Job Outook : Careers In International Business :: Department of Foreign Languages

JOB OUTLOOK

The next phase in determining and starting a career in international business is ascertaining the job outlook. In general, the job forecast is a cyclical phenomenon with change occurring constantly every decade. Thus, what career fields and job titles, including those of international business, are in demand in one cycle may not be so in the next.

Present & Future Realities (2000-2010)

At present, projections from the Business of Labor Statistics (BLS)¹indicate that, although some occupations will employ fewer workers in the future, most are growing. Between 2000 and 2010, an expanding economy, albeit at a much slower pace, with an increased demand for goods and services, especially in the health and high tech industries, will create millions of jobs in almost every occupation. Among the trends BLS cites regarding careers, jobs, and the work force are those that follow:

A decrease in both from and manufacturing jobs although both will still constitute one-fourth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the workforce
An increase in service-related jobs that will constitute not only 75% of the labor force but an equal percentage of the GDP with most going to the health care, hi-tech administration and other fields
An increasing need for college-degreed or certified professional and high-tech trained workers
An increase in the number of minority groups in the workforce, particularly women, Afro-Americans, Asians and Hispanics to the point they will constitute the majority of all employees
A continuing globalization of industry and trade, that not only intensifies competition but the real for better trained and more knowledgeable and skilled personnel who are computer literate, business-minded, and cross-cultural and World language (especially Spanish) savvy
Most job tasks will be project-based rather than title-based, and will requiring good quantitative, technical and communication skill, as well as constant training
Need for more careful career planning and job searching

Given the aforementioned trends, especially, the last one, present and potential employees should speak to a career specialist to begin to examine future job possibilities as well as ways of enhancing the job search. Moreover, they should try to adhere to the new requirement’s paradigm for employment:

Technical (Analytical and Problem Solving) Skills + Communicative (Multilingual)
Ability + Business Acumen + International Experience + Cross Cultural Knowledge
and Sensitivity = Global Employment.

¹ “Future work: Trends and Challenge for Work in the 21st Century,” in Occupational Outlook Quarterly Vol. 44, no. 2 (Summer 2000), p.1 (In http: stats.bls.gov/ocohoma.htm)

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