Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dbee]

Hi,

I was just wondering what the concensus is out there about the ability of language skills to drive your star into ascendancy ?

After I left college I made it a life's goal to pick up as many languages as possible. I love travelling, so I guess it was an easy decision. I already had very good German which I'd been working on for years. Irish was my native language and I started studying spanish part-time. Then I moved to belgium and started to pick up dutch.

Given the funds I would gladly have found myself travelling around the world learning as many languages as possible. Being multilingual in Europe though, is like being a communist in North Korea. And as luck wouldn have it - I found myself working in Irish bars and then ... I found myself back home, and in the job market with my language skills.

And what did the job market cough up for a graduate degree holding multi-language speaker ?? ... The best I could come up with on short notice was a sales representative for the German department of a chain of hotels and taking some Spanish calls the odd time. Maybe if I was willing to go for a whole career, I could have landed something more solid. But even then, it was far from a shortcut to 'success'.

Basically we dealt with the german customers of Sheraton hotels by phone ... and we got a whole 0.80 euro more than our English-only speaking counterparts.

As is, I've forgotten about the languages path altogether ... I've put languages into my 'enjoyable pasttime' category. Which I'll surely pick up again when I don't have to teach grammar to ten years olds to make ends meet.

I've been in Korea for well over a year. I'm still enjoying myself and I'm still travelling. And I'd love to spend the time to pick up the lingo, but considering how long it would take to pick up Korean vs the tangible benefits of the language in the long-term, I think that I have to put my efforts into something with a little higher return on investment. I can't think of one job in korea that would pay me much more if I spent the time to learn the Korean language.

If I had the spare-time, then yes ... it'd be great to be able to speak Korean. But as I'm that little bit older now, I think that I have to start thinking about what will truly be of benefit in the long-run.

[ed4444]

It is very useful to have language skills but you need to develop other skills to compliment them.

There are good opportunities for people with languages and finance skills or languages with I.T. skills in most countries.

[Homer]

Language skills are a definite asset.

They key is to know how to market them and get the most out of them. Not mentionning the positive impact learning a language can have on your life (ex: expat living abroad).

A new language can open employment doors, enhance your employment profile, earn you more money and give you more options.

It will be not a universal key to riches however, you have to know and understand that it has a high profile in the proper setting only.

Learning Korean for example can enhance your job prospects in Korea (sometimes with other qualifications needed) and at home too. As a Canadian example, it opens doors at:

Foreign Affairs, Industry Canada.
Private sector for consulting or other positions related to business with Korea.
Other organizations.
University teaching (with proper graduate and post grad degrees).
Interpreter (you need to work hard to be proficient enough here).
Translation (can be very lucrative).

There are also open doors with NGO's and other international organizations who all require and value extra languages.

In general, learning one, or two languages is just a bonus.

In my case, I grew up learning English and French at the same time and I am fluent in both. I studied Korean and it opened doors for me in non-teaching fields.

Learning Korean would not open doors at some IT company back home who has no dealings with Korea...thats a good example of knowing how to market your skills.

[ladyandthetramp]

The only thing people like you or me can do (and history majors) is become professors.

[Homer]

Lady,

I have a history major (B.A.) and I am working in other fields then teaching (Consulting) because I learned Korean.

Foreign affairs canada hires history grads if they have the proper language skills.

So do many NGO's.

You can also work in the private sector if you know how to market yourself and have taken the time to improve yourself (maybe some courses part time).

[dbee]

Well there is a definite knack in knowing how to market your skills ... sure !

If you are in it for the long haul and really know how to put yourself and your resume around, then thats great. But essentially that is a skill in itself and you probably wouldn't need a language either way to achieve a degree of success.

I'm not saying here that learning a language isn't worthwhile ... quite the opposite in fact. It can be a major plus to your quality of life and appreciation of a foreign country.

I'm just speculating on the return on investment from putting your months and years into studying a language when you have a limit as to the time you have to achieve a result. If you have all the time in the world, then yes, it might well be the way to go. But I do feel that people see multilingualism as a path paved with gold.

When people say that those that can speak chinese and english will get way ahead in the job market, I sometimes wonder if it's true. It certainly wouldn't hurt, being bilingual in those two languages. But the last time I was in China, most of the foreigners who were bilingual were either English teachers or poorly paid shipping clerks and translators (not that there is anything wrong with being an English teacher/clerk/translator)

Learning a language when you are 20+ is one of the hardest things you could do.I sometimes doubt though, if you are doing it purely for financial/career reasons, whether it is one of the smarter directions you could take ??

Maybe I'm wrong here though, but while languages definitely open doors ... they rarely provide ladders. In otherwords, you'll be doing the same job you were going to be doing anyway, but just in a different environment and at a slightly higher salary. You'll branch out as opposed to branching up.

Although, the overall benefits to language learning are admittedly huge.

[dbee]

oops

[rapier]

So the general consensus is: don't bother learning languages if you want big $$$. Just get on the career ladder back home.

[Homer]

[ladyandthetramp]