Staff Reporter
Thousands of people come to the UK each year for work. According to the last year’s study, 715,000 people immigrated to the United Kingdom, and 32% of them came here to build a career.
Getting a job abroad is a dream many people have. But before you get a job opportunity overseas, you need to know the language of the country you’re moving to.
But getting a job offer is not the only benefit good language skills can bring. Let’s take a look at a few more ways how language skills can help you build a successful career abroad.
Important Thing You Should Do Before Applying for the Job
Before we move forward to the main part, there’s one important thing you need to do before you look for jobs.
The majority of employers overseas consider the applicant’s fluency in a foreign language before inviting them for the interview. And some of them will ask you for confirmation of your language proficiency level.
What is this confirmation about?
A language proficiency confirmation is issued after you pass a test like IELTS or TOEFL that determines the level of your language skills. For instance, English has six proficiency levels:
- Beginner (A1)
- Pre-Intermediate (A2)
- Intermediate (B1)
- Upper-Intermediate (B2)
- Advanced (C1)
- Native/Mastery (C2)
Before applying for any job abroad, make sure you take a language proficiency test to prove that your language skills correspond to the employer’s expectations and if not – you can always find an English tutor that will help you with your language level.
Now, let’s take a look at the ways language skills can help you get the career of your dreams.
1. Direct Job Offer, No Middleman Needed
The biggest perk of speaking a foreign language and having good language skills is that you can get the job by yourself. When looking for job opportunities abroad, many people hire a middleman who usually speaks the language and has connections with many employers on the market.
The problem with middlemen is that they often charge immigrants a lot of money. In some countries, they even take a percentage from the immigrant’s salary for their services (they often consult immigrants on an ongoing basis). Besides, there’s been many cases of fraud.
However, if you have good language skills, you can search for a job offer by yourself and communicate directly with the employer. Language skills also give you a competitive advantage – an employer will rather choose you than an immigrant working with a middleman.
2. Higher Salary and More Job Opportunities
Knowing several foreign languages can also help you get a higher salary, both abroad and in your home country.
According to Market Watch, fluency in a foreign language rather than English can increase your salary by 2% on average. During the interview, you can discuss how your knowledge of other foreign languages can benefit your employer and negotiate higher pay.
If you are fluent in other languages, your employer can also offer you other job opportunities, such as business trips. You can even get postings in different countries helping your employer open branch offices of the company. These are all very lucrative opportunities for your career’s success.
3. Lifelong Connections
Lastly, knowing a foreign language means you can build connections with people who speak it. When you get a job overseas, these connections can help you career-wise, and once you familiarize yourself with a new country, they can get you more attractive job offers.
How can you build professional connections?
The best place is an interest group on LinkedIn. You can subscribe to any community related to your professional interests and connect with people who are active there. Exchanging resources and participating in discussions in a foreign language can help you find people who share your interests and form lifelong connections that could help you build a successful career abroad.
Wrapping Up
Getting a job overseas is difficult but possible, especially if you speak the language of the country you’re going to. If you have solid language skills, you can connect with an employer directly, ask for a higher salary, get more lucrative job opportunities, and build connections in your industry.
So, if a successful career abroad is your dream, start working on your language skills now. When you’re confident about your language mastery level, get it tested to evaluate your proficiency and prove to the employer that you’re a great fit for the job.
