English for Business: 7 Ways Learning English Can Help Improve Your Career

If you’re interested in getting a promotion at work, earning a higher salary or landing your dream job, then working on your Business English is a must!

English is vital in the business world. Millions of professionals across the world use English every day as a lingua franca to communicate with colleagues, clients and other business professionals. Having a common language helps to keep businesses efficient and connected. Therefore, you need to ensure that your business communication skills are at a high level so that everything runs smoothly for your clients, colleagues and of course, for you.

So, with that being said, let’s look at seven ways how English can help improve your career!

1. Better communication skills

Clear and effective communication is the backbone of all successful business interactions. You need to be able to clearly articulate your ideas and opinions, as well as give instructions to ensure that there are no misunderstandings or problems later down the road.

Also, having a higher level of English means that language barriers are less likely to happen, making you a much more efficient and desirable candidate to potential employers.

2. Networking and collaboration

Networking is a key component in the business world. If you want to be successful, then it’s important that you attend international events, conferences, seminars and workshops to meet other like-minded professionals.

By improving your English proficiency, you’ll open doors to more global networking opportunities. As your confidence increases, you may even want to try giving a speech at an event, helping to boost you in your career even further.

If you’re based in Barcelona, here are some excellent websites to keep you updated with the latest networking events:

3. More (and better) career opportunities

Did you know that bilinguals typically receive salaries that are 5% to 20% higher than those who only speak one language? Besides being paid more, employees who speak English are more likely to be considered for international assignments, bringing you more exciting work opportunities and experiences.

If you’re interested in which job sectors require English, here’s a useful list:

If you currently work in one of these sectors (or if you’re considering working in them), then be prepared for many job offers to require a good level of English.

4. Access to more resources and knowledge

Besides being the language of business, English is also the language of the internet with around 60% of the content online being in English.

By having a good level of English, you’ll be able to access vast amounts of information and resources online, as well as keep up to date with the latest news and trends published in your native language as well as in English.

5. Effective business correspondence

A large percentage of the communication you do at work is via email, so having excellent writing skills is crucial to ensure you save time by avoiding misunderstandings and endless ‘backing and forthing’ with your colleagues and clients. You may also need to write reports, proposals, presentations, meeting minutes and other official documents. So, to make your job easier for you and those you work with, you need to ensure you have a high level of English proficiency at work.

Not only do your emails need to be clear and concise (learn how to write the perfect business email here), but also meet the right level of formality and professionalism. This way, you and your company will be taken seriously but you won’t unintentionally offend any clients or colleagues by being too informal.

6. Cross-cultural sensitivity

If you work as part of a multinational team or you need to communicate with clients from different countries and cultures, then it’s important to understand the significance of cultural awareness in business interactions. For example, in some cultures, people communicate more directly, while in others, they may appreciate a more indirect approach.

Also, politeness and respect can differ greatly between cultures, such as the use of honorific titles (for example, ‘sama’ in Japanese to address people of higher status than you) or levels of formality (such as the formal ‘usted’ and informal ‘tu’ in Spanish). English does not have these aspects, but you will need to be aware of them and express yourself correctly to avoid accidentally crossing any cultural boundaries.

There is an interesting book called ‘The Culture Map’ by Erin Meyer which talks about culture in the business world. You should definitely give it a read if this topic really interests you!

7. Personal growth and confidence

Learning English will undoubtedly give you a boost in your professional life, but let’s not forget the effects that it’ll have on your personal life too!

Having a high level of English means you can communicate with people while travelling. You can go to meetups and make friends with people who are from different countries, cultures and backgrounds. You can read articles and watch interesting videos online. You can help a lost tourist on the street. You can impress your friends at a party. The benefits to learning English (or any language) are endless. However, more importantly, learning English will push you out of your comfort zone and make you a much more confident, patient and empathetic human being.

Quick summary

Let’s quickly recap how English can help improve your career:

If you’re now feeling more motivated to improve your Business English, then why not take a look at our courses. We offer specific courses in Business English to help give you and your career a boost!

More ways to improve your business English

If you enjoyed reading this, then why not check out these blog posts:

10 business idioms for the workplace

9 tips for communicating with locals in English-speaking countries

Where does English come from?

Glossary for Language Learners

Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn’t know.

Land (a job) (v): to get a job.

Must (n): a necessity.

Backbone (n): the most important part of something.

Academia (n): the community that is concerned with research and academics, especially universities.

Back and forth (id): to move in one direction and then back in the other direction.

(Meeting) minutes (n): notes taken during a meeting to keep a record of what people say.

Awareness (n): the knowledge that something exists.

Give (something) a (verb) (ph): to try something.

Recap (v): to repeat the main points of something; to summarise.

Skyrocket (v): to make progress extremely quickly.

Key

v = verb

n = noun

id = idiom

ph = phrase