Jobs Where English Fluency Boosts Earnings and Opportunities

In India, English-speaking employees can earn up to 34% more than their non-English-speaking counterparts; in Brazil, it’s a remarkable 51% more, which can be even higher depending on the job level (middle management seems to have the biggest pay increases for English speakers, possibly because those skills are rarer at that level).

Speaking English not only helps you earn more money, but it can also lead to faster promotions.

If you’re working in a place with a shortage of English speakers, or if you’re the best linguist in the office, you’ll quickly become invaluable for proofreading, editing, and possibly even attending higher-level meetings you might not otherwise be invited to.
Using your free time to study and improve your English skills will not harm your future career (unless your department is so interested in keeping you that they resist promoting you).

But there are some professions where English proficiency is even more important than this; where, if you don’t speak English fluently, your chances of being hired or subsequently promoted are drastically reduced. In this article, we analyze the careers in which, if you want to succeed, you must ensure your English is as good as possible.

1. Science

Four hundred years ago, if you were writing a scientific text, you would have written it in Latin. One hundred years later, you would probably have written it in French, although English and German would also have been possibilities. One hundred years ago, you would have seen the same mix of languages, but German would have been the most likely choice.

Until relatively recently, German was the language of science.

But the intervening hundred years brought two world wars that separated German-speaking scientists from their French- and English-speaking counterparts internationally, as well as ensuring that German ceased to be taught in American schools.

As the United States became increasingly English-speaking and monolingual, it also became increasingly a superpower. English increasingly became the language of science worldwide, to this day, when scientists routinely publish articles in English, regardless of their native language.

Around 6% of the world’s population speaks English as their first language, but 80% of journal articles are written in English, and that’s a conservative estimate. The 50 most prestigious scientific journals in the world are published in English.

While this state of affairs is restrictive for scientists who might be brilliant in their field but lack language skills (which was still the case when science was in Latin), it allows for easy collaboration and knowledge transfer around the world, so it is unlikely to change.

2. Academic environment

More than 30% of academics at leading British universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, KCL and LSE, come from countries other than the UK; for UCL, it is around 45%.

We talked about science earlier because the need to speak English is particularly marked in scientific fields (and extends beyond academia to industry), but it is important for anyone who wants to succeed in academia, regardless of their field.

Good English is not only vital for an academic career in science.

There are many universities in non-English speaking countries that teach some or all of their courses through English, not only to attract international students, but also for the benefit of local students who wish to learn through English to improve their language skills.

This is particularly true at the postgraduate level. There are even some academics who feel more comfortable using English in academic settings than their native language, even though their native language is more natural to them in social settings.

3. Online businesses

The great advantage of doing business online is that you can sell to people all over the world, with only customs and postage costs standing in your way.

But the world’s language is English, and until translation software improves considerably, that means you’ll need to be able to speak it—not just well enough to understand native English speakers, but also well enough to understand people whose English may be significantly worse than yours.

A global business requires global communication.

If you’re shipping products internationally, you’re likely dealing with people primarily by phone or email, where language barriers are compounded by their inability to read each other’s body language. And, of course, the success of the transaction can hinge on your ability to understand what your customer is telling you. This applies not only to online-only retailers, too.

If you’re running a business that puts most of its customers online, you’ll want to have a good level of English to interact with customers from all over the world, whether they’re renting your apartment on Airbnb or your company is installing their pool.

4. Tourism

The tourism industry requires knowledge of English to such an extent that we have divided it into more sections to highlight the jobs where English is particularly necessary.

The earliest known phrasebooks were produced in the early Middle Ages for the use of pilgrims to the Holy Land, covering European languages as well as Greek and Hebrew. The first business phrasebook was produced in 1424, for the use of Italian merchants who wished to trade in German.

The production of phrasebooks took off after the development of printing, and particularly with the growth of international trade and the Grand Tour from the 17th century onward. However, native English speakers are increasingly monolingual, and English is increasingly the second language of choice worldwide, so a growing number of travelers will assume that if they visit a country, their hosts will be able and prepared to use English as a lingua franca.

“Hey, Tracy, do you think they’ll serve us fish and chips?”

The stereotype of British and American tourists thinking that speaking louder and slower English will make them understand is unpleasant, but rooted in truth. For some travelers, for example, those with mobility issues or complicated dietary requirements, being able to communicate effectively at their destination is vital, and their habituation may depend on it.

