How to Find Jobs for Non-English Speakers: 14 Bilingual Careers

In today’s job market, speaking a language other than English is a major advantage. Employers need to meet the demand of U.S. residents who don’t speak English, as well as a global business climate.

But finding jobs for non-English speakers or bilingual people can be difficult because you can’t often search by language when browsing jobs ads. Read on to learn how to find jobs for people who don’t speak English or who speak a second language, including the industries and locations with the highest demand for non-English speakers.

Why Jobs for Non-English Speakers Are Becoming More Common

There is a growing need for employees who speak a language other than English. As the number of U.S. residents whose primary language is not English increases, more bilingual employees are needed to meet this demand.

According to the Census Bureau, about 22% of U.S. residents over 5 years old speak a foreign language at home and 8% of people don’t speak English “very well.” This number is significantly higher in some states, for example in California, New Mexico, and Texas. The most common languages spoken in the U.S. other than English include Spanish and Creole (41.7 million speakers), Chinese (3.5 million), French (2.1 million), Tagalog (1.7 million), Vietnamese (1.5 million), Arabic (1.2 million) and Korean (1 million).

At many organizations, workers need to interact with people who speak limited English, like customers, patients, and clients. Many jobs also require frequent contact with residents of other countries. This is especially true for business jobs where you’ll speak with clients and business partners overseas. As a result, there are a large number of jobs where speaking a foreign language is either required or a major advantage. These jobs include everything from entry-level positions to executive jobs.

How to Find Bilingual Jobs and Jobs for Non-English Speakers

Industries and roles where you need to interact with the public are great places to start if you’re looking for jobs where you can flex your foreign language skills. Locations with a larger foreign language-speaking population will also have more job opportunities for non-English speakers. To find jobs where you’ll need to speak a foreign language, start with these industries, jobs, companies, and cities.

Top Industries for Bilingual Careers

You can find jobs for non-English speakers in any industry, but bilingual employees are in higher demand in some than in others. Here are some of the top industries for non-English speakers:

• Healthcare industry: Multilingual workers are vital to the healthcare industry because patients need to understand a doctor’s medical advice along with recommended treatments and procedures before they can consent.
• Business operations: Companies that do business internationally need workers who can effectively make deals, write contracts, create ad campaigns, write marketing material, and more in the relevant language.
• Travel industry: Hotels, transportation, and travel companies often have customers visiting from different countries who might not always be comfortable speaking English.
• Customer service: Customer service departments provide complex instructions that require a detailed understanding of the language being spoken. It’s therefore common for them to offer options for callers to select a different language.

Top Jobs for Non-English Speakers

If you’re looking for a job where you’ll get to speak a second language, start here:

• Tutor: Tutors help students with their classes. They can work at a school, for a private tutoring agency, or be self-employed.
• Teacher: Becoming a teacher specializing in a foreign language, either at a private or public school, or a university, can be a great way to use your language skills.
• Interpreter: Interpreters translate verbal English to other languages, and vice versa, for people with limited English skills. They can work for government agencies and public institutions such as schools and courts. Some private companies also have interpreters on staff, for example health insurance companies.
• Translator: Translators translate written English to other languages, and vice versa. Translators commonly work for government agencies, media companies, the tourism sector, and law firms.
• Speech therapist: Speech therapists help people to pronounce sounds that are fairly unusual in their first language, such as the “th” sound.
• Attorney and paralegal: Law firms help people from different countries attain U.S. residency and citizenship.
• Customer service representative: Customer service reps solve customer problems and answer questions over phone, email, and chat, as well as in person.
• Flight attendant: Flight attendants, especially those working on international routes, meet—and speak with—travelers from all around the world in their job.
• Receptionist: Receptionists work in a variety of settings where they meet both American and foreign non-English speakers, for example at hotels, conferences, trade shows, and office buildings.
• Nurse: Nurses often meet patients who speak different languages, especially in urgent and emergency care settings where patients can’t plan ahead and bring someone who can help with translations.

If you don’t speak much English, it can be even more difficult to find a job. Here are a few jobs to consider:

• Truck driver: As a truck driver, you’ll spend most of the time on the road transporting goods and products, especially if you work as a long-distance driver. Since you won’t need to interact with many people, you can usually get by with limited English.
• Taxi driver or ride-sharing driver: While you’ll need to know a few words to communicate with passengers, you don’t need to be an advanced speaker.
• Computer programmer: Computer programmers need to know some English to code and communicate with colleagues, but most of the work will be in programming languages.
• International business jobs: Many of international business jobs are abroad, but you can also find jobs in the U.S. where you’ll negotiate deals and contracts with foreign clients in your primary language, especially if you’re willing to travel for work.

Top Companies for Bilingual Careers

Some of the best jobs for non-English speakers are at health insurance companies, airlines, and hotel chains. These are some of the largest employers of bilingual speakers that often have jobs for non-English speakers:

• Blue Shield Blue Cross: Blue Shield Blue Cross is one of the largest health insurance companies. It hires translators to communicate with members through the customer service center.
• Humana: Humana is another health insurance company that also has translators on staff to communicate with its customers.
• United Airlines: United Airlines is one of the largest airline companies in the U.S.
• Kaiser Permanente: Kaiser Permanente is a health insurance company that has healthcare facilities around the nation. It has translators to communicate with members in over 150 languages.
• Hilton: One of the largest hotel chains, Hilton often looks for bilingual workers.
• Marriott: Marriott is another large hotel chain that often hires bilingual workers.

Top Cities for Non-English Speakers

Although you can find jobs for non-English speakers anywhere in the U.S., you’re more likely to do so in cities that have large non-English speaking populations. These include:

• Los Angeles, CA
• New York City, NY
• Miami, FL
• Boston, MA
• Dallas, TX
• San Francisco, CA
• Washington, D.C.

How to Market Your Bilingual Skills

When bilingual skills are important to the job, make sure to place your language skills front and center on your resume. Here’s how to include language skills on your resume:

• In a resume summary at the top of your resume.
• In a skills section at the beginning of your resume, before your experience and education. While this section sometimes appears at the end of the resume, including it higher up will make it more visible.
• In the left column in a skills section of a two-column resume. Traditionally, we read from left to right and top to bottom, making the top-left part of your resume a prime spot for skills you want to highlight.

When you include the languages you speak, you should also indicate your skill level. Generally, language skills are divided into beginner, intermediate, advanced, and fluent. Mirroring the same language used in the job ad, as long as you’re truthful, can help your resume pass through applicant tracking software, for example “fluent in verbal and written Korean,” “Spanish-speaking,” “bilingual,” or “intermediate knowledge of colloquial Arabic.”

Use your cover letter to explain your language skills in more detail, for example where and how you learned the language, and how often you use it. Besides your language skills, a deeper understanding of a different culture can be an additional advantage in the job market. If you have personal experience, for example from living abroad, bring that up in your cover letter when you apply for a job, when relevant. This could be an advantage if you’ll primarily work with immigrants from a specific country.

The job interview is another opportunity for you to market your language skills. If the interviewer doesn’t bring them up, mention your language ability as one of your advantages when asked about your skills and what you can bring to the table. While you don’t want to overexaggerate your skills, make sure you don’t downplay them either. Avoid phrases such as “I’m not sure how much I remember,” “it’s been a while,” or “I’m no expert,” as they come off as insecure.

Monster Speaks the Language of Job Search

Find a dictionary for your search for jobs for non-English speakers on Monster. We have the scoop on what your resume needs, how to practice answering interview questions, and more job-hunting advice. Get regular career advice in your inbox when you create a profile, and use your profile to streamline and send your applications to bilingual jobs across industries right here on Monster.