8 Advantages of Being a Multilingual for Building a Career Abroad

8 Advantages of Being a Multilingual when Building a Career Abroad

As businesses across the globe embrace this new age of globalization, the need for people who can help break down the language barrier between two or more cultures is becoming a lot more apparent, now more than ever. Thankfully, the opportunity to learn a new language is much more accessible these days. There are plenty of foreign language courses online that can help you achieve your goals. There are advantages of being a multilingual when building a career abroad.

But if you’re still on the fence about taking them, here are eight advantages of being a multilingual when building a career abroad.

1.  It opens job opportunities.

Being proficient in more than one language allows you to take on different kinds of full-time and part-time jobs. There are numerous employment benefits to being bilingual.

For instance, you can become an online tutor to people who are looking to learn your native language–or any language you are good at for that matter. Besides, there are also different ways to do online jobs for students. You can teach via video calls and meet eager foreign language learners face-to-face, or you can also upload your short courses on your website or blogs. Online language tutoring jobs like Preply and Vipkid are suitable for college students, stay-at-home parents, and basically, anyone who has a knack for teaching. One can earn from $250 to $300 a week, depending of course, on how much time you’re willing to dedicate to do it.

You can easily find these opportunities online when you search them on the web or better yet, check out their job page from time to time. Preply has an online tutoring job page you can check out so keep an eye on that.

2.  It gives you an edge over others.

It is no secret that a lot of companies nowadays are looking for people who are multilingual. Hence, multilingual and bilingual opportunities abound for these types of jobseekers. You would be amazed by how much it is in demand today! This means that your ability to communicate in different languages gives you an instant preference for a job over other candidates who are also applying for the same position. The reason is that this is also backed up by science. According to a study, bilinguals and multilingual appear to have superior cognitive and social aptitude in comparison to monolinguals who took the same verbal and non-verbal tests.

Well, if you were in your employer’s shoes, would you not want someone who has a special skill such as having the capability to talk to people from different cultures?

3.   It leads to career growth

Yes, there are a lot of job opportunities and benefits of being bilingual in the workplace, but having career growth is a different matter altogether and in a very good way! Now that you have taken the first step by having a job and an edge for being multilingual, it is time to consider the next big step for you. After all, companies who hired you for your language speaking skills are considering how they too can explore more opportunities such as reaching out to the international market! With you as their asset, you can advance from local to global standing. That also smells like a promotion incoming!

4.  It lets you establish more connections

You now have the chance to acquaint yourself with others and expand your circle. Communication is everything after all, and it is very important if you want to establish a good relationship with others, especially if you’re an ex-pat. And that can work wonders for you whether it be in simply making friends or for career advancement and both have their perks, of course!

5.  You can work within the comfort of your home

With so many jobs and career growth opportunities, but the benefits of multilingualism does not end there. Well, it can still get better! Jobs that are related or using multilingual skills are usually flexible in terms of time and location, which means working from home is not an issue! This is also one of the reasons why teaching and speaking foreign languages are the ideal work from home jobs for college students. They can do it anytime and even earn an extra income! At the same time, they are slowly being exposed to the real, corporate world. Their communication and social skills are also improving as they get to meet more people.

6.  You can earn more than others

You have a lot of job opportunities, promising career growth, and a growing circle of friends and peers. On top of that, if not a full-time job, you can use your multilingual skills to apply for part-time jobs for college students alongside your other side hustles. Now, that is a lot of good sources of income, but of course, it is not just about grabbing all of these opportunities that you have. We will also be talking about your rates! Because knowing a language is a bonus skill, companies usually give you extra credit or bonus for it. It means that not only do language-speaking related jobs pay well, they are also usually entitled to receive higher rates than normal.


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7.  It’s a good confidence booster

Not to brag, but being multilingual is something that you can be proud of. Never underestimate how a boost in your confidence can significantly improve your performance in everything! You have every right to flaunt your skills and enjoy the benefits that you are reaping. It will help you perform your responsibilities more effectively and you will also get to establish that you are a reliable and promising asset to the place that you are working for. Something as valuable as a multilingual speaker is not to be taken lightly!

8.  It lets you go global

If you have been dreaming about traveling and exploring the world, consider this a sign for you to get started early on and sign up for an online language teaching course. Once you get the hang of it, and with enough funds, social skills, and professional experience, going on an international tour will be a piece of cake. Consider the many ways this can go! Either you are up for a solo trip to treat yourself, or as a notable representative of your company sent to establish deep connections with potential partners. Either way, this is yet another opportunity for you.

As you can see, learning and teaching a language comes with a lot of ups. Being multilingual is brushed off at first and not everyone is keen on learning another language seriously, but at the end of the day, it turns out that multilingualism benefits you more than you could think of!

Keep in mind though that it is okay to start small, like teaching English to other foreign countries that are not fluent in the language. This is something that native English speakers, especially young people, can try. It is also good that besides earning extra income, other skills like communication, public speaking, grammar, and social skills are also being developed! It is a win-win situation no matter what.