18 High-paying and Dream Foreign Language Jobs

The career opportunities and job prospects are the most-sought after reason to learn any foreign language in India. In this article, we will cover 18 Dream, Coolest and High Paying Foreign language Jobs in India and abroad.

Introduction

Why choose a career in foreign languages of all the options? Well, there are myriads of benefit of learning a foreign language. Knowing a foreign language can help you in many aspects of your life — Whether its for professional, or you are planning a vacation abroad, social or personal reasons, or just want to add diversity to your resume, learning at least one foreign language is a must for anyone that wants to keep his or her head up high in the 21st century.

The importance of foreign language is greater today than ever. There are multiple reasons that should turn you towards learning a foreign language in India. Career options and professional requirement are one of the most important motivators that spur people to learn a different language thanks to ever-growing foreign language jobs across the country.

With globalization at its height, Many professions require the knowledge of at least one or two foreign languages, depending on the nature and requirement of the job. If you’re not sure whether to learn one of the Top 10 foreign languages or not so popular languages, you can read which foreign language is in demand in India. You may also like to read French Vs Spanish Vs German, Mandarin Vs Japanese Vs Korean or Spanish or French?

While some people have a passion for learning a new language, most other people do so because they feel it can be the Moses that will get them to their dreamland of employment and wealth, which is cool, by the way. Who doesn’t want to do well in life?

18 Dream jobs you can get by learning a new language

So, if you’re one of the language learners interested in joining the career prospects ship, here are 18 dream, interesting, and high-paying foreign language jobs you can get by learning a foreign language.

1. A Career as a Translator

If working with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo or Miss World isn’t your cup of tea, then working with the language in its written form is probably more your style. The translation is one of the great foreign language jobs you can do even in the privacy of your study room or wherever you find yourself. Translation means rendering a piece of readable text to a particular audience.

Assuming you are a native French speaker who also speaks fluent English, your translation skills would make you the ideal person to translate English into French.

As a translator, you will be responsible for converting thoughts, intent and words into a different language. It is a job you do mostly behind the scene and is very lucrative. For instance, some of the best literature pieces you have read are actually translated from the original language.

Due to language complexity, Machine Translation can never replace human translators. Due to high remuneration, Career as a language translator is one of the most sought-after career options in languages.

2. A Career as an Interpreter

On the other hand, working as an interpreter means acting as the “bridge” between two different languages. Assuming two ambassadors or two managers comes together with the intent to sign some bilateral agreement; since they don’t know each other language, they cannot sign any contract. This is where you come in — to bridge their languages before they can reach an agreement.

Interpreters are found mostly in public events like International conference, sports arenas, company meetings, media houses, tourist centres and organizations, and more; where people may not understand the speaker’s language. The career scope in language interpreter is huge and growing northward.

3. International sales marketing

International sales positions are always open for multilingual job seekers in sectors that produce goods. The reason why this is a dream job is that acting as an international sales marketer for B2B dealings is often challenging, and a majority of the companies/businesses involved knows exactly how cumbersome the negotiating process can be; hence they are always willing to pay big. With your language skills, you can become a strong sales person negotiating deals between cross-border businesses.

In the increasingly globally connected world, there is no far-off place. Many Spanish-speaking countries, French-speaking nations, and Portuguese speaking regions are specifically seeking bilateral cooperation with India. Not only you’ll have plenty of opportunities to travel abroad but the salary is, generally quite good too. The ability to speak a foreign language could open the doors to the career in Export and Import sectors as an International sales marketing.

4. College lecturer / faculty

The demand for multilingual lecturers is increasing every day, due to the surge in the number of people taking language classes each year. As the world becomes more united through globalization spurred on by the introduction of the internet, almost every college now have faculties for different language studies.

And because multilingual skills are not that common, the pay is good, especially if you have a passion for imparting knowledge and skills. Who knows; you can even become the professor of a language faculty, meaning an increase in pay while enjoying what you love doing best.

There’s just one caveat – Eligibility criteria! For permanent University faculty or Lecturer or Assistant professor is quite high, you need MA. in the corresponding language and also must have qualified NET/SET. For any promotion, one needs PhD along with teaching/research experience. The University higher authority can also appoint temporarily for lower pay without these qualifications though higher proficiency with experience is prerequisite. College faculty is one of the several options for a foreign language teacher.

5. Hotel manager

Language skills open a whole world of specialist career path including Career in Travel and Hospitality for language learners. One of the most sought-after skills in the hospitality and tourism industry is multilingual skills. Many businesses in the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sectors are actively in search for skilled language learners whose language skills can assist their foreign customers (travellers) and provide exceptional and customized services.

The only way this is achievable is to have someone who can convincingly manage the situation — someone like a hotel manager proficient in a more than one language.