More tourism: ski instructor

There are many different types of instructors you might find on your vacation: climbing instructors, for example, or water sports instructors. But of all the jobs related to this niche of the tourism industry, ski instructors are arguably the ones who most need to speak English, given that they deal with a particularly multinational group of people.

While there are ski slopes that are mainly used by people from that country, they are more likely to accommodate experienced skiers who do not require the services of instructors.

Seasonal work on the slopes is a great experience for many.

In some cases, English is actually more useful for ski instructors than being able to communicate in the language of the country where they live, which is one of the reasons why it’s often the seasonal job of choice for gap year students. Other reasons include the social hours (people ski during the day, so instructors are free in the evenings) and the opportunity to do something for a living that, for most people, is a hobby.

More tourism: tour guide

Speaking as many languages as possible is obviously a key skill for a tour guide, along with a special ability to speak in public and a solid local knowledge.

But English’s role as a tourist lingua franca is particularly vital. In other situations, you might be able to get by with a few words. For example, waiters might need vocabulary related to food options, and possibly some general directions and friendly small talk, but they can manage without much more than that.

Add a dash of charisma and you’ll be the perfect guide!

Tour guides, on the other hand, need a much more complex vocabulary. Think of a cathedral tour, where the guide might use terms like “flying buttress,” “presbytery,” or “lancet window.” They need to be able to talk about history, culture, and geography, and if you want tips, the ability to crack a few jokes helps too. That’s a demanding level of language skill, especially for what is often a seasonal and temporary job.

More tourism: real estate agent

Being a real estate agent doesn’t sound like a typical tourist role. But the holiday home market is booming and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. In fact, it’s quite difficult to find statistics on the number of holiday homes purchased worldwide because so many websites are vying for attention trying to sell them.

This means there are jobs available as a real estate agent specifically for sales to the tourist and expat market, and they are in high enough demand that this is another job where speaking the local language is less important than speaking English.

The holiday home market continues to grow.

Effective communication is a major selling point from start to finish. It’s well known that people are willing to pay more for something described in more elaborate terms, so “country house” is less likely to grab attention than “rustic cabin in a secluded rural location.” And once you have a potential buyer, being able to communicate fluently with them is essential to closing the deal.

5. Diplomacy

Diplomacy is one of the few areas in which a lingua franca other than English has been maintained—in this case, French. Another example would be the role of Italian in musical notation.

The reasons generally given for the continued survival of French as one of the two main diplomatic languages are varied. Some argue that tradition is key, while others have suggested it is the idea that French is a very precise language, producing longer sentences but leaving less room for ambiguity than English.

“Ambassador, with these English language skills you’re really spoiling us!”

Unfortunately, there is no real evidence to support the claim that French is more precise than English. Both can be equally accurate when used by someone skilled at expressing themselves well. More plausible is the idea that French has persisted because many diplomatic functions are based in the French-speaking city of Geneva. If this is the primary reason, then it is not surprising that English is increasingly gaining ground on French, even in the world of diplomacy.

English and French are the two main languages of both the UN and the EU, and within both communities of nations, English speakers outnumber French speakers. If you are looking for a diplomatic career in the future, it seems likely that French will become increasingly optional and English increasingly necessary.

6. Management consulting

Management consulting is one of the highest-paying professions out there, especially for people who want to earn a high salary immediately after graduation.

But to win it, you’ll need the required skills, and they’ll likely demand fluent English, if not essential, as well as speaking the language of the country you’re in.

As with many of the points above, this is because business is international, particularly companies that have sufficient revenue to afford the high fees of consulting firms.

In professions like these, effective communication is key.

Travel is a standard part of management consulting, and that might mean visiting the headquarters of the company you’re working with in three different countries. You’re not expected to speak to everyone there in their native language, but you are expected to use English confidently as a lingua franca.

7. Finance

The top ten financial centers in the world, according to the Global Financial Centres Index ranking, are London, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Zurich, Washington DC, San Francisco, Boston and Toronto.

Eight of those ten places have English as their primary or official language. One of the two exceptions is Zurich, where the primary language is Swiss German, but since 61% of Switzerland’s population also speaks English, and one-tenth of the population speaks English at work.

In Tokyo, only a small percentage of the population is not Japanese. So, if you want to work in finance at the highest level, the importance of speaking English is clear.

The world of finance speaks English.

Native English speakers make up just over 5% of the world’s population, a remarkably small number compared to the 14% who speak Mandarin. But English’s international influence is disproportionate, and its spread shows no signs of slowing down. Whatever your career path, ensuring your English is as good as possible is a clear path to success.

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