Hi! I am about to finish my master's degree and, as is customary, I find myself in the turmoil of job applications. My aspirations lean towards corporate finance as I have an unyielding passion for it, however, my number crunching abilities are probably not as competitive as the top bracket of applicants. Instead, my natural talent lies in languages; I speak 3 languages fluently (Swedish, English and French) and my Italian is progressing. Peers have also recognised my ability to formulate myself in a compelling way in speech and writing.
Rather than beating myself up over amassing the "wrong" genes from the gene pool, I would like to leverage on my language skills by reaching out to job positions where such talent may be a prerequisite.
Therefore, I'm wondering if you guys could share some advice as to which positions/roles/activities (ex. prospectus/memorandum writing) I could target?
Many thanks in advance for your inputs!
RM at banks including IBs, pays well and great way to network, provided you are polished and decently presentable.
masters in what, please?
Relationship Management? Been reading up on it now and it definitely seems like something that I could try pursuing. Thanks for the tip!
My Masters is in Innovation & Industrial Management. Might sound ambiguous but the lion's share of the degree has covered corporate finance, venture cap and business model designs.
What? Really? Cool. Top 50 school?
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Swedish, Norwegian and Danish are very similar so if you speak one of them you can communicate with the whole region. The advantage you may have by speaking more than one nordic language is marginal in my opinion. And you're right about Benelux, its a terrible shame that after growing up in Belgium I did not learn Dutch.. The issue with international schools is that when you're free to choose which languages to learn at a young age, you tend to go for the ones with the most sex appeal.
I was under the impression that the only PE firm hiring straight out of uni was KKR? Nonetheless, worth a shot! I've had a years worth of frantic cold-calling so that might work in my favour.
Anyway, I will definitely take note of your advice. 2 weeks ago I fell out on the final interview with Bloomberg in London and it was the one finance-oriented firm where I knew I language skills are essential. After that my applications have sort of hit a brick wall so I am tremendously grateful for the advice you and others in this thread are sharing.
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One thousand thanks!
1 Business Fluent or 2 Good Languages (Originally Posted: 09/29/2014)
Hey all,
Just curious what everyone thinks - especially if you are in the industry - If you are living in the US, would you rather be business fluent in one language outside of English or conversational in two?
My thoughts are - you will do business in English because everyone speaks English, and even international interactions will be in English. Thus, it is just the benefit you get from being able to talk to normal people in their native tongue. In my case, in the next few years I could get business fluent in Korean or good in Chinese.
Came up because I speak Korean fairly well and Chinese poorly and have time for a 6-month language-learning trip prior to my job starting next summer and needed to make a decision.
Interested if anyone has had positive experiences either way, or any thoughts.
put 6 obscure languages on your resume to seem smarter. nobody can test you. win
Ha - I changed the post above... it sounded like I was saying I spoke 4 languages - Thanks for the catch
I'd choose fluency in Spanish, but I'm biased, I lived in South Florida and its a huge value add. A lot of jobs there request Spanish and a smaller number Portuguese. I'd recommend Spanish over East Asian languages as it is simpler for a native English speaker to learn and also useful in life. Chinese is sexy now, but it wasn't that long ago that everyone was dying to learn Japanese.
immerse yourself in brazil, not for the language, but for the...well you know.
So basically a six month woman-learning trip. I like your style.
Been there done that.
Generally speaking, I would choose business fluent in one language, but it would depend on the target language. A language such as German, for example, might not be the best choice to learn for business purposes since anyone you would interact with in a business environment (particularly in finance) is going to be fluent in English. Generally speaking, a German would also prefer to speak with a foreigner in English, unless that foreigner's German was very close to native level. I had friend in college who studied German for 4 years, studied abroad for a year in Munich. In terms of day to day life (e.g. ordering food in a restaurant, dry cleaning, etc.) you can speak less than native-level German and people will be willing to speak to you in German, but if you are doing IBD in Frankfurt and your German is less than native, your German colleagues and superiors are probably going to insist, for the sake of efficiency, to communicate in English.
