Posts Tagged ‘corporate’

Career progression with languages

Friday, April 19th, 2013

This week Samantha Judd, Director of the Multilingual & Corporate Services team talks about languages and job opportunities. 

 

Today more of the world’s population is bilingual or multilingual than monolingual, and research in 2012 has confirmed that if you do speak more than one language, you are likely to be smarter than your monolingual counterpart.   Research showed that bilingualism helps develop the attention span and task switching functionality and thus linguists are afforded flexibility of thought and the ability to cope with change; both huge advantages in the work landscape of 2013.  Cognitive benefits have been identified in young children as their ability to adapt to change affords them greater confidence and security,  and in older people evidence shows a less rapid decline in cognitive functions during ageing.

Multilingualism and multiculturalism naturally enhances individuals opportunities in the work place.  Not only are they likely to be smarter, more confident and resilient to change,  the globalised nature of work is clear for all to see.   The evidence presents itself to us daily through the brands and logos which appear in all corners of the world and confirm that we are all consumers regardless of geography, language and culture.

Multi-national organisations invest significant amounts into localising their products and marketing messages to engage local markets both linguistically and culturally.  Additionally, the rise of social media is significant to brand capital and communication of brand values; linguists are in demand to ensure the Anglophone focussed business communication does not misinterpret, insult or ridicule the product or service locally.   Localised digital content should not only be linguistically accurate but culturally “in & of the moment” and the value of this should not be underestimated.

Korn Ferry research from a poll conducted by 12,500 visitors to their website suggested that bilingualism is already a significant hiring factor in senior roles with this demand expected to continue to increase.

At boycerecruitment we believe that the difference to our candidate’s opportunities of multilingualism is shown in later career rather than in the early days. Multilingualism will advantage you against your co- workers as the cognitive, personality and social benefits allow you to progress; you become more promotable and hence increase your earning potential.

Do multilingual individuals earn more money ?   As far as I am aware no specific research has been conducted in the UK on this, however an article in NY Times in 2012 suggested that the advantages to human capital gained from multilingualism would enable greater opportunities for career advancement.  This coupled with the cognitive benefits would allow individuals a greater amount of time to continue to work at reach the top level and thus enable more income producing years.

I am not bilingual but I would like to be.  Working in multilingual recruitment for over 20 years has allowed me to clearly see and track the benefits that have been presented to my colleagues, candidates and clients.  My advice to anyone looking for work with languages is to focus on the actual content of the job role and ensure that it is something that would challenge you regardless of how much language use there is initially.  I do however stress to candidates that multilingualism should be cherished and that it will pay dividends in later career.  There is always a chance to  promote your linguistic ability by communicating socially with colleagues & friends, offering help on global projects wherever needed or liaising with overseas offices.   It is never too late to start, so if speaking another language has always been a dream go for it; the health, career and social benefits will be an investment that you will not regret.

Become part of the Financial legacy

Tuesday, October 9th, 2012

 

  The financial services sector continues to battle against  the enormous stigma of being untrustworthy to its customers as well as an unreliable, disconnected employer. Customer confidence, remains at an all-time low and the industry recognises that its attempts to rebuild bridges with customers and account holders have not necessarily been working.

Annual cuts in investment for growth by the industry has been detrimental to suppliers with many businesses finding margins squeezed and contracts shortened. This has been very difficult for suppliers to the financial services sector and in turn has knocked the confidence out of the overall London job market.

Until recently, many skilled job seekers have purposefully chosen not to work in the financial services sector for the very reasons mentioned above, however, we have noticed a number of changes happening in this sector and hopefully, the building of confidence  in the sector as an appealing place to work . The reasons for this can be attributed to an increase in efforts to rebuild financial brands and determine how to win back customers and consumer confidence.

In additional new personal finance offerings from companies with no baggage or stigma attached, for example, Tesco, Waitrose and Marks and Spencer, as well as advances in technology and 100% online financial services providers, means that the traditional banks face new challenges in how to work in a market where local walk in branches are not needed as much as they once were.  

There has been a much more steady investment in market research and marketing as a whole  to raise the profile of the sector as a trusted service by establishing what consumers are thinking and what drives them to make decision. Investments in marketing communications have increased as the fight to raise brand perception with internal and external stakeholders becomes ever more aggressive. Organisations are working harder in an effort to retain and increase their customer base by building much closer relationships with the people that count.

One may argue that despite the difficulties the sector faces, there has never been a more interesting time to work in this sector. In what has for many years now, been viewed as a damaged, traditional industry, banks are being much more proactive now in maintaining customer engagement and deploying new techniques to maintain their competitiveness.   Many skilled marketing professionals want to be a part of this legacy and thrive on the challenge to raise the confidence and brand perception of the sector.

Future growth

Monday, December 5th, 2011

 

What 2012 will bring in terms of job confidence is uncertain but is certain is that next year ain’t going to be easy times for some industry sectors. Businesses are constantly looking to review and revalue their assets including their employees to ensure that they are getting the most value for their business.

 

There are still however some really exciting growth areas, within the London media / broadcast sector there will be an increase in VOD specialists as the DVD market gradually loses its place in the home.

 

Within market research we have seen some interesting roles arise within the FMCG retail market. There is so much pressure on consumer related industries to analyse and use market research to examine their market and understand how to make better decisions in order to beat their competitors in what has been, in many ways, a retracting market. The internet has hit retailers dramatically and larger stores have been aggressive in trying to win as much customer loyalty as possible.

 

On the corporate and support team we have seen an increase recently in sales roles, and also client services or account management positions. Roles which are revenue related , even if they are not solely focused on bringing in new business , are critical to making sure customers stay with us . It is really important to be able to justify revenues. We have met with some really talented people recently who have been great at generating new business. They are however always looking to join a business which is constantly evolving and innovating as now is the time for many to use their skills in a role they feel truly passionate about.