Language skills

Learning a language is a valuable life skill and something that studying or working abroad can help you achieve. Linguistic ability plays a key role in eventual employment and is a great way to enhance your career.

By living abroad you will immerse yourself in a language and with a bit of extra study you can quickly pick up conversational elements. If you are completing a course, it may not be taught in English, especially at postgraduate level - you can find out more at UKCISA. However even if your course is taught in English, you can still pick up the language through reading local papers, talking to permanent residents or even taking a short language course.

Graduates are increasingly discovering how competitive the global job market is and many who have studied or worked abroad are finding that their time overseas has given them a unique selling point when applying for a job. More and more frequently companies are hiring candidates who are bilingual. Being proficient in another language is a great skill to demonstrate at the start of your career.

A recent article in the Independent suggests that graduates who can utilise language skills within employment have a higher salary than those that can’t - in some cases the pay gap is as high as twenty percent.

While you are away, try to integrate yourself in the culture and talk to the local people. Enquire at the university if they offer part time language sessions and practice speaking as much as you can. It could also be beneficial to travel to other countries if you have some time off to further boost your language skills.