The job market has become increasingly competitive. Therefore, having a skill that makes you stand out from the rest is an advantage. One such added advantage is speaking more than one language. You might have spoken a second language from a young age or learned it for travel reasons. However, you might not have realized that being bilingual could give you an added advantage at the workplace.
What Is The Power Of Speaking A Second Language?
You Stand a Better Chance of Getting a Job
With most businesses operating on online platforms, they can reach a more global audience. As a result, most of these businesses prefer to hire employees that speak more than one language. The more customers you can communicate with, the more of an asset you are to them.
Reports have shown that whenever a job opening comes down to candidates having the same education and experience, knowledge of a second language will determine who gets the job. Besides that, being bilingual makes an impression even when you submit your resume. Hiring consultants argue that knowing more than one language makes your resume stand out. As a result, this can push you to the top of the interview list.
You Get Better Remuneration
Knowing more than one language offers a chance to earn more than fellow employees. For instance, opportunities may arise that require a translator or interpreter, and you can use them to earn more money.
Studies suggest that language differentials usually range from 5 to 20 per cent per hour on top of the base rate. Moreover, there are instances where individuals that speak the required language are hard to find. In such cases, you can earn a higher percentage.
More Job Opportunities
If you are planning to take your career to the next level or want to find a second job, then knowledge of a second language will come in handy. If you don’t speak a second language, don’t panic!
Thanks to technology, there are many opportunities for people to learn a second language. For example, if you want to perfect your English, you can find English courses to improve your conversational skills on several online English tutoring sites.
Numerous job opportunities can only be tackled by individuals that speak more than one language. Examples include translator, language tutor, interpreter, and tour guide. As you can see, bilinguals have more job opportunities than unilingual individuals.
Enhances Creativity
Studies have revealed that bilinguals are smart thinkers and tend to be more creative than people that speak one language. Specific research showed that bilingual children were more creative thinkers and better problem solvers.
It is apparent that bilingualism enhances your mind regardless of age. For instance, it encourages them to see the world from a different perspective and helps them understand different cultures in a way they couldn’t by just reading books. For this reason, there is a wide range of jobs that require bilinguals.
In this regard, bilinguals are ahead of the game when it comes to employment. So, if you desire to boost your employability, it would help to learn a second language. It is also important to consider the languages that are more highly coveted in the job market. Studies have suggested that Spanish, German, French, Mandarin, Portuguese and Russian are more marketable than the rest.
Enhances Adaptability
All languages are constantly active in a bilingual brain. As a result, such individuals usually find themselves on a situational continuum that leads to certain language modes. The language mode refers to the state of activating the languages and language processing mechanisms at particular moments.
At one end, bilinguals are usually in monolingual mode. Here, they choose to use the correct language and deactivate the other one. Furthermore, at the other end of the continuum, bilinguals can be in a full bilingual mode where they can switch between the languages.
This shows that bilinguals need to adapt to their current situation. Certain clues help them decide which language to speak, giving them more flexibility and the ability to understand others. In a bilingual or multilingual workplace, employees are continually navigating the continuum.
Therefore, bilinguals are more employable because they are more adaptable to social, emotional, and interpersonal skills. Moreover, they are more aware of their listeners’ needs and can navigate and express themselves from multiple perspectives. Such individuals are a great asset in a world filled with ambiguity and global challenges. This is because of their capacity to understand and appreciate other people’s perspectives.
Final Thoughts
It is apparent that speaking more than one language increases your job prospects. This is because the business arena has become global and more culturally diverse, hence needing a workforce to handle emerging needs.
Therefore, if you want to be competitive in the job market, knowing more than one language gives you an added advantage regardless of your profession.
