What job prospects are there for language graduates?

Preferably, I'd like to do a Spanish and French (ab initio) degree in the future (2011 entry, that is) but I'm clueless as to what careers it could lead into apart from the media - any ideas? I'm starting to go off the idea because I keep thinking that it won't lead into any real, secure career that could last for years.

Translator?

Andylol

Translator?

There is that, but when you're not 100% fluent it's possibly not the best choice.

Reply 4

lowrax

TheMeister

There is that, but when you're not 100% fluent it's possibly not the best choice.

By the end of your degree you'll be pretty near fluent and you could always do a masters degree in translating, it's definitely a viable option, in fact I think it's quite a popular option for language graduates.

Reply 5

georgia

Any graduate job where a specific degree isn't required. So there's lots there straight away.

Law, teaching, journalism, retail, business, the EU, the EC...

Reply 6

Anatheme

Languages degrees offer a lot of prospects, so there are the obvious ones that are interpreting and translating, but as you said if you're not more than perfectly fluent, or a wee bit lazy, it's not the best option. You can work for the government in general, in Politics, Law, and Secret Services, and teaching is also an option. You can use it in the media, so journalism, but writing in general too, maybe you want to travel and write guidebooks or start your own show? The EU, the UN, NGOs in general, charities, education, culture (museums, libraries, etc), tourism, business, retail, whatever field need a language that you speak, really, it's almost endless :P

Reply 7

james99

As a languages graduate, I'll be honest with you and tell you that immediate prospects are not good in this economic climate. "Normal" graduate schemes don't cater for languages students, so you'll either have to apply for a general management scheme or look for a job that may not necessarily be advertised at graduates only (i.e. more experienced people may also apply).

Law is pretty much out of the question unless you do a joint law/languages degree, or a conversion course after a languages degree.

Politics? Maybe.... Again, a joint degree would be ideal here.

Translator? No chance really. There are just no jobs for recent graduates, unless you're prepared to work for no money (internship), or speak a really rare language, or have 3+ years of prior experience. A masters degree in translation is also usually required.

Secret services? Definitely a possibility. You'll need to be really, really good.

There are a fair few jobs in "customer services" (i.e. call centres) that require a language, and also general office work. Usually at least a year's experience is required, unfortunately. Teaching is also an option, but obviously that also requires a PGCE.

So yeah, make of that what you will. To be honest I think I'm just gonna give up and leave the country. I never thought I'd be unemployed two months after finishing my degree, but that's the way it's turned out unfortunately :frown:

Reply 8

georgia

james99

Law is pretty much out of the question unless you do a joint law/languages degree, or a conversion course after a languages degree.

That's what I meant when I said law, if it was directed towards what I'd said in my post :smile:

Reply 9

hannah_dru

TheMeister

There is that, but when you're not 100% fluent it's possibly not the best choice.

It takes practice even when you are fluent! So it is quite a good choice but it takes a while to get the hang of it.

Reply 10

TheMeister

hannah_dru

It takes practice even when you are fluent! So it is quite a good choice but it takes a while to get the hang of it.

Do you mind if I PM you about German?

Reply 11

clozet

james99

I imagine graduate prospects for language graduates in 2015 may be somewhat different though? Hopefully the economy will have picked up by then :smile:

that doesn't help you however. good luck with the job searching!

Reply 12

xmarilynx

As Anatheme said, there are lots of options for language graduates :smile:

The main three are teaching, translating and interpreting, but there are lots of other less obvious options too such as Law, accouting, journalism, marketing, banking and the Civil Service (I want to work as a diplomat for the Foreign Office, personally). Many jobs don't require a degree in a specific subject, just a degree to show that you are capable of working to that level (lots of employers are impressed by the year abroad, too). So, you won't be able to be a doctor, but there will be lots of jobs out there for you if you do languages.

If you look at the recent graduate destinations of language graduates from universities you are interested in you'll get an idea of what's out there. I also have a book produced by connexions about what different careers using languages different people had which was very helpful, and there's probably one at your school's Careers Library.

Reply 13

Lizia

I'm going to be teaching English abroad, personally. Not specifically something for language graduates, but I think the skills you learn from learning languages make it easier to teach your own. And obviously being fluent in more than one European language increases your earning potentional there. I plan to spend a few years after uni teaching in exotic or interesting places like Indonesia or Russia, where the money isn't amazing but by local standards you can live well and enjoy yourself. Then thanks to being fluent in French or Italian, I can settle down in most places in Europe when I want a better income and more stable life. So there's an option you might not have considered, that might be good :smile:

Obviously you can also apply for basically any job that doesn't require a specific degree, as well as the more specialised fields like translation, interpretation or teaching. Further study might be required for some fields, but you're looking at a year at most, which isn't too difficult, and you can get funding for a lot of courses/they aren't too expensive. If you really do make the most of your time and become completely fluent, you can obviously also apply for plenty of graduate level jobs in the countries you've studied.

Reply 14

ttx

TheMeister

Ignoring what degree you want to study for the moment, do you have any idea about what sort of career you would like to pursue afterwards ?

Reply 15

hannah_dru

TheMeister

Do you mind if I PM you about German?

Nope, not at all :smile:

Reply 16

trappers

Original post by TheMeister

I know this thread is old but I've been in the exact same situation! I've changed my mind over doing modern languages loads of times but have finally settled on it, still concerned about job prospects though. Where are you applying? :smile:

Reply 17

TheMeister

Original post by trappers

Wow, yeah, really old! I've veered from the MML path you'll be sad to hear, I'm applying for Politics now as for the past 13-14 months or so I've really enjoyed it at AS/A2 and I realised I can learn the languages I want to by just as easily living in those countries abroad when and where I'll be able to :smile:

Reply 18

MancStudent098

Original post by james99

"Normal" graduate schemes don't cater for languages students, (

50% of graduate jobs don't require a specific degree. Doing languages gives the same opportunities as doing any non vocational subject + it allows you to look abroad for work, gives you an edge in work that deals with other countries and opens up some specific career paths. I think the problem is most language grads feel that they have to get a job which utilises their language skills, so they ignore the vast number of perfectly good opportunities out there.

http://www.top100graduateemployers.com/employers/

Of that list the first not to have a graduate scheme open to any degree type is number 37. So to answer the OP, a language degree allows you to work for the 36 best graduate employers in the UK.