Here are the seven important steps to take if you are serious about landing a bilingual job.
1. Assess Your Capabilities
Before going all out looking for a bilingual job, take a pause and honestly rate your skills. Are you a fluent bilingual speaker? Or are you a beginner who knows a few basic words and phrases of another language but can't engage in spontaneous conversation? Most bilingual careers require advanced knowledge of the language, and intermediate speakers would find it hard to cope. Depending on the level of your language skills, identify the niche that you can fill and make sure that you're adequately equipped to do the job well.
2. Prepare a Compelling Resume
Just like in applying for any job, you have to prepare a brief yet powerful resume that outlines your competence and experience as a bilingual worker. List down your previous responsibilities and highlight your accomplishments. Avoid using generalities but explain how you were able to help your former employers grow and operate more efficiently through the work that you do as a bilingual employee. While you're applying for a bilingual job, also remember to highlight your other qualifications.
3. Build a Network That Will Be On the Watch for You
Networking is the key to finding work, so build a support group of friends and associates who can help you spot bilingual job openings. Spread the word that you're on the hunt. Pick your choice from the list of bilingual careers and find out where their practitioners or recruiters hang out so you can be there to meet them and ask for referrals. A good idea to get you noticed is to do volunteer work for multinational cause-oriented groups. Check out non-government organizations which deal with other countries for possible openings. Also sign up for job recruitment agencies, get acquainted with key people in translators' associations, and make some friends in ethnic communities to get important leads on bilingual careers.
4. Identify the Hot Spots for Bilingual Jobs
First, look up companies that hire bilingual staff and see if they have any vacancies. Check out online job sites, the classified sections of newspapers, as well as updates and postings from embassies where job openings are usually posted. The internet alone can get you swamped with a long list of bilingual careers, so it's a good idea to choose the best sources and prospects and concentrate there.
5. Get the Necessary Certificates to Prove Your Competence
If you have taken a formal language course, you have to secure a certificate from the learning institution to prove it. People interested in pursuing Japanese bilingual careers take courses in Nippongo so they can earn a certificate of completion which helps a lot in the application process. Aside from official documents, you should gather positive endorsements and testimonials from former employers. Indeed, the list of bilingual careers comprises positions that require professional training and practice. Having language certificates to show will do wonders for your credibility.
6. Make an Impressive Cover Letter
When you're done with your resume and have prepared a list of target employers, you should sit down and craft an interesting cover letter that demonstrates your skills as a bilingual worker. While you're at it, it is a good idea to write a portion, if not the entire letter, in the foreign language that you're seeking to work with. Of course, you may write it in English; but preparing one in, say, Japanese will no doubt impress a prospective employer and enhance your chances of being hired.
7. Practice Sharpening Your Bilingual Skills
A second language is best honed with daily practice. Make every effort to use your spoken and written skills. Talk to Japanese people in Nippongo if you are eyeing Japanese bilingual careers. Watch Japanese films and cable shows to brush up on your pronunciation and vocabulary. Read Japanese newspapers, paying attention to colloquial phrases. If you do, you'll fit into any one of the list of bilingual careers that are available out there.
When you're serious about bilingual careers and have the skills to excel in them, BilingualCrossing.com can help you. Their list of bilingual careers, among them Japanese bilingual careers from prestigious employers, literally runs in the thousands. Sign up for a FREE trial today!
