Highlight Experiences From Your Formal Education
The education section of your resume is another place you could highlight your skills with another language, especially if you have a second major or a minor in another language. Another way you could show strong language skills is to mention any study abroad experiences where you had the opportunity to speak the language on a regular basis.
As you would with your primary university, you would list the name of the school overseas along with the location and dates you attended. If you participated in any student clubs or extracurricular activities in college where you practiced another language, you may want to include these as well.
Why Recruiting Bilingual Candidates Is Popular
Companies need bilingual candidates to fill both low- and high-skilled positions. And, companies dont just hire bilingual candidates to fill translation and interpretation positions.
Hiring managers recruit for all sorts of bilingual or multilingual jobs, including sales, customer service, office and administrative, social service, financial service, software development, and healthcare positions.
Bilingual employees can bring a lot to the table. They can appeal to non-English speaking consumers and provide value in the workplace.
If a company conducts business globally, bilingual employees are a must. Using temporary translators to speak with customers or clients can be costly and time consuming for a company. Not to mention, failing to have employees who can communicate with the companys client base can be detrimental to a companys growth and profitability.
Even if a company does not conduct business internationally, bilingual employees might be necessary for communicating with American consumers. One study found that 21% of the U.S. population speaks a language other than English at home.
In addition to appealing to more consumers, bilingual employees can be valuable in other ways. Hiring bilingual employees can diversify the workplace. And because they are able to speak two or more languages, they might have advanced cognitive and multitasking skills.
What Are The Benefits For Being Bilingual
Here are 10 benefits of being bilingual:Increase brain power. It can give children an academic advantage. Increase awareness of other cultures. Make travel easier and more enjoyable. Improve competitiveness in the job market. Find it easier to learn a third language. You can better raise your kids bilingual.
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Add Language Skills To The Summary Or Objective Statement
There are several different places you could highlight your bilingual skills on your resume. If the position calls for language skills, you may want to include them in your resume summary or objective at the top of your resume. Because this is essentially an introduction, it’s a good place to first mention being bilingual.
How Can I Earn English
As youre reading this, your language skills are already strong enough to help you earn some extra cash and we happen to know of some very good ways to do just that.Ways to make money from the languages you speakBecome a conversation buddy. Create language resources. Make language videos on YouTube or a language blog.
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Language Skills Cv: What Businesses Want
Its great that you know a second language. It will definitely increase your career options. You may also consider adding language skills or beefing up level 1 or 2 knowledge you have of several languages. Your time is valuable so choose wisely. Which languages are in high demand by businesses?
A resume.io survey of multiple language learning and business sites found these languages were common to all lists of best languages to learn for business:
- Mandarin
Other commonly mentioned languages are:
- French
- Portuguese
- Hindi
From 2010-2015 the number of jobs requiring Mandarin speakers tripled, according to New American Economy. In the same period, Spanish and Arabic as desired language skills rose 1.5 times in job listings.
Leveraging Your Bilingual Skills To Land Your Dream Job
The ability to fluently communicate in more than one language can be a useful skill as you enter into the US job market. However, many companies often dont know how to capitalize on their bilingual employees or even realize the benefits of investing in a diverse workforce.
As you start your career search, its to your benefit to know how to leverage your bilingual skills to get your interviewer to think outside of the box. Whether or not the position you are applying for requires your language skills, you can still convey the creative ways that your skills can benefit the companys business goals.
Being bilingual along with the talents you possess that match your dream jobs requirements can put you ahead of the competition. In this article, well provide you with insight into where the candidates that speak more than one language are in demand and how to market your skills to companies that havent yet realized the benefits that an on-staff bilingualist can bring.
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Should You List Languages On Your Resume
The short answer depends on two things: your level of proficiency and how the language relates to the position.
Make room for languages on your resume when it is a requirement for the position or feature it in a secondary area when it supports your professional skills. Employers like to know if you have a working capacity in other languagesand it can be an added bonus in your application even if its not a requirement.
Demand for bilingual employees spreads across the job market, from service positions to C-Level directors. That demand is growing quickly. In fact, 9 of 10 employers responding to a recent survey said they rely on English-speaking employees who also speak another language. That same survey found that employers expect their need for multilingual employers to continue to grow.
If your language proficiency ranges from professionally conversational to native , it has a place on your resume. Whether youre applying to be a barista or a senior marketing manager, a second language can help you communicate with customers, clients, and foreign offices.
Tailor your resume to the position, highlighting your language skills more or less depending on how much language lends to the role and is mentioned in the job posting.
How To Assess Your Skill: Language Levels Resume
You took Spanish in high school or maybe even in college. Does that qualify you to list Spanish as a second language on your resume? It depends.
While you can prove soft skills like communication and organization over time, you cant exactly skirt around being fluent in French. Before you find a home for languages on your resume, honestly assess your up-to-date comfort level with each language youve studied.
Language proficiency generally follows a 0-5 system:
0 No proficiency. Youve never studied the language
1 Elementary. You can hold your own in very basic exchanges, such as greetings, asking for directions, etc. This level is typical for visiting another country and feeling confident getting around.
2 Limited Working. Personal conversations come a bit more naturally, but your vocabulary is not necessarily extended to professional or complex topics.
3 Working Professional. You can confidently chat with clients on the phone or make presentations in that language. It may still be clear that the language is not your native tongue, and you need assistance with certain phrases or vocabulary.
4 Full Professional. At this level, you can weave between professional and personal topics with ease. You no longer need assistance translating complex ideas or terms and managers can trust you to hold your own in independent exchanges with clients.
Overall, only list languages on your resumeif your proficiency falls between levels 3 and 5.
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Is Being Bilingual A Talent
While being bilingual may not directly benefit you all of the time, being able to help others with your talents when you can should be a huge advantage in itself. Basically, when it comes to learning a new language, there are so many advantages that its hard to not be bilingual in this day and age.
Approximate Your Language Skill Level With An Adjective
In most cases, the following scale is an acceptable method for describing your general language skill level, and will be understood by any employer.
Scale for Resume Language Skills
Basic: suggests that you understand basic words and phrases, but are unable to hold a conversation.
Intermediate: suggests you can hold a basic conversation in the language, but have limited vocabulary, a low understanding of grammar rules, and may not be able to read.
Conversational: suggests that you can hold full conversations in this language but not at a fluent level. You may struggle to find the right words and keep up with native speakers. Additionally, you may not be fully literate.
Proficient: suggests you have a high level of comfort with the language, but not to the same level that fluent or native speakers would. Proficient speakers have a larger vocabulary and more developed skills than conversational speakers.
Fluent: suggests youre highly comfortable speaking, writing, or reading in this language and that you can hold conversations to the same level as a native speaker.
Native: indicates that this is your mother tongue, and that youre fully comfortable speaking, reading, and writing in this language.how to list language skills on resume
The only time you shouldnt use this scale is if youre applying for a role where a high level of detail about your language skills is required. In this situation, you should use a more specific, official scale.
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Second Identify Your Skill Level In The Language You Will Include In Your Resume
When including your language skills on your resume, its important to note the level at which you speak the language you are listing. The following are different levels of language skills:
- Beginner. This is when you only know a few words or phrases in a particular language. Beginner language skills should typically not be listed on a resume.
- Intermediate. This level is when you can speak the language but not fluently. You may be able to hold basic conversations and read the language.
- Proficient. Proficient language skills are when you can write, read and speak the language with ease in most cases.
- Fluent. Being fluent in a language is when you can easily speak, read and write the language with little to no difficulty.
- Native. A native language is a language in which you were raised speaking and is your primary method of communicating.
How To List Language Skill Levels On Your Resume
November 23, 2020 | By Conrad Benz| Reviewed by Howard Davies
Highlighting your resume language skills is a great way to give your job prospects a boost. But properly listing your abilities as a polyglot isnt as simple as it seems. Read on to find out how to list language skills on your resume with our guide and examples.
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Is Being Bilingual A Strength
Being able to communicate with people from other cultures is a huge social advantage and can open up so many more doors in life. Speaking a second language has numerous employment benefits. An amazing benefit of being bilingual is that you can learn additional languages more easily that monolinguals.
Show The Recruiter That Youve Used Your Bilingual Ability In Life
If you have no professional bilingual experience related, this paragraph could substitute it in a resume.
You can demonstrate to your employer how you have utilized your skills in your community, perhaps by participating in foreign projects, clubs, groups, volunteering, or by being a member of a special association.
Dont forget to check Donald Trumps employment ideas regarding the future of the job market!
