What are the Real Costs of Hiring a Bilingual Employee?

Making solid recruitment decisions is more important for today’s companies than it has ever been before, particularly when searching for specialist skills like bilingualism. When pulling out all the stops to attract and secure the best talent, you either need to have solid recruitment strategies in place or work with an agency that knows your sector inside-out.

A recent report by Oxford Economics found the average cost of hiring a new member of staff was £30,614 per employee. That cost was made up of two main factors:

  • The cost of lost output while the new worker gets up to speed;
  • The logistical cost of recruiting and absorbing a new worker.

The truth is there’s not much you can do to reduce the cost associated with the loss of productivity while the new worker gets up to speed. The report reveals that new workers can take up to 28 weeks to reach their optimum level of productivity, so it’s essential to have comprehensive onboarding and training schemes in place.

What you can do something about is the cost of recruiting and absorbing a new worker. Depending on the approach you choose, the costs associated with recruiting a bilingual employee in the first instance can range from £1,000 to £10,000. Here’s how we help to keep those costs down…

1. Qualifying applicants

When you advertise a role in-house, you are likely to be inundated with CVs from many applicants who do not have the skills and experience you need. At Linguistica Recruitment, every CV we receive has been carefully qualified by our experts to make sure the applicant meets your precise requirements. Importantly, that includes their language skills. Instead of receiving potentially hundreds of CVs it could take you days to sift through, we will send you a small number of CVs from individuals with the skills and experience to do the job. That can significantly reduce your cost per hire.

2. Telephone screening

We speak to every one of our candidates on the phone before putting them forward for any role. Not only do we discuss their suitability for the role and their experience to date, but we also arrange for a written and spoken language test to be taken and we run a reference check. Only when the relevant checks have been completed satisfactorily and we are sure a candidate has the necessary professional experience and personal characteristics to fulfil the role will we pass their details on to you. This drastically reduces the risk of a bad hire and removes the costly process of calling and screening numerous candidates.

3. Language testing

As specialists in the world of bilingual recruitment, we discuss your position with you and take the time to understand exactly what level of linguistic skills you need to fill the role. For some positions, written or spoken fluency is an absolute must, while for others, an ability to understand a second language is sufficient. We test the written and spoken language skills of every suitable candidate. Only when they have proven their ability meets your minimum linguistic requirements, and that they have the personal and professional skills you need, do we put them through to the next stage of the process.

Testing all of our candidates significantly reduces the time and cost of your hire, but also ensures that the candidates’ results are assessed by linguistic experts who understand the relationship between their test results and the type of skills you need.

How can we help?

Are you looking for a bilingual recruitment specialist who can reduce your cost-per-hire? To discuss your position, please call 02392 987 765 or email info@linguistica-recruitment.com today.

4 Fascinating Jobs Linguistics Graduates may not always consider

If you’re coming to the end of your linguistics degree and have loved every minute of it, you’re probably wondering what’s next. You want to continue to use your linguistic skills in your working life but are not sure of all the options available to you. Of course, teaching is always an option and language teachers are currently in high demand in the UK. Alternatively, there’s translation work, which some linguistics graduates chose to pursue. But there are also a wealth of more specialist opportunities out there you may not have considered, and some, frankly, you’ve probably never heard of.

In this blog, we hope to give you some idea of just a few of the jobs that, as a linguistics graduate, you may wish to consider…

1. Computational linguist

… A what? A computational linguist is involved in the development of computer systems that deal with human language. This could be in the field of artificial intelligence, machine translation, document processing, computer-assisted language learning and many other fields besides.

To become a computational linguist, you need to have an interest in and understanding of software development and the structure of language. Those who become computational linguists tend to have the ability to visualise complex processes and solve difficult problems.

You’ll also need to follow your undergraduate linguistics degree with a master’s degree in computational linguistics. However, all the hard work should be worth it. Computational linguists are in high demand and do get well paid.

2. Forensic linguist

Forensic linguistics is concerned with the application of linguistic knowledge, methods and insights in the forensic context of law, criminal investigations, trials and judicial procedures. In real terms, qualified forensic linguists could find themselves performing language analysis on emergency calls, threatening communication and social media for law firms, the police and government agencies. Alternatively, your skills could be in demand in the fields of trademark disputes, author identification and the language analysis of asylum seekers.

The entry requirements for a role as a forensic linguist tend are high, with a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in linguistics essential. In many cases, a PhD in linguistics will also be required.

3. Technical writer

A technical writer works with graphic designers, software developers, user experience designers and testers to plan and write technical documentation to educate consumers. This could be in the form of whitepapers, manuals, online help, business correspondence, design specifications, project plans, test plans and more.

For a technical writer, writing skills are clearly essential. You need to be able to convey what can be complex information in a clear and concise way that can be understood by the audience. The skill set of a technical writer depends largely on the subject matter. For example, writing in pharmaceuticals or other manufacturing industries can be highly technical and will require very specific knowledge.

To get into this line of work, a bachelor’s degree in linguistics followed by a masters in journalism, or a bachelor’s degree in English or communications will usually be required. You will also need experience of publishing software like Adobe, CSS, Photoshop etc.

4. Lexicographer

Lexicographers write, compile and edit dictionaries for native speakers, language learners, professionals and bilingual speakers. They not only define the words in the dictionaries but also help plan the content of dictionaries for particular groups and use specialist computer databases that store information about language from many different sources.

A career as a lexicographer is certainly not for everyone, but if it does interest you, you will need a degree in linguistics, English or modern languages. A postgraduate qualification in foreign languages will be useful for aspiring bilingual lexicographers.

We can help

If you’re ready to take your first or next step on the bilingual career ladder, we can help. Take a look at our current vacancies and apply online today.