Marisa
Would it be useful to have a minor in a foreign language?
I am in my fifth year of Spanish, and would like to peruse it as a minor. I am wondering if it would be a useful skill to continue developing to work ing the physics industry. #career #physics #language #spanish #personal-development
6 answers
Latricia Friend, MBA, CHM
Latricia’s Answer
Plus, being fluent in more than one language makes travel more fun!
Parris La Beur
Parris’s Answer
Absolutely! Here are the reasons why:
- Marketability;
I've friends/co-workers who are bi-lingual and they definitely have an advantage on positions in IT that others will not be considered a candidate for due to not speaking another language. One such case is a friend I worked with here in the states, now is head of the Technical Infrastructure division for client services for Cisco Systems in Singapore due to his ability to speak Cantonese.
- Opportunity:
With ever growing technology focused environment of companies and product demands, organizations are not defined by demographics. They are customer-centric and therefore will always have a need to support clients globally . Selling to your own backyard is not where technology is confined to. Global customers demand support for the products they purchase. That is where being bi-lingual will work to your advantage! Case in point: A company i worked at needed to open up an office in Singapore to have a local presence and support the clients in the Asia-Pacific market. They sent a friend over there to establish an office and he became the Technical Account Manager for the whole Asia-Pacific market due to his IT skill AND knowledge of the language and local culture. Nobody in the company could fill the need except my friend!
I highly encourage learning a foreign language to compliment your technical abilities.
Thank you for your time and answer!!
Marisa
Rachel Weinheimer
Rachel’s Answer
Joel Volkert
Joel’s Answer
That is a great question. Being bilingual, especially in Spanish in the United States, is a HUGE advantage and I highly encourage you to minor or even major in it. Personally, I took it out of enjoyment and ended up majoring in it, not even realizing how many classes I had taken towards my degree. Here are a few other encouraging statistics:
- The number of employers looking for bilingual employees DOUBLED from 2010 - 2015
- The number of job postings listing Spanish as a desired skill increased by 150% between 2010-2015.
(New American Economy, March 2017)
- Many jobs offer bonuses and incentives for bilingual employees
In addition, Spanish allows you to communicate outside of the workplace, for travel and for meeting others (and it's a lot of fun!).
Buena suerte, y déjame saber si tienes más preguntas!
Joel
Mikio Bohler
Mikio’s Answer
Yasemin G.
Yasemin’s Answer
Best of luck!