Employment Guide: Languages can make resumes more appealing

A few weeks ago, Drew Myers found himself the middle-man between the world’s leading producer… A few weeks ago, Drew Myers found himself the middle-man between the world’s leading producer of aluminum and a union president from Brazil.

The fifth-year Pitt student had never interpreted professionally before. But the minor he picked up in Portuguese, along with his majors in Finance and Spanish and Latin American Studies Certificate, made him the perfect candidate when the Pittsburgh aluminum company approached Pitt’s Portuguese department for a translator.

This growing emphasis on language coincides with Pitt expanding its foreign language requirements next fall. The School of Arts & Sciences will require that incoming freshmen have three years of language experience in high school, having achieved a B or better. This is a change from the previous general education guidelines, which required only two years of high school language study. If new students haven’t fulfilled their three years before arriving at college, then they must take two semesters of language at Pitt, earning a C or better.

Kristian McCloud, a Career Consultant at Pitt, said she believes foreign language proficiency can boost a person’s marketability to an employer. Students should be able to read, write, speak and listen in a second language to complement their college education, she said.

According to the Modern Language Association’s most recent data, course enrollment in languages other than English has increased 6.6 percent from 2006 to 2009. Enrollment in Arabic has surged 46 percent over the same interval.

There are more than thirty languages taught at Pitt — including Arabic and Portuguese — and each year, new students register for the courses to learn a new language or fulfill an Arts & Sciences requirement.

Some universities don’t place as heavy an emphasis on language. This fall, the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at George Washington University eliminated its foreign language graduation requirement.

Choosing the right language to study depends on where students want to work. Pitt employment development specialist Dean Jolin said that young job-seekers must understand their potential employers in terms of what they’re looking for in a job candidate. If students notice that the company they desire to work for does a large amount of global work in a particular country, then it would be beneficial to gain proficiency in that country’s language.

International and commercial jobs can place a heavy emphasis on knowing a second language, but whether or not language skills factor in at all really depends on how a company operates.

Jolin said that although languages do not necessarily complement certain majors, they enhance students’ global perspectives and contribute to roundly-developed resumes.

Angela Garcia, deputy director at Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Global Links, said that the world is becoming more of a global market and no matter a student’s educational background, knowing a second or third language is always beneficial.

Garcia said that fluency in another language is necessary for employment when a company has an international focus. At Global Links, a medical relief and development organization that works in Latin America and the Caribbean, the need for fluent speakers is non-negotiable. The organization’s job application process includes an interview conducted fully in Spanish.

This need for fluent Spanish speakers has continually challenged Garcia during her 11 years of experience at Global Links. She said that a day on the job might include foreign traveling or conducting conversations over the phone or on Skype. For that reason, it’s important for employees to truly understand their second language.  

J.P. Matychak, director of Career Services at Pitt’s College of Business Administration, said he agrees that being well-versed in a second language, especially those spoken in countries with emerging economies such as China, certainly attracts employers.

Matychak said that although knowing a foreign language might not land a student a position right out of college, employers with intentions of global expansion appreciate the abilities that a bilingual student possesses.

“Even if a position doesn’t require a second language, employers recognize the hard work and discipline that goes into mastering a second language.” Matychak said. “Those skills are ones that most any employer would value.”