Hind Louali Discusses How Being Bilingual Sets People Apart in their Career

In many parts of the world, speaking more than a single language is extremely common. In fact, more than 50% of the world’s population speaks at least two languages. As underlined by Hind Louali, while monolingualism has been a norm in the United States for generations, times are steadily changing. The number of job postings looking for bilingual candidates has significantly gone up over the recent years. This increasing demand for multilingual employees has been largely encouraged by the growing multicultural population in the United States.

Hind Louali mentions how being bilingual can be advantageous for the career

Being bilingual can be a valuable asset both in the career and personal life of a person. Bilingual employees are in high demand in the current landscape and they have a number of advantages over monolingual employees.

Here are a few reasons why being bilingual can be advantageous for the career:

• Access to more than one culture’s ideas and points of view: According to certain studies, the language spoken by a person can impact their thought process and frame of mind directly. Hence, the more languages one can speak, the more perspectives one can access and understand. People who can communicate in more than one language usually have a better understanding of the cultural perspectives of diverse speakers and can better relate to them. This makes bilingual individuals a valuable asset for companies across several verticals. These individuals especially can find lucrative opportunities in firms that focus on creating memorable and lasting customer engagements, and have plans to expand into new markets. 
• Communicate with a larger number of people: The language skills of bilingual or multilingual individuals help their companies to reach customers in new and previously untapped markets, and create valuable business relationships.
• Be a better communicator: The mind of a bilingual person can understand ideas and values in more than one language. Hence, they are often better learners and communicators than monolingual individuals.  Today effective communication is critical for success in almost every field. Hence, communicating effectively and efficiently in multiple languages can be a huge help in a person’s career.
• Demand in a variety of fields: As globalization is progressing at a rapid pace owing to various advances in technology, being bilingual can provide individuals with an advantageous competitive edge. Bilingual individuals especially can find a wealth of lucrative opportunities in fields like customer service, IT healthcare, and hospitality.
• Opportunities to work abroad: Bilingual employees often get more opportunities to work abroad, as they can communicate with people from different countries. This can be a great way to gain international experience and to advance one’s career. People should especially try to learn languages that have a high number of speakers across the world, like French or Spanish.

Hind Louali mentions that due to the increasing demand for bilingual and multilingual speakers in the job market, it becomes prudent for people to invest in their language skills. Moreover, people must list all of the languages they speak fluently on their resume. This will increase the odds of their resume catching the eyes of the employers.