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Do Bilingual Students Do Better In School
In studies covering six states and 37 districts, they have found that, compared with students in English-only classrooms or in one-way immersion, dual-language students have somewhat higher test scores and also seem to be happier in school. Attendance is better, behavioral problems fewer, parent involvement higher.
How Do You Use Language Skills
Nine ways to use language skills to get a job and boost yourCombine your language degree with a core subject. Set your career goals early on. Sell your study abroad experience. You dont need to be near native fluency. Dont over inflate your skills on your CV. Instead, spell out your language experience. Be specific with your job search online.
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Use Both Languages In The Job Description
To attract bilingual candidates, you need to showcase the languages your client needs in the job description. Half of the description might be written in one language and the other half written in the other language.
If your client wrote the job ad in one language, you can rewrite part of the job description in the other language.
For example, you have a client who is looking for an employee who knows Spanish and English. You can write a description of the job responsibilities in English and list qualifications and how to apply in Spanish.
Writing the job description in multiple languages will weed out some of the candidates who dont qualify. And, the ad will appeal to and encourage bilingual candidates to apply.
Why Employers Want To See Language Skills On Your Resume
Employers and recruiters most often want to see language skills on a resume when the position being applied for specifically calls for fluency in another language. For example, companies that are located in an area where multiple languages are spoken or that work on a global scale will often look for employees with fluency in a certain language in addition to their native language.
Possessing the ability to speak another language provides you with an important skill and often sets you apart from candidates who cannot speak another language. Its important to note that knowing only a few words or phrases in another language is typically not enough to include the language on your resume as a skill.
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Which Professions Are Looking For Bilingual Candidates
Oklahoma City is in no shortage of careers that may require your bilingual skills on a regular basis. A quick internet search for bilingual jobs OKC show 100 plus jobs in the metro area looking to fill positions such as dental assistants, sales consultants, customer service representatives, receptionists, tax experts, teaching assistants, and more.
The common industries looking for bilingual talent include:
- Healthcare
- State and federal government agencies
- Court advocacy services
Languages On Your Resume As A Career Tool
How valuable are language skills on your resume?
As our world connects more and more every day, communicating with one another is becoming a higher priority. If youre already ahead of the game with fluency in a second or third language and it’s relevant to the position, this is a competitive advantage and you should consider including languages on your resume in the most effective way possible.
Consider this: Since February 2020, when the global pandemic began, FlexJob listings for remote jobs requiring bilingual workers have jumped 30%, according to TechRepublic.
Being able to call attention to your language skills on your resume may just get you the opportunity youve been looking for.
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Adjust Your Work Experience To Show Bilingual Skills
Describe your work experiences, highlighting your key achievements within each bullet. To emphasize your proficiency with a second language, you may want to add the word “bilingual” to the beginning of your job title, if appropriate. You could also mention specific opportunities that you had to use your language skills within each position.
Canadians Flaunt Your Fluency
Are you bilingual or multilingual? Whether English is your first or second language, your linguistic skills make you valuable in the workforce. In fact, companies that recognize and reward such abilities with extra pay tend to have better retention and satisfaction rates among workers than companies that remain neutral. If your employer falls into the latter group, don’t be shy about demonstrating the benefits of your multicultural background. So what can bilingual or multilingual skills do for you and your employer? Plenty. This expertise can boost your profile as a team player. “From time to time, you may be asked to facilitate communications with a customer due to your language skills,” says Joyce Moy, a fluent Chinese speaker and director of the Center for Workforce Strategies. “If someone asks me to translate something, I look at the request as a favour that isn’t much different than if I were good in computers and someone asked me to fix a glitch, even if it were not part of my job.”How can you convince employers your language skills are an asset? First, you must convince yourself your skills are valuable. David Tulin of Tulin DiversiTeam Associates suggests writing out the following statements:
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Why You Might Not Want A Bilingual Resume
In certain parts of the world, especially in English-speaking countries, bilingual applicants may face discrimination. This is especially true if theyre immigrants or have a name thats hard to pronounce in the dominant language.
I have seen plenty of it first-hand in various jobs, even by people who claim theyre not racist.
Even non-immigrant bilinguals face a different challenge: discrimination within their own community.
While illegal, these types of discrimination are very hard to prove, and some bilinguals may not think its worth the risk.
Being bilingual at any level is something to be proud of. Were bicultural, were fast thinkers, and honestly: were just cool.
But when youre not sure whos interviewing you, there are other factors to take into consideration.