Language skills can make you an in-demand job candidate. Whether you learned a new tongue in school or picked it up naturally at home, you can leverage that ability to increase your earning potential (by 5% to 20%, according to the statistics). That’s why showcasing your bilingual skills on your resume has such importance for your career.
You hear a lot about communication in business. Companies need to talk to customers. They need their coworkers to talk to each other. At the same time, they need to connect with different parts of the world in an increasingly interconnected marketplace.
Your bilingual skills let you plug into this need. A study done a few years ago showed substantial growth in the demand for bilingual employees. Over a five-year span, the number of postings calling for additional language skills more than doubled, ballooning from 240,000 to 630,000.
Why You Should Showcase Your Bilingual Skills
Don’t be shy about your ability to speak multiple languages. It may seem like second nature to you. But it’s a rare and valuable skill. Your bilingual capabilities could represent the catalyst for a major career boost.
Expand Your Horizons
Some jobs absolutely require additional language skills. By including the information on your resume, you become qualified for these positions. Since the ability is relatively rare, that means going after jobs with more limited competition. As a result, you have a higher chance of landing the gig.
Get an Unexpected Edge
Even for jobs that don’t specifically call for an additional language, your bilingual status will give you the edge. This is especially true in areas like customer service, where your abilities can open up communication with a new community of potential clients. Having the information listed on your resume can give you a boost compared to similar candidates with no language skills.
Take Advantage of Skill Stacking
The phrase “skill stacking” describes the ability to combine competencies in interesting and valuable ways. So you might not be the best typist or have the most customer-service experience. But you can be the only candidate with adequate familiarity with both typing and customer service.
Additional language skills provide a cheat code for this strategy. Even if other candidates have you beat in one or two other categories, you can get the edge just for your bilingual talents.
How to Highlight Your Bilingual Talents
Now you know the value of your bilingual abilities. Time to take advantage. The key is finding a way to highlight these skills on your resume so you can capture all the potential opportunities. Here are a few steps to take:
Add them to the skills section:
Make sure your language skills get a prominent mention in your skills section. This way, hiring managers will see them when they glance over the document. At the same time, resume-scanning software has a higher likelihood of noting the ability as well.
Create a dedicated “language” section:
If you have enough experience with a language, you might want to break that out into a separate section. This will make it even harder to miss.
Note your level of fluency:
Provide some context about your bilingual skills. Indicate your fluency levels in each of the languages you have familiarity with. This includes your capabilities in both speaking and writing.
Customize for particular job applications:
Use the job description to determine how strongly to push your language skills. If it’s a requirement, obviously put that talent up front. For other roles, customize your resume to get the maximum benefit from your ability.
Looking to Take Your Career to the Next Level? We Can Help!
Your career takes off when you find roles that maximize your best qualities. Working with a top recruiter, like Hiregy, lets you unearth these ideal situations.
Contact Hiregy today to locate the best jobs for your bilingual skills.
