GERMAN, RUSSIAN, AND EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES

BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY - Languages & Cultures

Careers

German can be an especially useful language to American students for the enhancement of their career opportunities. Teaching, translation and related areas (e.g., publishing, media, marketing) offer the most direct application of German language skills.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Foreign service officers, journalists, Montessori teachers, professors, politicians, Peace Corp volunteers, hotel management staff, bankers, research chemists, software engineers, musicians, flight attendants and corporate lawyers do! Combining language skills and cultural knowledge with other training can provide a variety of possibilities for students of German. These include various fields of government service, business and banking, communications, science and technology, music and fine arts, travel and tourism and many others. German can take you anywhere! Here are just a few possibilities.

• Education: Teaching at the middle and high school level is certainly an important option. Should you wish to teach at the college level, you will need to work toward a PhD. There are also numerous additional options for those graduates interested in the field of education: a '93 alumna is currently a program coordinator in the International Programs Office at the University of Michigan. Another graduate is Senior Associate Executive Search Consultant for educational institutions while others are career counselors, exchange program coordinators or foreign language audio and computer lab directors.

• Travel Industry: Graduates may be interested in working in the travel industry and might seek a position as customer service agents or international flight attendants as did several of our alumni. A '89 alumnus attended the Institute of Certified Travel Agents, completed the Austrian Travel Counselor Specialist Program, and currently runs his own travel agency.

• Translating and Interpreting: You may want to explore the field of museum curatorship and translate documents, treatises, catalogues and even movie scripts for a museum. Interpreters and translators may also opt to work free-lance at Olympic Games, World Expositions, Deutsch Welle, the German Information Center, or the UN, to name only a few organizations. Several of our graduates work as technical translators for Austrian or German firms in the US or abroad.

• Political Organizations: Many political organizations have international ties and need employees competent in languages. One of our graduates worked as a congressional aid in Washington while another spent a semester as an intern at the UN in Vienna. Another alumna has secured a post in the foreign service and is planning a career as an intelligence analyst in European affairs. Working for political advocacy groups may also interest our graduates. See the following ad: "Wanted: Program Assistant for implementation of international development programs, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs."

• Journalism and Publishing: Graduates in German will have learned how to research, write, and discuss their ideas not just in one but two languages. These are skills necessary to be successful in international journalism. Entry-level positions in publishing usually involve copy-editing and proofing, such as in the following announcement: "Wanted: Editor (entry level) to edit/proof translated research articles, patents, etc., at Corporate Translations, Inc."

• Business and Law: A number of our graduates have found employment with German and Austrian firms or international firms. A '95 alumnus is working for "Commodity Components Inc." in Massachusetts, an electronics components company that supplies Siemens Austria and IBM France, among other European firms. A 1990 graduate is working for Electro-Wire Products as program coordinator for a BMW project. She suggests: "Those searching for job tips: send resumes to German firms." The recent Daimler-Chrysler merger may offer further opportunities. Others have pursued an MA or a PhD in Business/ Business Administration. Graduates may be interested in working in the area of international law. One alumna is teaching introductory US law courses at the Humboldt University in Berlin.

Career Services at Bowling Green State University offers comprehensive preparation for job searchers and up-to-date information on where jobs are in your field. Visit their site! 

What can I do with a degree in German?