Further Your Career by Learning a Language

Learning a new language can be undertaken for a number of reasons. Perhaps the fact that it can give your career a well needed boost is not one that many consider. However, there are a number of people who are discovering just this. A recent survey carried out for the National Centre for Languages found that one in four employers said that the ability to speak a second language would give someone applying for a job an edge over the other candidates.

In an increasingly globalised world where colleagues speak to others in countries across the world, either over the telephone or the internet, the ability to be able to speak a second language has become preferable, second only to IT skills. In fact, evidence suggests that an employer would rather take on a new employee with language skills and train them to do the job rather than the other way round.

For existing employees, corporations are more willing than ever to pay for them to undergo language training. This is often the result of a company expanding into another country and wanting their employees to have the advantage of being able to speak the native language. This is what has happened in the case of communications company O2.

O2 agreed a takeover deal with Spanish telecoms company Telefonica in 2005. As a result of this it has paid for 200 of its staff to learn Spanish. A spokesperson for Telefonica O2 UK says "There's a sense that a little goes a long way, my Spanish and international colleagues tell me that it really oils the wheels if you can demonstrate that you've made the effort to understand their language and have a basic conversation."

They are not the only ones pushing forward the advantages. Since the National Centre for Languages launched its Business Language Champions programme more than 300 companies have signed up with schools to show how valuable language skills can be in today’s modern workplace.

There is room for improvement however, "At the moment funding from government for adult learners isn't working for the benefit of language learners. Priority funding is placed on vocational training designed to up-skill people for work. At the moment language learning fails to fall into this category," says Teresa Tinsley, director of communications for CILT. "The language community might not be making the point that languages can improve employability as strongly as it could be."