Chinese is an example of a good choice for a business language, not just for the obvious reasons, but also because there would be a lot of opportunities to use Chinese. Sure, CEOs of firms and anyone in investment banking is going to be a fluent English speaker, but once you start going a couple rungs down the ladder to middle managers of subsidiaries, affiliate companies, etc., the level of fluency might drop significantly. Though China boasts that it has more English speakers/learners than the US/UK combined, the average Chinese can barely say hello. College-educated Chinese from Shanghai with an MBA from a Western school. Sure, no problem. High school dropout entrepreneur from Chongqing who has never set foot outside China? It might be a different story.
(also in reply to guyfromct) Thanks - That is what I am currently debating. Situations in life gave me good Korean and enough Chinese to get into trouble - so trying to figure out which is the best investment for the future in the short term. Ultimately, long term, I would like to get somewhere better with both just for personal, outside of work reasons.
But yes, my experience so far has been that unless your language is better than their English, it just makes more sense when it comes to business to use English. That's why I lean towards going with a trip to China (i.e. 2 good languages) - the value add comes outside of business activities and more so with grabbing dinner together or building relationships - and a good portion of Korean businessmen my age are like your German examples.
There was a good thread about learning Chinese a little while ago. http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/learning-chinese-mandarin-vs-russ…
@"SSits" and @"Jamoldo" (and others) had some interesting insight on learning Chinese.
What do you want to do? Given my ethnic and social background, I will NEVER be able to fit into say Chinese culture, because, say, I'm not Chinese. I will not be able to climb any Chinese corporate ladder, no matter what. So being business fluent or even like native won't really matter. Sure it might help you get a job with a Chinese firm (do you even want that?) or some business, but there is most certainly a very thick glass ceiling. Lots of people are ok with that. I am NOT, even if one's chances of moving up are usually small, I hate the fact that ethnicity/national origin is a huge determinant of such a thing, rather than merit, or even politicking.
So what I am saying is I would personally, given who I am and what I like, pick "good at 2 languages." I like to travel a lot, meet different people, interact in different countries as someone who is seen as an outsider but has an understanding of the culture and some clue about how things work. I like variety and the adaptability and flexibility of being able to go/live in to a number of places and hit the ground running. In other words I have no problem playing "foreigner" or preferably "nice and somewhat not too clueless foreigner who's making an effort but knows his limits"
Other friends of mine like to concentrate on one thing or place, so they would choose the one language to be "business fluent in". A friend of mine who is American (like me) speaks incredible Chinese. He started studying with me, and kept at it and has lived in China since 2006 (I left the mainland in 2008). He really likes China and the market and being there.
There is no right or wrong answer, it is your choice of what you want to do with your life and only you can answer that question (it might take you years or decades to figure that out, and that is totally cool and normal).
Good Luck
PS - unless you have some special knack for Chinese, which most don't, your Chinese will most likely not go from "poor" to "good" in 6 months.
Well said - and that is why I think I settled on the 2 languages as well. Even when I was working in Seoul, it was less of "that is a good idea Forrest" and more of a "I can't believe you just said that all in Korean you funny foreigner". So I will always be a foreigner and plan to live in the US anyway. So it seems like the decision is less business focused and more what you want personally. Like you mention, I'm more of a jack of all trades type when it comes to hobbies.
And for Chinese and 6 months - defining "good" as "Can get by without English". It took me 6 months in Korea to get there (can get a phone, housing, order take out, my friend's don't have to speak English), so hoping I can do the same with Chinese. Considering I am at a "I understand the big picture of what my gf and her family/friends are talking about" point, I am hoping that might be possible sans the writing system.
Maybe not, but the goal is to get the feel for grammar/sentence flow/etc while there - you can add vocabulary later, but that "flow" is important in my experience.
