A language major makes you distinctive. It is evidence of your ability to adapt and think on your feet in unfamiliar and complex environments.

• Get a free head shot at the Career Center professional photo booth and set up a basic LinkedIn profile to start building your visibility and network. 
• Join the Romance Languages LinkedIn group. 
• Draft a resume that showcases your bilingual skills, global competence, advanced written and oral communication skills, and awareness of multiple cultural perspectives. Resume template.
• Attend a Career Fair as early as possible; even before you need a job. The confidence and insight you'll gain will be motivating. Many employers hire all majors. Once you land that first job, your superior communication skills will allow you to rise. Fair calendar.
• Connect with professors  Make a point of speaking at least once to all your professors in office hours about your life goals. Many will do one-to-one mentored research with you that will open unique opportunities and provide outstanding examples in interviews of your capabilities.
• Create human networks on campus and beyond. Swapping stories and ideas is a key to success. Connect with people you know who are already where you want to be in the future. Cold email them with a coffee invitation to ask about their paths and what they like (or don't) about their jobs.

MK Miller, Career Center Consultant for Romance Languages, will coach you on next steps, including creating an effective networking account such as LinkedIn, writing cover letters and personal statements, and preparing for interviews.  She meets one-on-one with undergraduates and graduate students. Schedule a meeting with her now since they fill up.

Put to use these UGA tools designed for you:

• UGA Quick Chat and Mentorship Programs connect UGA Students with working professionals, many of whom are UGA alumni, for conversations about pathways and for one-on-one mentoring.
• Interstride is an interactive tool for both international and domestic students to enhance their international experience and employment potential. The platform consists of job-listings, hiring trends, employer information, self-assessments, and up-to-date immigration guidance.
• Arch Ready Sessions and Certificate  is a series of free online workshops hosted by the Career Center, that cover everything from perfecting your cover letter and resume, to negotiating salary, to identifying jobs in specific sectors.

Value your distinct perspective and inspiration as a human being. You know how to move about in the material world and create relationships with people in multiple communities. You can speak, think, and write independently with ethics, taste, emotion, and creativity. Human intelligence and person-to-person communication will always be crucial in the workplace. 

• Apply your skills and knowledge. Pair your bilingual skills with an applied field. Human intelligence and person-to-person communication will always be crucial in the workplace. 
• Seek critical knowledge of AI's potential from multiple perspectives through the UGA AI Hub. Consider how to use the power you hold, and your own imagination, to shape your future and collective social agreements. 
• Consider impacts and implications. New York University's CR + DS Hub examines digital technologies and society, highlighting the diverging impacts of data-driven processes and artificial intelligence on people of different groups. 
• Connect with people who are 5-10 years (or more) older than you, and already working where you want to be in the future. Cold email them with a coffee invitation to ask about their paths. You may be surprised by what you learn and what you can contribute, since conversations about AI are characterized by significant gaps in generational perspectives.
• Read Benjamin Wolff's Forbes column Bridging Worlds: The Arts and Business. He reveals ways that arts and humanities skills are becoming ever more valuable in the context of the private sector push for AI use.

Certify Your Current Skills with an OPI Test

The ACTFL OPI is a live, 15- to 30-minute telephone conversation between a certified ACTFL Tester and the candidate. The OPI assessment is a valid and reliable test that measures how well a person speaks a language and can be used on a resume as official proof of your skills.

Get Your TESOL Certification at UGA

A certificate in TESOL, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, is training offered at UGA for teaching in P-12 schools. TEFL certification is a related credential, Teaching English as a Foreign Language, which refers to the instruction of English to non-native speakers in countries where English is not the primary language. Either qualification will make you more competitive for desirable posts abroad. 

Get Your  P-12 Teacher Certification

Teaching certification can be pursued at UGA in World Languages Education. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission also provides options to gaining certification for public school teaching, including getting certified on the job. Teaching in a private school may not require certification.

 Become a Certified Translator

The American Translators Association offers ATA certification which provides objective evidence that a translator possesses the knowledge and skills necessary to provide a quality translation.

Become a Certified Medical Interpreter

CCHI is the only organization offering accredited interpreter certifications in the United States, and the only entity offering full certification for interpreters of ALL languages. CCHI has offered an independent, national, comprehensive certification program to medical interpreters of all languages since 2009. 

Become a Court Interpreter

The Standing Committee on Court Interpreters (Committee) is the policy-making body appointed by the Supreme Court of Georgia to oversee the development of a statewide plan for the use of interpreters in Georgia courts during civil, criminal matters, or court-related events.

