Career Options for a Foreign-Language Degree
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Just when you’ve convinced yourself that majoring in a foreign language won’t doom your chances for a job after graduation, someone gives you second thoughts.”Try explaining to your father, a chemist with a PhD, that you not only want to major in English literature, but also French — with a writing concentration — at a liberal arts college,” says 24-year-old Jennifer Epting, a 2003 graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. |
Epting stresses that both her parents have always supported her decisions, including this one. “But they were also very wary of the job opportunities I faced when I graduated,” she says.
They needn’t have worried. Epting is now happily employed as a development and communications associate at the French-American School of New York in Mamaroneck, where she writes the school’s French-English newsletter, communicates with francophone parents and faculty and translates French documents to English, among her many job duties.
Epting is not alone in translating her foreign-language degree into a successful career. Read these success stories and tips from those who have done it for inspiration.
Take Advantage of Demographic Trends
A foreign-language background will give you many unique skills and experiences that will grab the attention of prospective employers, says 22-year-old public relations specialist Lauren Westerfield.
While Westerfield was studying at the University of Southern California, where she graduated with degrees in Spanish and communications in 2004, she actually heard mostly positive feedback when she told people her academic plans.
“Career counselors, employers and peers would comment on how useful having a foreign-language degree would be in job hunting,” explains Westerfield, who now works for Consultants in Marketing Inc., an advertising, public relations and marketing firm in Las Vegas.
“Seeing that the Hispanic population is rapidly growing in the United States, employers would express interest in hiring bilingual employees to appeal to all consumers,” she says. “Overwhelmingly, my stock automatically escalated in the eyes of employers. I felt as if I had an edge over other, non-bilingual job applicants.”
Westerfield first interned with Consultants in Marketing for two summers before she was offered a full-time position — just as her senior year was about to begin. She now writes creative copy for ad campaigns in both English and Spanish, oversees media relations and assists with special-event planning. She also serves as an internal translator for the company, which “cuts down on costs drastically,” she points out.
Majoring in Spanish, Westerfield concludes, “was the best career move I could have made.”
Use Your Degree Outside Your Full-Time Job
Of course, it all depends on how you define your career. On the surface, you might not think that 27-year-old Valerie Tagoe is using her French degree, since she’s now working as a special-education teacher for the Dallas Independent School District in Texas.
But Tagoe’s work goes beyond the classroom. On the side, she’s working with a startup import/export company that sells clothing and home decor from West African countries.
“I hope to utilize my skills in negotiating business deals in French-speaking African countries,” says Tagoe, a 2001 graduate of the University of Oklahoma.
You’ll still probably take some flack if you decide to major in a foreign language. As Epting puts it, “Some people assume that you’re a useful person to travel with but not necessarily a useful person to hire.”
Tell them they couldn’t be more wrong — using whichever language you’d like.
by Peter Vogt
MonsterTRAK Career Coach
http://content.monstertrak.monster.com/
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