Where were you in China? Do you happen to use your Chinese much anymore?
Yeah you can get "flow" in 3 to 6 months and get by, but I think there are a lot more tones and nuances in Chinese than Korean (I could be wrong) so people will drop all kinds of vocab and terms and you'll be lost pretty fast. So much of it is purely character driven rather than an alphabet, so there are a million ways to say things and then they use like these old proverbs and stuff (chengyus)...
I was in Beijing studying full time at a Chinese college in the department of Chinese Language and Culture as a foreign student (many do it). I left in 2008 and now am in HK. I don't use Chinese much for work anymore. When I was green and assessing PE funds, I would try to use it all the time to impress people and bond with them. Besides some people giving me fake or genuine compliments, most became more wary of me. So I dropped it and just pretended to be "dumb foreign money" to lots of business people. It's amazing the stuff people say in front of your face or about you when they think you don't have a clue/understand. I also use it on DD trips to charm members of portfolio company management. Not the CEO/CFO who are well trained, but like the number 5 guy who is stoked to be talking to some foreigner in Chinese since he's like a Tier 3/4 city dude. That's the guy that's going to be unscripted and tell you a lot. So I use it for that from time to time. I also use it to get around in China/Taiwan when doing basic stuff (banks, ordering food etc), when traveling for fun or work.
Ha - that is so true about what people say in front of you... good fun right there.
I'm probably shooting for outside of Beijing and am looking for somewhere without too many foreigners. But we will see - girlfriend is from the South, but I need somewhere that still speaks mainly Mandarin.
And yeah - I will have to see how Chinese is compared to Korean. People I know who speak both say there is a wall in Chinese at the beginning (characters, tones, homophones) and then it gets better where as Korean is easy to get into but then you hit a wall (cultural stuff, Korean Chengyus, speech levels etc). I like to think I'll get somewhere in 6 months and every language has things that are hard/easy. I will have to let you know. I prefer to set goals to high and not reach them anyway.
Fortunately, Korean stole a bunch of Chinese words ( tushuguan -> doseogwan, yundong -> undong), but should be an interesting experience.
Thanks for all the advice!
Anytime - that's why I am here...
Native Korean/Japanese speakers definitely find Chinese easier than say, French, at least my classmates from JP/KR said so!
In Beijing you can't go wrong. Even in Chaoyang CBD or whatever, everyone still speaks Chinese, unlike say in parts of Shanghai where even waitresses in bars/restaurants can speak a fair bit of English since the clientele is all foreign. I loved where I lived in Haidian/Xicheng, it could be a schlep to good non-Chinese food, but it was much cheaper, the facilities fine and everyone around me Chinese. Even in parts where people speak English, you'll see lots of locals still speak to you in Chinese since they, in my humble opinion seem "more proud" of Chinese and being Chinese and from or in Beijing. My much more limited interactions in Shanghai peg it as a much more commercial city so its more international and people will use more English. If you happen to speak Shanghainese dialect however...
Beijing is an incredible city in so many ways (it's not an easy city in which to live, however), so enjoy it! If you have the money, definitely use cabs and speak to cabbies. Colorful guys who have lots of great stories and opinions. A great way to learn Chinese, though you'll pick up the local "r-hua" (I'm a fan, Southern Chinese GF might not be)
Ha! No she is not a fan of the "r-hua" - Whenever I suggest I would go anywhere northern, she explains to me why the northern pronunciation is actually wrong and sounds horrible - how the Southern language is actually the real Chinese language that China should use (Nanjing being the old capital).
The problem is costs of living/schools in Beijing - I graduate in December and honestly am a bit of a poor college kid basically - probably going to borrow to make the trip work and then pay it back after getting the relocation bonus. However, I'll have to look at costs in Haidian/Xicheng. Still have about a month or so, so still planning it. So also looking at places like Harbin, Shenyang (cold...), Kunming, Nanjing.