First jobs after graduation might be adventures in global tourism as a travel guide or as English teachers abroad:

• Putney Student Travel Leader Putney Student Travel seeks extraordinary people to work as trip leaders, instructors, and program assistants on our student travel programs.
• Backroads Travel "A job at Backroads is unlike any other job you'll ever have. You'll be challenged. You'll be inspired. And you'll be gratified. Because whatever you do here, you'll be part of something that makes us all proud—delivering authentic, enriching—and sometimes profoundly life-changing—experiences."
• Concordia Language Villages "Concordia Language Villages staff speak a Village language, creatively teach culture, work and play hard. They also develop skills and qualities that will make them excellent employees in any field."
• EF Student Travel Programs "Feel energized by EF's entrepreneurial spirit, which gives you the autonomy to contribute your ideas and the support to learn and develop. Whether selling tours abroad, providing customer and student support, or working on an operations team, you will have an essential role in contributing to EF’s impact."

First jobs through government agencies and nonprofit organizations are also strong building blocks on a life-long, satisfying path that grows upward mid-career and leads to high-level leadership positions.  

They are also a great way to continue deepening your language skills and cultural knowledge after college.  Many of our former graduates have begun their careers through these programs:

• AmeriCorps AmeriCorps is the federal agency for community service and volunteerism.  Grantees work summers or up to 12 months.  They provide a living allowance, loan deferment, educational awards and professional development in leadership.
• Consular Fellows Program Become a Consular Fellow and use your language proficiency in Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, or Portuguese as part of a unique national service program working in U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.
• Fulbright The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for individually designed study and research projects abroad or for working as an English Teaching Assistant abroad.
• MSF Médecins Sans Frontières translates to ‘doctors without borders’. They provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. With teams made up of tens of thousands of professionals working in health and medical care, logistics, administration, and communications, they are a large employer, and they don't just hire doctors.
• NALCAP North American Language and Culture Assistants Program placements are offered all across Spain, in practically every city and town in the country, running from October 1st to May 31st with a monthly stipend of 700 to 1000 Euros depending on the assigned region and medical insurance from either the national government or the regional governments of Spain.  Hours of assistant teaching range from 12 to 16 hours per week.
• PeaceCorps PeaceCorps volunteers receive a housing and a living stipend while they do work abroad including international health campaigns, boosting local entrepreneurship, and teaching digital literacy.  Returning grantees have access to reserved graduate scholarships and a specialized career opportunities. Plus the two-year program can offer excellent training in another world language.
• TAPIF The Teaching Assistant Program in France offers you the opportunity to work in France for 7 months, teaching English to French students of all ages.  Each year, over 1,500 American citizens and permanent residents teach in public schools across all regions of metropolitan France and in the overseas departments of France such as French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion.
• Teach English for the U.S. Government Students with a Master's degree are eligible for the English Language Fellowship (ELF) which sends people around the world to work on English programs directly affiliated with a U.S. Embassy. See additional programs within the US Department of State for which language MAs are well-prepared.

Masters and Doctoral degrees in language, culture, literature, and linguistics are typically "free" meaning you receive tuition remission and a monthly stipend for your job working as a teaching assistant. 

Your current professors are knowledgeable about our graduate programs at UGA and around the U.S. Talk to some of our graduate students to find out what a day-in-the-life is like. Talk to people in person, since graduate school is highly individualized.

If you'd like to see where an MA or PhD in a language & culture can lead you, see where our MAs and PhDs landed after graduation:

• MA Alumni Careers
• PhD Alumni Careers

Many desirable jobs are only listed by employers on their own websites. Identify where you want to work. Go to the employer's website to view open positions and opportunities. For example, Delta's Careers Overview page has tiles for career areas, including one for students and early careers that leads you to internship and co-op experiences. 

Volunteer where you hope to work. Being visible in the physical space as a face-to-face contributor means people will think of you when a position opens up. Research the websites of some of the largest employers in Athens—Athens Clarke County Government, Piedmont, St. Mary's, and the Clarke Country School District—and you'll find opportunities to volunteer that may lead to recommendations for your first job.

Job boards on the internet can also be useful:

• Indeed.com This is the largest job listing site in the world. If you search French, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish you will find a surprising array of positions across a spectrum of sectors, as well as internships in the U.S. that require a language.
• LatPro This is the largest bilingual and multilingual jobs career board in the Americas. Search French, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish for positions across employment sectors.
• USAJOBS.gov The United States government is the country’s largest employer and hires all majors.  If you want a federal job, you need to look for listings on this government site.  You can search by job title, location, and agencies or departments, such as the FBI, Veteran’s Affairs, or IRS.