Will career development be smoother if your English is good? I was convinced a few years ago, what do you think?

Many people stop using English after graduation because they don’t need it for work or making friends. Everyone will definitely say that if we throw away English, wouldn’t we live well? But are you aware of the economic benefits that bilingualism brings to you?

Data from The Economist shows that white-collar workers who understand a foreign language can earn an additional US$67,000 (approximately RMB 450,000) in their lifetime, and this is only a conservative figure. At a high level, bilingual people can earn an additional $128,000 (approximately RMB 860,000) based on their language skills.

What does this mean? Monolinguals (people who speak only one language) may miss out on money for a house or a luxury car!

▍Your foreign language proficiency directly affects your salary increase

On the foreign website Marginal Revolution, some netizens commented that people from non-English speaking countries can bring benefits to themselves if their English is good. 25% revenue premium. According to linguist Ray Enke, speaking two languages ??can increase your salary by 10 to 15 percent no matter where you work.

Can your current ability achieve this salary increase?

In addition, a survey of North American recruiters showed that 66% of recruiters believe that the importance of bilingual skills will steadily increase in the next ten years.

In China, HR not only generally pays attention to English ability, but also believes that the value of good English is mainly reflected in communication skills, especially in foreign companies. In a large enterprise, a person's role is inherently limited, and ability is not always ranked first.

▍Your foreign language proficiency determines your career ceiling

Opportunities are increasingly being reserved for those who master English. In addition to salary, do you really understand how much benefit mastering English can bring to a person?

"World Business Magazine" once reported: "English ability is very important for promotion within the company, and many people say it is also useful for job applications." As a common language in the business field, in the workplace, English proficiency People with high levels of participation can participate in company decisions to a greater extent.

Especially for those foreign companies, let’s give some practical examples of positions.

01 Sales

Countless national sales managers or directors have reached that position and then their English skills are not good enough. Anyone who can achieve that position and speak good English will basically be promoted to general manager. The reason is simple. The headquarters hopes to know what China's top leaders are thinking, and it depends on what you say and how you say it. Sometimes this is more important than what you do.

02 Market

Basically, there is a demand for English starting from product specialists. If you want to become a product manager or marketing manager, the ability to communicate with the headquarters is very important, no matter from Purely from the perspective of doing things or the perspective of political needs. Unlike the sales department, good English can objectively help you obtain resources, understand intentions, etc.

03 Other departments

Between sales and marketing, basically the bottom level has limited demand for English, while the top management has high demand for English. As long as your English is not good, it will definitely affect your long-term career development in foreign companies. I don’t know how many times I have heard HR evaluate a person, saying that he is good at everything except English...

In a large company, a person’s role is limited, so ability is not always the first priority; so superiors treat subordinates Evaluations are often based on impressions; foreigners at the headquarters often have impressions of Chinese management from a large number of emails, phone meetings, and a small number of face-to-face meetings... Basically, the impressions in these scenes are all based on language. of.

And direct communication in English can avoid some misunderstandings caused by improper Chinese-English translation, save a lot of unnecessary wasted time, and greatly improve work efficiency

So , English is not good, really not good.

▍The boundary of your knowledge depends on your foreign language level

In addition to utilitarian promotion opportunities, foreign languages ??can bring you more broadened horizons. If your foreign language level is not enough for daily reading, then the boundary of the Chinese information world is the boundary of your knowledge.

Let’s take English as an example. English is a truly global language: English content accounts for 55.4% of the global Internet, while Chinese only accounts for 4.6%.

In other words, what English brings to you is the essence of the world’s thoughts and a vast amount of information. Whether you are using English to absorb a large amount of knowledge in a certain field, engage in more creative work, or collect, process and resell information, English provides a good path.

At present, whether it is sophisticated technology or cultural industries, it is undeniable that foreign countries are still leading. Although there will always be people who translate popular things, by the time materials from other countries are translated and similar research can be easily searched on CNKI, the timeliness will lag behind others by several beats.

To give you the most down-to-earth example, almost all the jokesters on Weibo and the big influencers on WeChat are imported from abroad. Relying on these, joke makers and Internet celebrities earn millions every year. Moreover, the translated things are also second-hand materials that have been screened and translated.

The only martial arts in the world that cannot be defeated is speed.

If you don’t know a foreign language, your competitiveness will lag far behind others.

In this era of globalization, information is a resource and communication is king! But in this day and age, almost everyone can speak two sentences of English. So only those who have reached a level of mastery can truly stand out.

Being good at English does not mean you are good just because you have obtained a junior college certificate. It does not mean that you can get promoted and get a salary increase just by giving yourself an abandon. The premium of English is reflected in your practical application ability. If combined with professional business, technology, research and other abilities, it can achieve a critical impact.

▍Your foreign language level determines your worldview

We improve our English level not only out of the need to master a common language, but also to be exposed to the differences and differences in Chinese and foreign thinking. An important path to the laws of world affairs. Only by understanding can we avoid arrogance and inferiority. Language is the etiquette of decent people and the weapon of barbarians.

When you can communicate with foreigners without any barriers, instead of racking your brains and blushing to think of what word to use, and the other person awkwardly slowing down their speech, then you truly begin to understand each other. , you can truly begin to understand the other person’s culture and customs and enter their world.

Only by deeply understanding other people's language, culture, and world can you see the world from the top of the tower, and you will have a clearer understanding of the entire world.