little to Cheer on US Independence Day Inter Press Service (subscription)
DJ: ADP Sees June US Private Sector Jobs Down 79000 Onet.pl
New York Times - TheStreet.com
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US stocks advance as employment report comes as expected
MarketWatch - 23 hours ago
By MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- US stocks end mostly higher, offering a benign reaction to the government's report on employment, which fell only ...
US stocks advance as employment report comes as expected MarketWatch
Dollar loses ground after weak jobs report MarketWatch
US stocks mostly higher in the wake of jobs data MarketWatch
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Survey shows biggest decline in employment for six years
Financial Times, UK - 19 hours ago
By Daniel Pimlott in New York The US suffered its largest drop in employment in nearly six years in June in a sign of the deteriorating economic environment ...


Outlook Darker as Jobs Are Lost
New York Times, United States - 8 hours ago
Responding quickly to the government employment report, issued Thursday, the presidential candidates called for action, beyond the recent stimulus package, ...
Jobs Continue to Be Lost ToTheCenter.com
Employers Cut Workers for a Sixth Month New York Times
all 11 news articles


June is sixth straight month of job losses
Kansas City Star, MO - 17 hours ago
Since December, payroll employment has fallen by 438000 jobs. Another indicator, also reported Thursday, suggested further upward revisions in jobless ...
Job market: No bottom until '09 CNN
Why Lousy Jobs Numbers Might Be OK U.S. News & World Report
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Getting The Deal Through - Labour & Employment 2008
Mondaq News Alerts (subscription), UK - 6 hours ago
As Australia is a federation, employment law is governed by laws made by the parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia (federal law) as well as by ...
Who Owns IP Produced "On The Job Mondaq News Alerts (subscription)
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SJ: COUNTY SUPES OPPOSE FEDERAL ELECTRONIC EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION ...
CBS 5, CA - 1 hour ago
The SAVE Act would require all employers to verify the employment eligibility of all workers by using Basic Pilot/E-Verify, a system that relies heavily on ...


Hindi employment news website launched
MyNews.in, India - 2 hours ago
In would be managed by ''Employment News' weekly newspaper of the Directorate of Publications Division of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, ...

Employment - Google News

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