For instance, Chinese tourists and businesspersons are actively moving all over the world, which has forced most famous and large hotels & suites to look for reliable hotel managers that will ensure their customers are kept satisfied. Now imagine you are the manager of a 5-star Hotel & Suites; it’s like being the manager of a massive bank in Mumbai.

6. Linguistic Tour Guide

Provided your foreign language skills go beyond ‘hello’, nothing is stopping you from landing a lucrative job as a tour guide. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, grants licences to linguistic guides on a regional basis after achieving fluency in one of the many languages such as French, Chinese, Spanish, German, Korean, Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Dutch, Persian, Turkish, and many more.

The tourism industry is vast, and the prospect of a job is almost endless. Acting as a tour guide can be a dream job, especially if you like being active outdoors while reaping big from it. Imagine accompanying a group of people from your home country on a tour to another country whose language you speak, or leading a group of foreign visitors around your country. The result is not only thrilling but also lucrative, whether you are tour guiding at home or abroad.

7. Flight attendant

Providing routine services and responding to emergencies to ensure the safety of airline travellers are some of the unique things flight attendants do. This is another area in the tourism and hospitality industry where language learners can reap big. If the idea of receiving cash for travelling means something useful to you, you should consider being a flight attendant.

Most airline companies are looking for flight attendants who can speak a foreign language. For instance, an airline company shuffling between India and China would want the services of someone who can speak Mandarin.

8. Jobs in Embassies

You really don’t expect someone to be the ambassador and at the same be at the front desk as an attendant to the influx of calls and people coming into the embassy, do you? I don’t think so. There are foreign language jobs in embassy you can do at the embassy with your skills in a foreign language.

You can as well work as a support officer, an administrative specialist, in logistics, an IT professional, a customer executive, and more. Embassies pay well and prestige of working for your country’s or foreign embassy is always one to cherish. In general, qualification and skills other than language are also required.

9. Foreign correspondence (Journalism)

The journalism sector is one of the largest employers of people with language skills. The career scope in this field is extensive, and if you have an interest in travelling all over the world and helping people to tell their story, then the journalism field is where you should be.

The good thing is that you can do this from wherever you are, and your foreign language skills will enable you to get the real stories from people. There is a reason why journalists take the risk to film risky situations; money.

10. Brand specialists

Huge companies like Google or Microsoft are always recruiting brand specialists capable of communicating in foreign markets to assist company clients and customers to enjoy improved services from the company’s products and services.

They usually pay big and is something you can conveniently do. The good thing is that you can do this from anywhere. Who doesn’t want to work for a company like Google?

11. Intelligence operative or Government agencies

Believe me; whether people like it or not, this is something all nations do and is one of the areas national government spends a fortune. So, the pay is always mouth-watering.

With your multilingual skills, you can work as an intelligence officer or just as a supportive linguistic staff or a translator for a government agency and don’t think it always has to be following some ‘enemy’ around. No, of course, there might be fieldwork, but the fact remains that you can work in lots of other positions like in STEM, analysis, support, and more.

While most jobs are offered to the existing government employees in the various department but due to lack of enough language experts, sometimes they do hire on a temporary or contractual basis. With salaries are quite nice, depending on rank, there is always a catch for people with skills in foreign languages.

12. Job in International organisation

The UN is one large organisation with many agencies that operate all over the world. The organisation is always on the lookout for people who can work across various fields, and a lot of that needs people who speak in multiple languages. You’ll find ample amount of foreign language jobs in several organisation.

Places like the WHO, UNESCO, ILO, UNICEF, WWF, WTO, and many more, are paying good money for helping them out to perform their services. If you study a foreign language, you could become a potential employee in one of the prestigious international organization.

13. Recruiter /Human Resource

The human resource department is one that will always attract jobs in all companies, and that includes a catch for people with skills in foreign languages. As companies and their sources of business are increasingly going global by each day passing day, they are also looking for workers all around the world.

From Europe to Asia, and down to South America and to Africa, companies need recruiters who will be able to interact with the employees and recruit the most suitable person for the job needed. There are many Indian and Companies from different part of the world hire recruiters with language skills. Thanks to rapid outsourcing in India, there are tons of jobs in KPO, BPO, and Call centres, there is always a new opportunity.

14. Research Analyst or Field Researcher

Do you have a deep interest in data research? Well, Research analyst might the thing for you. A research analyst is a person responsible for researching, analyzing, interpreting and also the one who prepares investigative reports related to the field they work in for in-house or client use. Being a research analyst, you need to be an expert in a very specific sector or field.

As more and more multinational corporations are coming to India, the opportunities in research analytics for language learner are growing at an unprecedented rate. Since most businesses rely on data about their market and customers to remain competitive, thus the requirement of the research analysts are always in high demand and one of the most desirable jobs.

