Career Opportunities with a Degree in… Languages

Your Skills and the Employment Market

Possible Career Opportunities

Sample Jobs

Further Study Opportunities

What Past Graduates Have Done

Resources in the Careers Information Room

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Your skills and the employment market

Language graduates have excellent communication skills and cultural awareness and a broad perspective – this is usually backed up with the experience gained on a year abroad. Language skills are particularly useful when combined with expertise in another fields – so if you don’t find the perfect job, don’t give up.

A recent survey of Irish employers of language graduates listed the following transferable skills in order of importance: oral communication, team work, customer service, time management, written communication, coping with multiple tasks, problem-solving, managing one’s own learning, planning, decision-making, presentation skills, IT skills, numeracy, information management, analytical ability, critical thinking, project management, leadership, research skills and career management.

Source: "Transferable Skills in Third-Level Modern Languages Curricula” (2003)- a HEA funded project.

Types of company to seek employment in:

• Charities and International Organisations
• PR companies
• Advertising and Marketing
• Civil Service
• Market Research Companies
• Management Consultants
• Publishers
• Hotels
• Financial Services
• Schools

Source:  Doctorjob.com

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Possible Career Opportunities

You can work in a specialist linguist occupation like translation OR make use of your language skills in a non-specialist occupation like marketing.

Note: Further qualifications may be needed for certain positions. This list is a sample of positions available. Up to 40% of graduate employment opportunities are open to graduates of all disciplines.  In most cases, however you will need further postgraduate study or professional training.

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Sample Jobs

Some Jobs advertised recently that may suit students / graduates (these jobs are NOT currently available and are shown here for illustration purposes only):

Fluent French speakers, PayPal's Graduate Programme. Key Competencies Analytical Skills, Decision Making Skills, Communication Skills, Business Acumen, Problem Solving Skills, Web Design, Interpersonal Skills, Demonstrated Leadership, Highly Motivated, Self Starter. Minimum 2.1 Degree or MA in Sales/Marketing, Business, Legal, Finance, Mathematics, Engineering, Project Management. (Ref 0809)

Fluent German and English Customer Service Rep, CSN Galway. Provide customer service for clients using csn.com. PC and internet skills, multitasking skills required. (Ref 0609)

Customer Service Specialist (with languages), Buy.com. Identify and prevent fraudulent credit card activity. Fluent in German, French, Spanish or Italian. Experience in customer service. Strong analytical, statistical and problem solving skills. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Able to work independently and part of a group. (Ref 0609)

Market Research Analyst– European market (Dublin) Oracle. Fluency in one of the following European languages: German, Dutch/Flemish, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.  Ideally a Business, Marketing, IT, Engineering or equivalent type degree. (Ref08)

10-month internship as an English Language Instructor, Sprachcenter Mouroum, Berlin, Germany. Looking for responsible, energetic, motivated, native English speakers to join our international team. Teaching qualification is not a requirement; however, prior experience and previous work with young children would be an advantage. A proficient level of German is also necessary. (Ref08)

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Further study opportunities

For certain career choices, employers may look for candidates with further qualifications and training.  Some of the range of opportunities available in NUI Galway include:

• MLitt / PhD in French, English, German, Italian, Spanish
• MA Italian or French or Spanish
• MA German Language & Literature
• MA Ateangaireacht Chomhdhála
• MA Advanced Language Skills
• PGDip/MA Translation Studies
• PGDip in Education
• HDip Business Studies
• HDip Software Design and Development

For a full list please visit www.nuigalway.ie/courses .

The Careers Information Room has sections on Ireland and the UK (including individual prospectuses), USA (with guides to applying, funding and lists of courses), studying in EU countries as well as further afield.

Further study links:

http://www.postgradireland.com/ contains useful information on postgraduate courses in Ireland

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/ is an excellent site for researching opportunities in the UK

http://ec.europa.euploteus covers the EU

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What past graduates have done

It is always interesting to know what fellow graduates have done after obtaining their Languages degree at NUI, Galway.  This has recently been taken from First Destination Statistics.  

• Language Assistant programme, Quebec Canada
• Lectrice, University Bordeaux
• Customer Service - German language section, SAP Parkmore Galway
• English Language Assistant, Bundes and Bundesreal Gymnasium, Austria
• MA conference interpreting, Uni Westminster before registering as freelance interpreter with European institute
• Accountancy Section - using French all day, Chase International Bank Dublin
• English Language Assistant, France
• Comenius English Language Assistant in a primary school, Leargas - Spanish Education Spain
  

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Resources in the Careers Information Room

 We have valuable information resources, experienced career development advisers and information staff on hand to help you with your queries.

Reference material in the Information Room includes:

Folders:

• General Arts file
• Occupations / Job Descriptions file W3 (Yellow Folders)
• Country (working / studying) files
• Careers with an Arts or Humanities Degree
• What Can I do with an Arts Degree
• Teaching English Abroad
• Careers using Languages
• A wide range of Volunteering / Working Abroad titles

Drop into our information room and we will be happy to assist you.

For useful links see www.nuigalway.ie/careers/students/virtual .

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