Expect to not find your ideal role straight away....
It takes time to discover what you really want to do using your language skills, but how can you know until you've really given things a chance? You may have a slight idea after gaining work experience during your year abroad or prior to graduating. Some will find their dream role straight away and for some it will take a while. I would often say it is better to know what you don't want to do rather than knowing exactly what you want to do. This way you can always keep an open mind and be more willing to give things a chance, allowing for more opportunities to come your way.

Expect the role you were reluctant to take to be the biggest STEPPING STONE.....
My first role was without a doubt the most demanding and challenging. The workload was heavy, the hours were unsociable and the pay was low. However, if I hadn't had taken on that role I am certain that it wouldn't have led onto greater things. That role was the biggest stepping stone for me and it was also a foot in the door. It was such a big stepping stone that two roles I have found myself in since I didn't even need to apply for, I was approached. The skills I picked up in that role combined with using my language skills were invaluable and have found me work ever since...

Expect to learn more languages......
You will find that when you are working in a multilingual role you will be working with people from all over the world. There have been times where I have had to learn bits of Portuguese in order to help clients in Brazil. I may not speak Portuguese, but I can read and understand what is being asked so I will write back to the client in Portuguese. You may also pick up other languages when communicating with other colleagues who are working in different countries or your employer may even ask you to learn another language.

Expect to work in many different sectors...
As I graduated with a degree in French, Spanish and Italian there was no specific sector I wanted to go into. I didn't want to go into teaching, translation nor interpretation so I was open to roles in many sectors requiring foreign languages. So far I have worked in Tourism, Finance and Tech. I have also done bits of translation and teaching on the side as many foreign language graduates do. My sister graduated with a degree in French and Spanish and has worked in Teaching, Exports and Translation. That's to say despite completing a similar degree we have worked in completely different sectors and it just goes to show the variety of roles pursued by a multilingual graduate.

Expect to seek work further afield.....
You will find that some areas in the UK offer more multilingual roles than others. I would say that my home city of Nottingham is rather limited for multilingual roles. You will find that bigger cities such as London and Manchester offer roles in Fashion, Media, Marketing, Gaming, Travel etc. I moved to Paris for summer work as I was turned down and struggled to find summer work in Nottingham due to not having enough experience, then I was hired by Disneyland Paris. I was prepared to move to Paris for work and that's exactly what I did. If I hadn't had done so my summers probably would have gone to waste. In 2015 I moved 18 miles down the A52 to Derby for a role in Credit Control when I struggled to find multilingual roles in Nottingham.

Expect some languages to be more employable than others...
As well as French and Spanish being very employable languages I have also found that being able to speak Italian has given me the edge over other candidates. I believe that you will be more employable if you were to speak French and Italian over French and Spanish for example. It appears that being able to speak a commonly spoken language and a not so commonly spoken language has more benefits. Your languages need to be in demand but not so common that all of your competition speak the same languages as yourself resulting in your CV falling to the bottom of the pile....

Expect to be thrown in at the deep end...
With a degree in foreign languages you will often find yourself working in roles that require skills you don't currently obtain. This could be technical skills or marketing skills for example. You will need to pick up the skills on the job itself which can then be combined with your language skills. There have been times where I was thrown in at the deep end especially in technical and financial roles. It was very daunting at first and I often questioned whether I was able to do it, but with patience and sheer hard work I picked up the skills required for the roles and started to receive some great feedback.

Expect to do more than your job description....
You will find that when you are the multilingual employee word quickly goes around and other co-workers from different parts of the business will quickly come and ask for your help. I remember when working as a Credit Controller at Capita I was asked by the booking team to contact Vueling Airways in Spain to sort out a query, at Littlefish I helped colleagues supporting other clients with different systems in French and at Oracle I will translate or produce recordings for the phone system in different languages. Personally I do enjoy being asked to do other tasks as I can build up experience in different areas and it keeps things varied. I also gain a greater understanding of the company I am working for and get to know other co-workers in different departments.

Expect there to be a lot more roles requiring language skills than you had initially thought..
After entering the working world eight years ago I've just about grasped the scale of roles that require foreign language skills. This could be working as a games tester for SEGA, working as a Tour Guide on Thomson cruise ships, purchasing products from suppliers abroad for TK Maxx shops, booking in broken down lorries abroad for VOLVO, working as a football liaison officer or something else. The sheer amount of paths you can follow using your language skills makes it very confusing to know what to go into at times. You can literally just about do anything with languages...

Expect to be able to chop and change languages on the spot....
During my very early career while serving food at Disneyland Paris I would be constantly changing language. I would speak to clients from France, the UK, Spain, Italy and many other countries within the space of ten minutes. This got me into the habit of quickly changing between languages. This is the same in technical roles. In the space of an hour I may speak to a client from Chile, then reply to an email in Italian and then translate some text into French or I may just speak to different clients on the phone in different languages.

Expect to adapt the language you learned ....
I remember when I first spoke to a client from Quebec. I couldn't believe how different the accent was compared to the French spoken in France. I listened carefully and can now easily understand the accent spoken in French speaking Canada. I speak to many clients in Chile and I will now automatically adapt the Spanish that I learned in Spain by pronouncing words more softly, changing word choice or using a different phonetic alphabet. By listening carefully and adjusting the language I speak breaks down any communication barriers between myself and clients..

Expect some roles to take you by surprise....
Back in 2015 I wanted to change role and was frequently contacted by recruiters regarding roles in Credit Control. I was reluctant to work in Credit Control. I couldn't imagine anything worse than chasing debts. However, when I started working in Credit Control it wasn't as bad as I'd originally thought. The role allowed me to use my language skills on a daily basis, I picked up financial skills and there was always something to do. For this reason I would always encourage somebody to give everything a chance and not rule anything out until you've given it a good go.

Expect to not always use your languages as much as you had hoped...
There have been times where I have been in roles where I haven't used my languages as much as I had hoped. There were times where clients from abroad were calling in less frequently meaning that I didn't get to practice my languages as much. I have used French and Spanish in all of my roles and for all but one I have not used Italian. Your confidence when speaking languages can easily be knocked and it's vital to keep them up in order to maintain your confidence for when you do use them again and even more so if you are seeking another role as you will need to keep your language skills tip top for interviews.

Expect to never stop learning.....
Whatever you go into with languages you will always have to learn something new. That may be new skills for the job role itself or you may be encouraged to complete courses/study in your own time. You will also constantly learn new vocabulary for your job role as well as the vocabulary in your native language first. It's also vital to keep studying your languages outside of work in order to maintain and improve them whether that's watching series on Netflix or attending multilingual speaking events.

Conclusion.....
When it comes to talking about a career path in languages I can only compare it to a bumpy rollercoaster ride. There are so many ups and downs. You never know what's around the corner. There can be some stressful, but rewarding times. Some roles will be exciting and some may not motivate you in any way at all. Sometimes you will find yourself way out of your comfort zone picking up new skills for a role you know absolutely nothing about. It's down to you to work out what you really want to do using your language skills, but you may only know after several years in the working world by reflecting upon what you do like and don't like in a role. You will also start to learn more about yourself, do you prefer to work alone or in a team? Do you enjoy sitting down all day or being on your feet? If you don't enjoy a role it's down to you to have the courage and strength to get out. With an open mind, determination, hard work and a flair for self-branding you will without a doubt pursue a varied and exciting career path using your multilingual skills....

See more from Emily Nicole Boaler at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilynboaler/