Learn a Language for Career Advancement

 To learn a language for career advancement is one of the best ways to get ahead in the job market. In the 21st century you will need every advantage you can get to keep yourself competitive in the marketplace, and adding foreign language skills is a great way to gain an advantage. Here are just some of the reasons to learn a second language :

Improved overall communication skills. Surprisingly, language learners improve their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in English as well as their new language. Overall communication skills improve, and that is a boon to any potential employer. For the business owner or entrepreneur, it is even more important for you to maximize your ability to communicate with employees, clients or potential business contacts.

Improved problem solving abilities. Learning a language also develops analytical skills, improves problem solving ability and increases flexible thinking and creativity. Businesses need employees with a wide range of abilities. If you have your own business, there is an even greater need for you to cultivate these abilities in yourself.

Broadens job skills and career options. Learning a foreign language improves your overall job skills, and makes you more valuable as an employee. It also broadens your potential career options, should you decide on a different career path.

Opportunities in many industries. There are many industries in which adding a foreign language would immediately be useful. Tourism, hotels and restaurants, advertising, marketing, military and defense, security, communications and journalism, just to name a few. Being able to communicate with customers, clients and contacts in their own language, even just to put them at ease and make them more comfortable with you and your business is clearly a great asset.

Career advancement. Knowledge of a foreign language can make you more valuable to your company, giving you a better chance of a promotion or a raise. You may also improve your potential for reassignment or relocation, and therefore also an increase in pay.

Overseas business opportunities. Obviously, learning a second language could get you a possible assignment in another country. The potential experience you could gain could lead to a whole new plateau in your career, or a new career opportunity altogether.

Competetive advantage in international business. The current climate of globalization is most likely here to stay. More and more businesses are becoming internationalized by mergers and acquisitions. Multinational businesses, global corporations, conglomerates and joint ventures are increasingly common. This means that learning another language is essential if you are going to be involved in any international business. It's the only way to maintain a competitive advantage.

Liberal arts training increasingly sought after. Less employers are looking for specialized skills and abilities. Prospective employers are increasingly looking for more adaptable workers with wide ranging abilities and flexible skill sets. General business skills, communication abilities and foreign language skills are the type more employers are seeking today.

Cost effective method of improving your marketplace value. Many businesses will contribute to or pay for an employees training or education. Foreign language is one of the few skills that can be learned a variety of ways including formal classroom study, tutors, language schools and even self-study. It's one of the few skills you can gain on your own and affordably.

Increased business contacts. The opportunities here are tremendous. From your employers or clients point of view, you may have just doubled your potential list of business contacts when you add a new language to your arsenal. It's a way to gain a powerful advantage over your competitors.

We could probably add many more examples to this short list, but the point is made. When you learn another language, you add important skills to your repertoire and increase your value as an employee or businessperson. You increase your opportunities for your business and for yourself. You improve your communication skills, your ability to interact with more people and your overall business skills. Best of all, you make an investment in yourself. When you leverage that investment in your business life, you can profit from the rewards for the rest of your life.

About the Author

Ron is a long-time language enthusiast, exploring Spanish, French, Swedish, Esperanto and others. Learn more about studying a language on your own at Language Learning Advisor This guide for self-study language learners has reviews and recommendations of language learning methods and products, links to online learning resources and language learning tips.

 Ron Tichenor

More Articles 

Tips On Proofreading To Improve Your Freelance Career - Niall Cinneide
Proofreading is a career which many people are looking to get into, but often the knowledge of what to do, when to do it, and especially how to do it is hard to come by. For that reason, there are many things that are important to know in order to...

Transitioning portable careers for global military families - Victoria Parham
Mention virtual business or portable careers in the military community and typically you think of the military spouse, veteran, or military retiree jump-starting their own business - - keeping in touch with clients, colleagues or a combination of...

Staying On Track with Your Career (or Any) Goals - Leonard Lang Ph D
Ever felt so impassioned about a vision and plan that it seemed nothing could get in your way? Then something did. Maybe you were committed to a big career leap, such as heading up a company division, running a travel agency, being a...

Lying on Your Resume Could Be the Best Thing You Could Do For Your Career - Derek Johnson
Lying on Your Resume Could Be the Best Thing You Could Do For Your Career By Derek Johnson Have you ever been passed over for a job despite the fact you KNEW you could've done the job in a stellar fashion? Are you frustrated...

Slogans: Creating and Using Them In Life, Career andBusiness - Catherine Franz
Information is coming at us from all directions nowadays. This pace requires us to demand that we receive it fast and predigested in order to inch ahead of the game. This also requires a new filing system method for storing the bites and bytes. In...

Become an LPN, the fast path to a nursing career. - Max Stein
Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Careers Licensed Practical Nurses provide the most amount of direct patient care within the nursing category of healthcare. If you’re interested in a healthcare career dealing directly with patients, becoming...

What is Career Management Horsepower? - Bruce Benskin
In a recent survey of over 662 career seekers, a disturbing trend reared it's ugly head. MOST career seekers don't have a clue what career management skills they have or even what those skills are! In fact, only 71% of the respondents...

Career Planning Advice: Avoid the 10 Success Killers! - Paul Megan
Sticking to fundamental business principles is the basis for successful career planning. To us this means that our customers are able to lock up job high-paying offers in as little as 14 days or less. Old-fashioned methods that require...

Career Management and Life Planning Tools: Eight Powerful Questions About Your Future - Sharon Teitelbaum
"Most people don't plan to fail. They just fail to plan." This old saying applies to any area of your life where you want to make some positive changes. Prior to planning, however, you must get absolutely clear on your intentions , and...

Ten Great Careers For Single Parents - Max Stein
The challenges of raising a child by yourself, whether you’re a mother or father, can be very difficult. Add the burden of having to be out of the home for 40+ hours per week to work and raising a child at the same time can be nearly impossible....

7 Secrets to Make Motherhood a Successful Career - Bill Dueease
Have you been a professional mother (it is a true profession, whether acknowledged or not) but now you find your mothering skills are in less demand? Are the fruits of your efforts, your children, growing up? You will always be their...

Home Inspection School - The start to a bright Career - http www InspectorJoeHomeInspection com
A /Home Inspection School offers extensive home study and classroom courses in order to help you become a quality inspector or to increase your skills if you are already in the Home Inspection business. Home Inspection Training schools train...