Finding your future in Modern Languages

As a first-year student, meeting former students at a recent modern languages careers panel opened my eyes as to the amazing opportunities that studying languages can hold and where it can take you in life.

At this event, current Modern Languages students had the opportunity to speak to University of Birmingham alumni about their experiences at university and their career journeys.

Danielle, one of the five panellists at the event, said she had no idea what she wanted to enter after graduating university but knew that studying French and progressing with her language learning was her passion. After graduating university, her first job was working with adventure holidays in southern France before progressing to roles in video arts, becoming the first person in her department with a foreign language in the international section of the company. Now, she is in the world of journalism working with high profile editorial teams.

The other alumni shared great advice as well. Leon, who studied Russian and Italian, shared that having a ‘resilient mindset’ will get you far and to always get in touch with companies and pitch your ideas to see what roles and opportunities are available. Ned, who studied Russian and International Relations and now works in the NHS, shared that volunteering opportunities can open doors to new fields and industries.

Overall, this experience was extremely useful. I would highly encourage anyone to attend these events - they are a great way to see the real-life impact of studying modern languages. It was inspiring to meet graduates that have successfully entered and thrived in a variety of sectors, even in an ever-changing and uncertain job market. 

The determination of all the panellists showed me that the world really is your oyster, and that an endless amount of doors can be opened by studying languages.