And yes - my Japanese friends in Korean just killed us white people in Korean... Japanese and Korean share almost identical grammar structures and share so many words because they both took them from Chinese. Chinese students did pretty well too with vocab but were like English speakers when it came to picking up the grammar. Lots of Chinese students come to Korea and learn Korean just so they can attend a better Korean university - which is funny when you think most Americans can't even fathom learning another language. Chinese students just take it as a matter of fact that they can learn it in 2 years to a point they can attend university - Crazy.
Watch what happens in Hong Kong first. I think that could influence your decision.
I think it would be nice to be fluent. Anyone can be decent but I think the true (business) fluency would be empowering.
I'm in a similar boat. Native English speaker with financial proficiency in Spanish.
I've gotten mixed reviews. Some MDs tell me that I'll never use my Spanish since everyone speaks and does business in English. I know of others who have used their language skills when making pitches to foreign clients. I guess it can be hit or miss depending on your niche in the industry.
From my experience with finance in two language, you need to be more than conversational with the language before it can be beneficial in the workplace, thus I would try to be business fluent in one instead of just conversational in two.
Best of luck!
Mandarin would be clutch.
Languages in Business (Originally Posted: 02/03/2011)
In a little bit of a situation and need some advice. Which of these languages, if any, would be the most useful, long term, for a career in business in general (read: not necessarily ibanking, consulting, etc.)
Arabic, Pashto, Farsi, or Russian.
Thanks in advance.
Edit: Assume fluency in the language you select.
Arabic- Should be the offical MENA language. Pashto- Do you intend for the Taliban? I doubt it's the official of any nation aside from Afghanistan. Farsi- I don't see much potential in Iran. Russian- a BRIC language.
I'd stick with Arabic or Russian.
Spot on. I would also look at Spanish and Portuguese.
You won't be able to become proficient in a language to conduct business in it.
Wrong, if you knew the situation, you would know how wrong you are. Stick to the topic, dick.
This just makes you look foolish.
Clearly you'd like to be a spy one day...
Russian is my vote
I know this wasn't part of the question, I hear Russian is a complete and utter bitch to learn.
Russian and Arabic would seem like the two most practical choices though.
Im russian been here since 4 im taking it now( a class for heritage speakers to learn to read &write) pizdets that shit is harder than any other class ive ever taken ex-there are words that are spelled the same but have different signs on top- one means to write the other to piss-no joke Cyrillic is a beatchhh might as well take chinese
pisati vs. pišati...don't mix 'em up
like arabic was that easy to learn. both will take you a long time to pick up and it will take ages until you are able to conduct business in them. you need to spend some time in the countries, at least a year if not more to even have a slight chance to be business proficient.
Agree with all posters above that said Russian is a very tough language to learn. Know nothing about Arabic, though I would think it is slightly more likely to be useful.
Arabic. Definitely. Russian would undoubtedly be useful, too, but I'd go with Arabic.
Depending on your target industry or future work location, I'd vote for Arabic, Russian, German and Portuguese.
If you want to reach near native fluency in any of those languages, you will need
If you want to reach near native fluency in any of those languages, you will need
1- A true interest in the language and the culture that is associated to it. 2- Cultural immersion. 3- Patience.
I would advise you against learning a language for the mere fact that you want to do business in that language. I might be wrong but I believe that you must have some sort of interest in the cultures that share the language of your choice besides your desire to use it for business transactions.
If you want to learn Russian and Arabic, you must be willing to live in Russia or an Arabic speaking country for at least two years to immerse yourself in the local culture and to polish your knowledge of those languages. Being able to converse in the language of your business partner might not be enough to help you close a deal. Cultural immersion is great because when you are negotiating with foreigners, the gestures, and the actions of the parties that are involved in the negotiation might have stronger impacts than the words they use. Knowing and the understanding the cultural background of your business partners might help you prepare a more convincing negotiation pitch.
Be wise in how you decide to learn a language because sometimes when a foreigner try to impress a local with his language skills, he ends up looking like a fool because he is either not as fluent as he pretend to be or he doesn’t get some cultural hints.
If you want to learn russian just come on down to Brighton Beach boyyye Take the B, Q or F and ask for a internship at one of the supermarkets lol..... the mexicans can even talk russian
Definitely Arabic or Russian. I'd take Arabic though (dismiss the bias haha). Although Arabic is unbelievably difficult to be fluent in (I'm a native Arabic speaker and I still screw up when writing reports or using formal arabic), it will definitely be a plus should you choose to work in the Gulf region.
And relax, you don't NEED to know arabic to find a gig here. About half the staff at largest IB in the region doesn't speak arabic, or speaks it at a very very basic level (like, not at work!). All business is conducted in english, pretty much. Arabic is used when dealing with the government, primarily (in Saudi Arabia atleast).
I hope I cleared things up for you.
I already know Russian, but I can't imagine learning it from scratch.
Arabic would probably be more useful than Russian, but those are definitely the top two. I had to learn somewhat conversational arabic for a short period of time and it seemed to come relatively easy. I have heard the exact opposite for Russian, as mentioned above by almost everyone. Although it would take a long time to become business proficient in a language, I'm sure it can be done. Having the ability to submerse yourself in the language by living in the country would definitely help.
I'm fairly proficient in Arabic and it took me roughly 2 years to pick up. Seriously, there are only three Arabic words that one needs to know: 1- "Ki-fuck" / "Kaif Halak" 2- "Inshallah" 3- "Kos Omak" I'm planning to take some Mandarin courses starting next semester.
If I remember correctly from my time in the middle east, 3 refers to having sex with someone's mother, although I remember it being more along the lines of kis umik...
@ArbitRAGE: You seem to hang around the mediterranean crowd too much. They won't do you any good. If you want to be really good in Arabic, you need to find a native Arabic teacher. Although I do not recommend being taught Arabic by Egyptians and Palestinians (their accents are..erm, looked down upon you could say).
haha, I spent some of my high school years in Dubai, and many of my buddies were of Lebanese and Syrian descent (gotta love their food).
I found it surprisingly easy to learn a substantial part of Arabic- it literally took me about 3 days to learn how to read. And spot on, my arabic teacher was Egyptian.
Portuguese and Spanish
Unfortunately, not among my choices. Portugese would have been a no brainer
Is language proficiency important in job searching? (Originally Posted: 01/29/2013)
guys, I'm one of the foreigners who are willing to get in to IB in Wall st. I know it may sound weird to u: why not choosing a job in my country instead? Well, it seems very very obvious that NY is the center of world's financial activities and I've been interested in how firms make themselves bigger by merging with others since young. But there comes the big problem: Since English is not my mother tong, i'm not that fluent in English, especially in speaking. It may sound a bit flaunting but i'm kind of confident at my financial talents. Although I will continue sticking with English for my last days in univ, it is clear that i will not make it to u guys' fluency level. Will it be hard for me though I have a strong will and financial talent?
All i can say that i once applied for a position at wallstreet together with another guy of my BS.
my marks were wayy better than his, but he spoke fluently: german,french,italian and english i do only speak german and english at a fluent level.
he made it, i didnt
Yikes, I'm always jealous of them multilingual Europeans
Unfortunately, I think it will be a big problem if your spoken English is poor... but hopefully you can keep practicing and bring your skill up to an acceptable level.
"I can swing my stick and hit a smart person. I made this position deliberately for you since you can speak English." ~CIO of JPMs Private Bank
No idea if this is true... Just another thread from another guy. Here's the link. https://www.quantnet.com/threads/i-can-swing-my-stick-and-hit-a-smart-p…
I listen to guys on conference calls all the time with weak english, it's important yes, insurmountable: no. You've got to be talented at everything else and also work on speaking/writing. Because it doesn't matter how brilliant you are if no one can understand you.
