Many students majoring in foreign languages plan to teach at the kindergarten through secondary level. While you can pursue this route through the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures' Teacher Education sequence, there are many career options available for those who don't want to teach.
Knowing more than one language is a very marketable skill. Employers in the U.S. and internationally are always looking for people who can help them reach diverse clients, customers, and partners around the world. Many businesses acknowledge that given two otherwise equal candidates, they will hire the one with foreign language capability over the one without.
A language major brings an invaluable set of skills, including bilingual or multilingual abilities, as well as the analytical thinking, writing, and critical skills so essential to building a career in any field. A recent study conducted among more than 318 employers showed that these skills were relevant to employability, and that a liberal arts degree "instill(s) in students ... a set of core skills that allow them to navigate the professional world with a deftness that is required in today’s work environment" (Hart study, 2013).
