Language Careers

Have a look at Prospects and targetjobs to find out what roles in this sector involve and how to get into them.

To start, What can I do with my Modern Languages degree may be useful.

In this section, we've picked out key roles which are directly related to a languages degree. But there are lots of careers where language skills would be useful.

You can find opportunities in a wide range of sectors, including:

• sales
• finance
• teaching
• government
• charities
• development
• media.

The following job profiles include descriptions of typical duties and entry requirements.

• Translator
• Interpreter
• Conference interpreter
• Subtitler
• Secondary school teacher
• English as a foreign language teacher
• Private tutor

• excellent language skills – both written and spoken
• attention to detail
• a good memory
• the ability to learn quickly
• the ability to interact well with people and work as part of a team
• the ability to use discretion and maintain confidentiality
• flexibility to deal calmly with unexpected situations
• cultural awareness and knowledge of current affairs and politics

Starting salaries for graduate jobs in this sector can vary depending on the position.

To get an idea of typical starting salaries use the following resources: 

• our Discover your Earning Potential Pathway offers access to The Pay Index. This shows you how salaries vary across different roles, industries and locations 
• job profiles, such as those listed on Prospects or targetjobs 
• vacancy sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn 

For information about how to negotiate a salary, visit Handling job offers. 

• The Translation Networks Booklet (PDF: 959KB) was produced by the School of Modern Languages. It includes insights from graduates working in language careers. Whilst it is slightly out of date, it can still provide valuable insight and inspiration for life in different careers.
• Browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed.
• Use LinkedIn’s Alumni tool to find out what Newcastle graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career.
• See Newcastle Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started.
• Watch our quick tutorial on Getting inspiration from others [3:13].
• Attend alumni events, such as Newcastle Develop, to hear directly from our graduates.
• Sign up for mentoring support with Graduate Mentor and The 1 Hour Project. These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting.
• Attend recruitment events and employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions.

Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.

Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process:

• RateMyPlacement - placement year reviews written by students.
• The Job Crowd – graduate job reviews
• Glassdoor – company reviews from employees

• TranslatorsCafé.com - careers advice, networking and jobs
• how to become a translator and interpreter
• working for a language service provider

Use online magazines and journals to follow news from your industry. Reading about trends and developments is important for applications and interviews.

Examples include:

• The Latest Language Industry News | MultiLingual
• Our latest company & language industry news | Language Insight

Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry.

The Language Show Live takes place virtually in October/November each year. As well as general language events, they also have many talks focused on teaching languages.

See also our recruitment events and employer & sector insights.

Use social media to find industry insights

Join sector-specific groups on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on Twitter and TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate.

Find out more about 

Consider joining a relevant professional body/industry network

Professional bodies often:

• run networking events
• have specialist groups you could join
• post vacancies on behalf of their members
• have member directories, useful for speculative applications

Key organisations include:

• Chartered Institute of Linguists
• Institute of Translation and Interpreting shares news, training and information.
• The Society of Authors: Translators Association - a source of expert advice for literary translators.
• AIIC: International Association of Conference Interpreters
• National Register of Public Service Interpreters - an independent voluntary regulator of professional interpreters specialising in public service.
• ALL (Association for Language Learning) - association for teachers of foreign languages. The North East branch includes news and local events.

Finding professional bodies worldwide

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide.

Use our resources to get started: 

• MyCareer - search for internships and placements in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts  
• Internships, placements & shadowing - links to vacancy sites 
• Global work experience - for internships or placements abroad 

Search the following external sites for language career internships. Be aware that some of these opportunities may only be available to EU citizens:

• EurActiv JobSite - search for internships in the EU and UK
• European Parliament - five-month traineeships for graduates and translators/interpreters
• British Council: Study and work abroad - international experiences for young people. This includes information on internships in China and the Turing Scheme.
• British Council: Language assistants
• Café Babel - multilingual magazine made for and by young people in Europe. It has opportunities for translation work. Create a profile and choose languages to begin.

The Careers Service runs flexible term-time and summer internships with local employers and on campus. NCL internships are aimed at all students, from any stage:

• search for these under Vacancies on MyCareer. 