@Won Jun: Overpaid_overworked's comment on conference call reminds me of something. You need to differentiate between "speaking English with a(n) (somewhat heavy) accent" and "weak English". I've met many fluent non-native English speakers who just happen to have an accent because, well, they're non-native speakers. This doesn't affect their ability one bit (because they still write perfect business presentations/emails) and present in a polished way. Also, most Americans I work with tend to have high tolerance for foreign accents (maybe because they're used to working in an international workplace). So unless you sound completely fobby (which I don't think is the case since you've implied that you go to a US college), don't sell yourself too short.
And if it makes you feel any better, I once interviewed with a MBB partner whose accent is so thick, I keep asking him to repeat himself (and I felt extremely rude and uncomfortable doing so I had to lie that I went swimming the week before and my ears were still full of water).
Last point, be careful when you say you're confident of your "financial talents". Technical knowledge is almost a given these days because everyone else is super super prepared. Keep practicing and hustling and if you are indeed highly competent, the market will pick you up!
Wow I'm really touched with comments from all of u guys and wanna thanks expecially to Quarterlife :) I won't forget your valuable words. thx guys!
actually, i know some chinese guys that work in paris without speaking french fluently. At the end, it really comes down in which department you work i guess. Your written english seems fine, so your problem will be the oral communication. If you dont need to work (for some time) in a position that requires super good oral communication skills, then you shouldnt be scared away, in my opinion.
this was a double post - pls delete
I am fluent in 7 languages, what is a job that takes advantage of this (Originally Posted: 03/09/2012)
Highly skilled in economics (& game theory) Highly skilled in finance (& great experience) Can fluently speak English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese and Korean
What field of Business/Finance should a person with these skills go into to take advantage of his abilities?
Hedge fund. Make 1 million dollars a day.
High school teacher?
Those are some lame skillz. The average superhero has far superior skillz and none of them have broken into IB
Receptionist.
Hahaha!!!
"Highly skilled in economics (& game theory) Highly skilled in finance (& great experience)"
Just write that on your resume and you're in like Donkey Kong.
Sandwich maker.
I think the proper title is "sandwich engineer"
NYC cab driver.
Diplomat
Eavesdropper for 3 letter government group. Prince. Diplomat. International assassin. Multi lingual financial book interpreter. Contract interpreter for business executive.
Subway calls its sandiwch makers sandwich artists.
lawn mower
soil relocation engineer
UN translator
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373926/
you forgot to mention you can suck your own dick too
You could probably do just about anything you want.
Your new business card (of course you're going to need a watermark):
Ahpatsum: International Gigolo
I'd try to break in any company that do business overseas.
Take whatever position they give you and from there you can rank up by utilizing your language skills.
Or you can simply work for an intelligence agency. They're always looking for people who speak different foreign languages. Right now, for the CIA/NSA and all the others, if you speak Arabic & Farsi, you should be in, lol.
Good luck.
Translator
Professional faggot.
International Private Banker
How about a think tank, but a big one like Council on Foreign Relations and then go to HBS for your MBA and then idk
State Department
Do MC somewhere you can actually put those skills to good use.
Petroleum Transfer Technician
if you went to a good school and have good grades, sales, principal investing, or private equity in Europe
Language Skills? (Originally Posted: 05/06/2011)
Hey everyone, I'm going to graduate from undergrad in another 6 months. I'm not from an ivy league, but I'm fluent in chinese and know progamming in R. Did accounting for a lawyer and research for prof for 1-2 yrs. GPA: 3.5/4 What is my best bet in getting decent paying a job. Should I go for mutual fund/investment banking/AM/etc?
what...?
You need to provide some more info. What do you want to do?
There is no straight answer for your "best bet" in getting a job.
Language (Originally Posted: 07/13/2007)
Since I am going back to MBA, I want to take a language. Any ideas on which language will pay off? Debating between Spanish, Russian, Arabic, or German, or Hindi (the last two just cuz Ive had some exposure to them already)
Just no question
My kids are going to learn it...
