In recent years, the Chinese language has become one of the most popular to learn due to the huge variety of opportunities it presents. However, an existing doubting voice also claims that if you don’t work in China or with a Chinese business partner, then there is no good to invest in this difficult language.
The skill of being proficient in the Chinese language can open doors for your future career. Because this specific language skill means you are qualified for a wider range of jobs. Following is the jobs requiring Chinese language skills:
Chinese Instructor: This is the goal that many Mandarin learners often have in mind when they decide to begin their learning journey with the Chinese language. This is a dream job that lets you share your passion and knowledge about the Chinese language and its culture with others. You can fulfill this dream in a high school, community college, or even university. Being proficient in Mandarin Chinese and be well-known about its culture is a must to be qualified for this position.
Because language courses are in such high demand, being a Chinese teacher is a gratifying job. At the same time, this job allows you to share the joy of learning a new language with others.
Research Analyst
Known as the financial analyst, a research analyst is in charge of investigating and reporting to the hiring companies to better help the decision-making process.
When it comes to large companies with competition in countries like China and other Mandarin-speaking nations, having Chinese language skills will be a major plus when investigating information that may not be available in English.
Global Marketing Specialist
There is no doubt that global marketing is becoming more important, especially when products have a worldwide presence. This position shares some similarities with the Research analyst. However, a global marketing specialist will focus more on a particular brand’s presence in other countries, including China.
If an International group is planning to market their product in China, the Chinese language skill is a must for this position. Besides the language skill, of course, it also requires strong marketing, design, administration, and financial skills.
You would have a chance to live and work in China to properly lead the marketing team there, so written and spoken Chinese skills can benefit your working connection there.
Being proficient in a specific language can make daily communication better and your connections with local people.
When it comes to working team and business negotiations, it’s not just based on the language you can speak but also about how much you know about or how well you can understand their culture, habits, and behaviors.
Learning the Chinese language can help you communicate better with your co-workers, so a better-united team can be made. Except for that, it’s also beneficial when related to a business meeting. Chinese people always tend to arrange lots of informal and formal gathering meals and meetings before the final call to build up the trust between two companies.
It might be time-consuming, but that’s the way how Chinese people doing business. One of the key rules for an international company to follow when marketing to different areas with different cultural backgrounds is localization. It cannot succeed if the marketing team doesn’t want to follow it.
The benefits of learning a second—or third, or eighth language—are hardly unique to the tech industry. According to MIT economist Albert Saiz, bilingual workers can earn more than their English-only counterparts, with different premiums for different languages. For example, fluency in Spanish will get you an extra 1.5%, while French is worth 2.3%. German speakers go one better, with a 3.8% bonus that could seriously add up over the course of a career.
Besides the paycheck, chances for working overseas may attract your attention too.
Globalization means that international companies need their products to be equally accessible to speakers of all languages, making translators more important than ever.
That’s just one area of the job market where foreign language skills are a plus. There are plenty of programmers, business development, and customer support jobs where being bilingual is required.
What’s more, as we mentioned in the first part, many overseas jobs require Chinese language skills, and you could be a competitive candidate for these positions armed with your bilingual background.
You may gain the chance to travel abroad—and make a living doing so. If you’ve wanted to travel abroad for years but haven’t had the financial means to do so, you’re in luck. Many of these jobs for Chinese speakers will pay you to work in a Mandarin-speaking country, including China, Malaysia, or Singapore.
Language skills can stand you out from the crowds, for it represents that you’re also capable of dealing with multi-tasks and holding an open mind to things, as well as good qualities such as persistence and discipline. That’s why the second language skill is often well-compensated. Many of these jobs boast a well-paid salary. Even if you aren’t in it for the money, having Chinese as a second language on your resume puts you at an advantage over people with little to no second language skills.
Your Chinese fluency can be improved. It’s hard to become fluent if you don’t live in a Chinese-speaking country or have few Chinese-speaking friends. However, you would pick up the speed and flow of a native speaker at a fast rate when speaking Chinese becomes a must part of your job.
Some jobs value language skills over schooling. Finding a well-paying and rewarding position can be tough without at least four years of college under your belt. While most of these jobs require a bachelor’s degree, some require little to no college or academics. All you need is a high grade on the HSK exam and possibly some high school Chinese course experience.
