<p>Over the last few months on CC I have been reading posts about the trials and tribulations of rising college seniors and recent grads in getting that first paying job after college.</p>
<p>I have read numerous posts about first jobs that have been secured right out of college for work outside of the USA. My college senior S's college foreign language is Mandrian Chinese and he has a job lined up in Taipei.</p>
<p>To what extent has your student's choice of college foreign language helped in securing employment?</p>
<p>One of my kids chose to take French all four years of college even though foreign language is not a requirement at her college (and she also knows basic Italian after a semester abroad with that language). She is fluent in French. </p>
<p>She has held five jobs in Europe. Some were in summers and two were this year (a year in between grad schools) and definitely the ability to speak and write French was a contributing factor in her jobs (four of which were in her field…architecture). She would not have been hired at them without being able to speak French. Her being able to speak another language has come in useful for jobs and also simply travel and living overseas.</p>
<p>Son has been using his Spanish in Madrid every day for his job since 2003. In the summer he is transferring to Valencia, and my daughter has been offered his job in Madrid. She finishes UG in May, but has not yet decided to take the job, as she has more offers over there than just the one. She also reads/writes/speaks French.</p>
<p>Our son graduated in engineering last May and works for an engineering consulting firm overseas. Fluency in Portuguese is required for his position.</p>
<p>Clearly it depends on the degree of fluency achieved and whether the applicant is looking at jobs with overseas postings and/or clientele or employees where the language will be of use.</p>
<p>My S took Spanish for 3 years in college, after 4 hs years and some middle school years (even “took” it in pre-school, lol). However, he was not fluent. Could have been, but didn’t use it enough.</p>
<p>He put it on his resume under skills - I forget the wording but not indicating fluency, something like “conversant in Spanish.” I don’t think it was a factor in his hiring - two job offers out of college (Electrical Engineering). </p>
<p>But I think it is a good thing and hope he will use it, so as not to lose it and maybe gain fluency.</p>
<p>I have one daughter minoring in Chinese and one planning to minor in French. The Mandarin Chinese is a start from scratch at college work in progress - the minor in French will be the continuation of 4 solid years in high school. Both are hoping for the kind of work and travel abroad opportunities mentioned above - both are business majors (supply chain and marketing).</p>
<p>It seems there is a growing interest in study abroad during college but I wonder if that is the “light” alternative to actually learning a language with a degree of fluency. I think it’s unfortunate that there is such variation in quality among high school and middle school language programs; at my daughters school there was a solid emphasis on foreign language (it was required every year of middle and high school, beginning with middle school Latin and a large number of their graduates are continuing with or beginning a new language in college. </p>
<p>OP - what kind of work will your son be doing in Taipei?</p>
<p>My older one is fluent in Italian (started from scratch in college, and had a very intense year abroad in Italy where they were forbidden to speak English and all classes were conducted in Italian.) When she applied to grad. school, that’s what made the difference. (She also has French and some German).</p>
<p>My younger one has Spanish and Arabic, and has spent time working in Jordan. When she applied for jobs in international accounting/consulting, people sit up and take notice (and has yet to be turned down for a job or internship - the biggest problem is choosing.)</p>
<p>My son starts a job tomorrow here in the US part time while going to college. He got that job because of his German classes in H.S. and his goal in college of becoming fluent. They needed someone with basic German knowledge since the company is German. He’s majoring in economics and international affairs. The languages he is learning as part of his college education will definitely be needed for getting a job.<br>
Having said this, his school is recommending that every student (especially the engineers) spend a semester or more abroad and they are doing everything they can to encourage the students. The economy today is global and the bigger the company, the more global they are. Students with basics in other languages definitely have an edge.</p>
<p>My brother and I both speak fluent German, and I speak fluent Spanish as well, along with some French and Russia. In his experience, German has opened doors career-wise, and it’s been what has gotten me into college. So I would say the more the merrier! That might just be me though - I’m one of those people who loves learning languages.</p>
<p>One of my Chinese relatives (from Shanghai) told me that Chinese parents there are currently more interested in their children learning French - I was surprised, perhaps they are just bored by all studying English alone? Her daughter is only in 5th grade, so maybe this is a new trend, a passing fad…anyone hear similar reports?</p>
<p>My youngest loves French - in her 4th year at HS - but I did not think of it as a big plus in hiring per se, more of an intellectual cultural plus.</p>