Yeah, I was considering that but I just have no interest in that language. I'm still deciding. BTW, whats your background? Are you sales or trading? which product? if you want i can pm you
Don't even think about Hindi. I've had tons of experience around indian ppl. Couple of things that I learned from them:
1) Learning Hindi will not set you apart. If they want someone fluent in Hindi and English (and cheap), they'll get an MBA student from a top Indian B-school. 2) If they want someone like that in the States, they can get an Indian-American. Most of them have been speaking Hindi or another language at home their whole life. And they tend to get professional degrees as well. They have enough competition amongst themselves. 3) Business ppl in India, even the peons, understand English. No need to learn their own language. 4) In places like Bangalore (sp?), regional language might be more important than Hindi. 5) Hindi's just too hard to learn in your 20's.
I'd go with Chinese. Even in my MBA program (2nd tier: ranked 15-25), I saw many seasoned Chinese and Korean professionals who had problems with English. From what I've heard from them, fluency in Chinese can help if you're interested in going to HK or something.
that I am an Indian American. But your points about Hindi still hold true. I speak a regional language which happens to be the main one (apart from Hindi) in Mumbai. I can understand a bit of Hindi.
Your #1 is dead on. Unfortunately, I've found the same applies to individuals who want to learn "Chinese", usually Mandarin or Cantonese. Learning to speak a language, also entails understanding and becoming comfortable with the culture as well.
If you're doing it for business conversational reasons and really want to learn it, then learn it. If not, just know that unless you absolutely enjoy the culture and speaking the language as well, you're probably wasting your time.
Just in order:
Spanish: Simple fact is while a lot of people speak spanish most of them are not afluent - anyone worth speaking to speaks English
German: Richer but even more so anyone worth speaking to speaks English - plus I think it sounds horrible
Russian: I just got back from Moscow. Oh my god. Its like a Victoria's secret fashion show everywhere- I've never seen such talent! None of them speak English though - learn it and find a wife, I'm only half joking....
Arabic: Can really set you apart, a friend studied it (and lived over there) at a crap uni and has job offers coming out of his ears (banks, law firms, just in general) - demand for Arabic speakers who, and I mean this in the kindest possible sense, can be trusted is huge - plus I almost guarantee MI5/the CIA/FSB will want to hire you...
Hindi: Any educated Indian speaks english - probably better than you as well.....
The general problem with any given language is some native will speak it and English perfectly - and better than you ever will
Spanish-I'll probably be in EM so this might still help me. But if they speak English, why bother, you're right.
German-just lots of potential buyers out there from what I've heard
Arabic-dont know how useful for S&T...my fear is then I'll just be pinned to go to the Middle East..
Hindi-you're correct
Russian-like Spanish, am considering it for EM.
if u want to trade no one cares, u just have to know how to say buy and sell...
Growth in Latin America is huge, so I think Latin would be your best bet.
Cheers!
No one speaks Latin. It is a dead language.
speak for yourself. Rident stolidi verba latina.
Hahahahhaa. Tres witty BSD. Tres witty.
Was told by my boss that my ability on conversational German is going to be really useful when I start on the desk. I told him I can't speak business German, and he said, "If you can say 'hello,' that's going to great."
Second learning Latin. Very useful. Emerging Trade routes through the Mediterranean markets and all.
I can't weigh in on the growth potential of various markets, but don't discount the value of being an 'insider'. Sure most business people speak English well, but what about relationships? Drinks or dinner after work? If you become fluent enough to hang out and make friends, that's huge. Admittedly, the relationship aspect might not be as relevant in an analyst role
Also, re: span/portuguese. "Spanish: Simple fact is while a lot of people speak spanish most of them are not afluent - anyone worth speaking to speaks English"
yes and no. Sure, the immigrant population varies socioeconomically. However, among latin americans here to work or study in banking/business, they are often an affluent , well-connected group, and your interest in their culture and language is much appreciated.
