Putting Your Foreign Language and Culture Skills to Practical Use

It is widely recognized that if you are an resourceful, energetic and civil employee, with top-notch written and spoken English communication skills, dependable and usable knowledge of a foreign language and its cultures, can make practical use of the mathematics of your trade and can operate a computer better than the people around you, then you need not fear corporate downsizing.  The following list is made to convince you for the foreign-language part of this formula. It includes some career advice and the most extensive list of language professional job search resources on the planet.

Transitions Abroad Magazine
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/

OMNIGLOT - Careers Using Foreign Languages
http://www.omniglot.com/language/careers.htm

have articles on career situations requiring foreign language skills

Here is some summary and bibliographical material for a starter kit:

    700 reasons for studying languages
    http://www.llas.ac.uk/700reasons/orderform.aspx

    Essential business culture guidelines for the international traveler
    http://www.executiveplanet.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
 
    Foreign Languages and International Business (CAL Digest 1992)
    http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/voght001.html

    Articles in Modern Language Journal on Foreign Languages and Careers
    http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/mlj/newsearchres.asp?contenttype=AA&topic=Careers&searchtype=adv

The UK recognizes that it is stubbornly monolingual. The following site is intended to show the practical side of foreign language skills: 

    Languages Work
    http://www.languageswork.org.uk/

    Languages in the Workplace
    http://www.dfes.gov.uk/languages/DSP_workplace.cfm

In the US, we have only recently required that our State Department Foreign Service Officers and Diplomats have a real grasp of foreign languages and cultures. In the Department of Defence we see something akin to this in requirements for promotions:

    DoD Announces Plan to Improve Foreign Language Expertise
    http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=8343

    National Security Language Initiative
    http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/58733.htm

We have seen languages at times as a safety issue:

    Lessons in many languages can boost workplace safety - bilingually printed training material
    http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_n3_v41/ai_18251531

People are constantly underestimating the importance of translation as one of the most vital service industries:

    Translation generates a multi-billion dollar business
    http://www.tdctrade.com/imn/03040301/markettrends072.htm

    Jeffrey Ressner, "Translation Nation" Time (Jan. 22, 2007): G17
    http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1576836-1,00.html

    U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics - Interpreters and Translators
    http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos175.htm

    Proz - the translators workplace
    http://www.proz.com/translation-jobs

    Translation Directory.com
    http://www.translationdirectory.com/

but their are so many other reasons, and the longer the university language department's list, the more you realize that many things have been left out.  If you are in any way connected to the state of Tennessee and not encountered this web site, you need to go there:

    Why study a foreign language in Tennessee?
    http://www.utm.edu/departments/french/why.html

Most of the people who can say, "Well ah never really learned much o' that 'parleevu, hablaespanol, or dutchspreekin' "are either paying people a small fortune to do it for them, or are in dead-end jobs where it just doesn't matter.



Want to use your language skills in a job?  Try one of these web sites:

Language Jobs (job search for language professionals worldwide)
http://www.languagejobs.org/

BLIS Jobs - the job site for people with languages
http://www.blis.org.uk/jobs_Search.aspx

OMNIGLOT (Careers using languages, links to language recruiters)
http://www.omniglot.com/language/careers.htm

International Jobs Center
http://www.internationaljobs.org/

Bilingual Jobs
http://www.bilingual-jobs.com/

Abroad Languages.com
http://www.abroadlanguages.com/al/lj/index.asp

New Global Corporation (interpreter, translator jobs)
http://www.new-global.com/

Overseas jobs with the federal government
http://federaljobs.net/overseas.htm

languagejobs4U
http://www.languagejobs4u.com/

Lingojobs
http://www.lingojobs.com/

Top Language Jobs
http://www.toplanguagejobs.co.uk/

Jobs for language professionals
http://www.traduguide.com/language-jobs/jobs-for-language-professionals.asp

Multilingualvacancies.com
http://www.multilingualvacancies.com/

International Language Communications - language recruitment agency
http://www.ilc-ltd.com/

Linguist Direct - Language Recruitment Specialists
http://www.linguistsdirect.com/

Bilingual People - specialists in multilingual recruitment
http://www.bilingualpeople.com/

The Linguist - Jobs area
http://www.linguistlist.org/jobs/index.html

Languages Work (British language advocacy site
http://www.languageswork.org.uk/

Foreign Language Teaching Jobs in California
http://www.clta.net/jobs/

ACTFL Job Central
http://jobcentral.actfl.org

National Association of Independant Schools - Jobs (click "foreign languages")
http://careers.nais.org/search/browse/

Chronicle [of Higher Education] Careers (type in language)
http://chronicle.com/jobs/

Academoc360 - foreign languages
http://www.academic360.com/faculty/listings.cfm?DiscID=103

Job Announcements for French Teachers
http://www.frenchteachers.org/bboard/boulot.htm

Teaching Positions in French (Connecticut AATF)
http://www.yale.edu/aatfct/jobs.html

Career Opportunities for French Students
http://www.union.edu/PUBLIC/MOLNDEPT/French/careers.html

NECTFL Provides Free Job Listings
http://www.dickinson.edu/nectfl/jobopenings.html

Language Magazine's Job Shop
http://www.languagemagazine.com/jobshop/jobshop.html

California Language Teaching Association Jobs Bulletin
http://clta.net/jobs/

Language Teaching Positions in Colorado
http://www.ccflt.org/positions.htm

Connecticut Council of Language Teachers Job Bank
http://www.ctcolt.org/jobbank.htm

Florida Foreign Language Association - Wanted
http://www.ffla.us/job/wanted.htm

Foreign Language Association of Georgia: Jobs - Employment - Careers
http://www.flageorgia.org/links.htm#jobs

Kentucky World Language Association - Jobs
http://www.kwla-online.org/MT/archives/jobs/index.html

The Foreign Language Association of Maine - Jobs
http://www.umaine.edu/flame/jobs.htm

Massachusetts Foreign Language Association Job Bank
http://mafla.org/jobpost.htm

FOREIGN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF MISSOURI - Job Opportunities
http://www.flamnet.org/job_openings.html

Oklahoma Foreign Language Teachers' Association - Jobs
http://www.learnalanguage.org/oflta/jobs.htm

Confederation in Oregon for Language Teaching - Emplyment
http://www.open.org/coflt/employment.htm

Foreign Language Teaching Positions in Tennessee
http://www.tflta.org/jobs.htm

Vermont Language Teaching Association Job Openings
http://www.vfla.org/openings.htm

Search FLTEACH archives ["job", "position", etc.]
http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=flteach

Languages Work (British language advocacy site)
http://www.languageswork.org.uk/

Language Teaching Jobs (Language Source Global Resources)
http://www.allwirelessmedia.com/links/languageteachingjobs.html

Academic Job Openings in Applied Linguistics
http://aaaljobs.lang.uiuc.edu/

Best bets for teaching abroad
http://www.cie.uci.edu/iop/teaching.html

Language Teaching Jobs (UK Jobs Network)
http://www.ukjobsnet.co.uk/job-search/jobs/jci76/language-teaching-jobs.html

Search for a Federal Government Job
http://www.fedworld.gov/jobs/jobsearch.html

Government Job Search - Education and Teaching jobs
http://www.federaljobsearch.com/education_teaching.asp?cid=0&tid=19588783

USAjobs (government)
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/

Jobs in Language Professions
http://www.hawaii.edu/eli/teachers/esljobs/Professions.html

INDEED - one search. all jobs
http://www.indeed.com/

Monster.com
http://www.monster.com

intelligent use of Google
http://www.google.com/