Access GoinGlobal for internships in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:  

• additional vacancy websites  
• CV, application and interview advice   
• Advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world.  

If you’re looking for inspiration, try searching our NU Work Experience Directory. You can see where our students have had internships and placements in the last five years. To see all results in a search category, keep the search field blank. 

The resources in this section advertise both graduate jobs and graduate schemes. See our graduate jobs page to understand the difference between them.

For graduate schemes, apply as early as possible.

UK applications typically open early in the academic year from September or October. Some close as early as November-December. Many employers close applications as soon as their places are filled.

Graduate jobs tend to be immediate start positions which can be available all year round. You are more likely to apply for these towards the end of your studies.

Use our resources to get started: 

• MyCareer - search for internships and placements in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts. You can filter by occupational area (eg 'using languages'), vacancy type and location.
• Internships, placements & shadowing - links to vacancy sites
• Global work experience - for internships or placements abroad

 Use external websites to find more roles:

• European Personnel Selection Office. advertises short-term contracts, research posts and graduate traineeships (for EU citizens)
• Europa: EURES - find vacancies in the European Union
• EurActiv JobSite - search for positions in the EU and UK
• iAgora - entry level jobs and internships in Europe

Translation and interpreting 

• Institute of Translation and Interpreting: Jobs Board
• European Parliament offers paid and unpaid traineeships for translators and interpreters (for EU citizens only).
• RWS Group - patent and specialist translation services company. Regularly recruits graduates.
• ProZ.com - translation jobs and translation work for freelancers
• TranslatorsCafé.com - networking and jobs

Education and teaching 

See our Teaching in Schools and TEFL pages for more links.

• Guardian Jobs
• TES Jobs
• British Council: Language assistants
• JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme) UK. one-year graduate programme for assistant language tutors

Government and armed forces

For more opportunities see our information on:

• Government, politics and social research
• Armed Forces and law enforcement

For some of these positions, you must be a British citizen to apply.

• Civil Service Jobs - search for opportunities in UK government departments and agencies
• Civil Service Fast Stream: Diplomatic Service
• For language analysts in the security and intelligence services see GCHQ, MI5 and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)
• The Army recruit intelligence analysts (linguists)

See  for details of overseas vacancy sites. 

Access GoinGlobal for job adverts in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:  

• additional vacancy websites  
• CV, application and interview advice   
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

• ABL Recruitment
• Corinium Language Associates
• EuroLondon
• French Selection - mainly for French, German, Spanish and Italian speakers. There may be some opportunities for other languages including Mandarin, Japanese and Russian.
• The Language Business
• Language Matters
• Multilingual Vacancies
• People First
• Student Language Bureau helps students and recent graduates find internships and graduate jobs overseas
• UK Language Jobs - bilingual and multilingual job opportunities across the UK

See Recruitment Agencies to find more agencies.

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of recruitment agencies in specific countries. They are listed under the following headings:  

• staffing agencies and temporary help firms  
• executive recruiters and search firms  

Recruitment agencies may not operate in the same way in different countries. In the UK agencies are free for job seekers, but this may not be the case elsewhere. Explore the terms and conditions of an agency before signing up to use them.  

Start by identifying organisations you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities: 

1. Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in. 
2. Send them a tailored CV and cover letter. Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the company. 
3. Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated. 
4. If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying! 

You can use this approach at any point in the year. We recommend that you: 

• start your research as early as possible to gather relevant contacts 
• contact organisations around three months before you want the opportunity to begin 

• find organisations on MyCareer. Select ‘search' then 'organisations’
• use the business directories and databases on our Researching employers page
• search for companies on LinkedIn. The Find Alumni tool shows you where Newcastle graduates are currently working
• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed

Use the resources below to find organisations in the North East, UK and worldwide. 

North East organisations

International Newcastle - member directory

Use the resources below to find organisations specific to languages:

• Institute of Translation and Interpreting. This is a list of language service providers offering translation and interpreting services
• Association of Translation Companies (ATC) - member directory
• AIIC - search for consultant interpreters
• Agency Central - search for recruitment agencies which have positions requiring language skills
• Yell.com - search for interpreting and translation agencies

Search GoinGlobal’s employer directory for company information in 196 countries. Their country guides list professional bodies around the world.