Then again, those are common languages and won't REALLY set you apart
Redacted
1.3 billion people don't seem to think so - try harder...
When do you plan on studying this language? As far as I was aware, MBA programs didn't really have space for any extensive language training.
As 1st year is pretty structured. I don't need to be an expert at it, just take a 101 class to be able to say "hi" etc....
Right, but it is about going from one system to another. There aren't 1.3 billion people in China who can speak English. If it is late in your life and you're looking for something that you can learn more quickly, stick to a European language. Hindi's fun but you don't really need it for business at all.
it was a joke...
The most educated of native Chinese speakers (mandarin or cantonese) still need dictionaries with them when they read the newspaper.
They learn the most common 100-150 characters, but still need to look everything else up in regards to news, business, science publications, etc.
They should make the full shift to pinyin. Seriously.
Good luck.
what about Russian?
Multiple Languages (Originally Posted: 07/11/2008)
Hey guys, right now I know Hebrew and Farsi. I was wondering if I also learned Arabic, would this give me an edge in terms of recruitment? Thanks
my guess is that it could be a talking point/something to make you more interesting, but I wouldn't think that it would give you a significant advantage unless you plan on working in Saudi Arabia.
i think more context is needed here. are you applying to EMEA positions? do you want to work in that part of the world? those are things that can give you an advantage. but if you're applying for S job that doesn't require any knowledge of the arab world, then the above poster is on the right track.
In the EMEA region that would be a significant advantage.
Well, I wouldnt mind working in the Middle East. I am going to be a Junior this year. Would I be able to apply to BB investment banking jobs in the Middle East through my school?
Unless you are already studying it as part of your degree there's no way you will learn it by the time you apply for full time jobs. Banks are only interested if you can speak a language fluently, well at the very least to a business level. That said if you managed to learn it then yes it would give you an advantage when applying assuming its London or the middle east.
Well I am fluent in Farsi and Hebrew. I knew those languages before I learned English. I already know how to read Arabic as it is the same thing as Farsi, and I have been learning it for 2-3 months now. I think by Senior year or the end of Senior year I should be pretty fluent in it.
But now my question is, How do I apply to jobs in the Middle East. I go to NYU-Stern if that helps with any advice you may have. Thanks
not sure how much of a target nyu is for europe and dubai. but i would look into sa positions in those locations. if those offices don't actively recruit, then utilize each bank's hr in new york and your school's career center to help you out. i would bet that you're not the first stern person to want to work in london or dubai.
Arabic is a very complicated language to learn. I am a native speaker and I am still struggling to speak Arabic accurately, it takes about 5 to 7 years to be proficient in Arabic.
Arabic is in high demand at BBs in London right now, not just in Dubai. Also, the channels for hiring seem to be better established in London than in middle east offices, so it might be a better bet to start your job search there.
I never said I know it. I said I am in the process of teaching it to myself and will be taking classes next semester up until college ends. Thanks for the advice..London it is then
Languages (Originally Posted: 07/19/2009)
Exactly how helpful is it in the recruiting process and on the job to have a grasp of multiple languages? I was thinking about learning Portuguese or Russian (since I figured out of BRIC, there are already enough people who know chinese and hindi). Will taking 2/3 semesters of classes warrant enough for a 'Elementary knowledge of (language)' and will this give prospective bankers a leg up?
I'd go for German, French or Spanish.
Unless you're fluent in a language and want to risk having an entire interview in it (c'mon you haven't heard those stories before?) I wouldn't even think about putting it on the resume. Can't say I know of anyone becoming fluent after 2 or 3 semesters and I'm really not sure how muuch value an "elementary knowledge" brings to the table. I took Spanish for 5 years from middle to high school; got well beyond a limited knowledge of the language but far from fluent. Never even crossed my mind to add it to the resume.
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