In general, you’ll usually be required to have a college degree preferably MBA and strong analytical and communication skills. Some research analyst jobs require a high proficiency in a foreign language. Language skills are, of course, are extremely useful for those conducting research in different parts of the world when information that may not be available in English. Knowing a foreign language can definitely give you an upper hand when it comes to various types of jobs for analyst and researcher.

15. Language Blogger and YouTuber

If you have a flair for writing, a passion for languages, and deep knowledge about one or multiple foreign languages, then you can make your career as a blogger. If you’re not camera-shy, you can also have your YouTube channel. There are 3 distinct advantages. First, you’ll be doing what you love i.e. Writing about Languages. Secondly, blogging will enable you to move freely, work from anywhere, anytime and the way how you want. And third, you’ll be also making money.

But how to make money? Well, As a language blogger, you can help your audience to learn a foreign language, sell plenty of products or services, or just make money through advertisement and affiliated links once you start attracting a large number of visitors.

If you’re wondering how I make money? Well, the truth is I don’t. On the contrary, I actually spend a decent amount of money every year just to run this blog smoothly. I make my living by teaching various languages in a few organizations. I started this blog with a sole purpose to share knowledge and provide information regarding different languages. Being a linguist and glossophilia, this blog gives me an outlet for my passion for languages.

Since the success ratio for bloggers especially in India is quite low and most people quit within a year or two, you should only take it as a part-time career. Of all the successful linguist blogger, most are experienced with profound knowledge in languages and of course with awesome writing skills.

Learn languages, find a full-time job, start a blog from the language niche, don’t expect any return for the next 2-3 years. Then once you have a big audience with unique and great content, well – A whole world of opportunities awaits you.

16. Language Corporate Trainer

If you have the knack of teaching a foreign language, a corporate trainer for a foreign language is another high-paying job option for you. Thanks to the infinite opportunities in this field, A foreign language can amp up your desirability — and therefore your pay — in different business or firms, particularly if you speak In-demand or not popular languages. This is my favourite one and that is why I am doing for the past many years.

Today, tons of companies with global footprints look for trainers who can impart foreign language skills to the employees. In addition, you’ll have an opportunity for an on-site job or for dealing with overseas customers. As a result, skilled language trainers are finding their services in higher demand. A career as a language corporate training can be quite rewarding and satisfying. It goes without saying that your communication skills and language fluency should be flawless. The experience in, almost all the foreign language jobs, is prerequisite if you’re applying for such opening.

17. Teaching Abroad as an ESL Teacher

English as a Second Language (ESL), is an English language study program for non-native speakers. English teachers work with non-native to help students learn to speak, read, and write in English. One of the best perks is that many get hired without prior teaching experience and you will able to travel the world while you earn a living.

What can be more exciting than travelling all over the world and meeting people from different part of the globe? Imagine if you Speak near-native French and expert in teaching English, you can find a job in one of the 25 odd francophone countries.

Thanks to the growing opportunity for ESL teacher, The career scope and job prospects in this field continues to be very robust and seamlessly increasing. If you’re looking for a career in ESL, you need at least 3 things.

(i) Degree in English preferably Master degree. (ii) Higher proficiency in the language of the target country. For example, if you are looking to teach English in Spain. You need at least DELE B2 or equivalent fluency of the Spanish Language Proficiency Test, and (iii) Relevant experience and add-on certification in the field of education or teaching is always a great value-add to your C.V.

18. Content Writer and Editor

If you’re looking to enhance your resume, learning a new language might just be the easiest way to stand out from the crowd if you want to become an editor or content writer. They create unique content or sometimes rewrite sentences and paragraphs with the intent to improve the flow, style and overall quality of your writing for the required niche after thorough research within deadlines.

The writer never goes out of style. The content writers have always been in demand from small companies to big MNC. However, with the advent of the internet and technology, the demand for excellent writers have increased manifold. If you’re proficient in any language and a creative thinker who can write well, great opportunities are there for you. Obviously, language skills greatly help the content writer in this field.

Final Words

Several reasons suggest that the knowledge of a foreign language might represent a useful skill in the International job market. While you can benefit from knowing a foreign language with nearly every industry or sector.

Not every job offers high-salary, excitement, thrilling experience, opportunity to travel abroad, flexibility to work anytime and from anywhere, and a platform to use your language skills, but each of these exciting and dream foreign language jobs packs all that into one thrilling and satisfying career path. Living your dream is incredibly beautiful; getting paid handsomely to live your dream is even better.

Read — (i) Language Learning Myths (ii) Cause of Language Learning Failure (iii) Learn the language you love (iv) Best Language Learning Methods (v) Time to Learn a Language.

Do drop in a comment should you have anything to contribute beyond the 18 reasons, or even if you have any question.