What’s an interesting career for a Spanish major?
From banker to travel agent, here are 10 answers to the question, “What’s an interesting career option for a Spanish major?”
- Banker
- Social Worker
- Court Translator
- Hospitality
- Exchange Student Agent
- Events Coordinator
- Medical Interpreter
- Communications
- Teacher or a Private Tutor
- Travel Agent
Banker
A Spanish major can find a great deal of opportunity in the banking sector. Bankers who are bilingual in Spanish and English are a highly sought-after commodity, as they can more easily communicate with both American and international clients alike.
Bankers may work in customer service, loan processing, collections, and marketing positions, which use their knowledge of both language and culture to build strong relationships with customers. It’s an excellent career choice for ambitious Spanish-speaking individuals who want to combine languages with business or finance.
Antreas Koutis, Administrative Manager, Financer
Social Worker
Becoming a social worker is a great option for any Spanish majors looking to advance in their careers. Social work involves interacting and advocating for your community, and often Spanish-speaking communities are marginalized and disadvantaged.
Plus, you’ll have the chance to work in a variety of settings, such as schools, hospitals, and community organizations, and you can even specialize in areas like child welfare or mental health. Being a social worker is a super rewarding career path if you’re passionate about using your skills to make a positive impact.
Jacob Dayan, Co-Founder & CEO, Community Tax
Court Translator
Working at a courthouse can be a very interesting job. You’re exposed to a lot, and you learn a lot. I had a friend who was a newspaper reporter years ago, and he covered a courthouse in a major metropolitan area.
The sources he cultivated were many, but he got the most insight and the biggest jumps on stories because he befriended a couple of Spanish translators who worked there. They served as translators to Spanish-only witnesses in criminal cases, civil cases, traffic cases, juvenile cases, and also were called upon for depositions.
As a Spanish translator inside a courthouse, you learn about the law. You see how marginalized people are treated by the legal system, and you sit through some riveting testimony ranging from gut-wrenching to zany. It also further strengthens your Spanish-speaking skills. You never run out of interesting experiences working at a courthouse.
Brittany Dolin, Co-Founder, Pocketbook Agency
Hospitality
Spanish majors can have successful careers in the hospitality industry. A fluent Spanish speaker can be a great help to the other Spanish-speaking workers since they can understand and translate the instructions from the management. Furthermore, a Spanish speaker can provide excellent customer service to Spanish-speaking customers, who might feel uncomfortable with English-speaking staff members.
Matthew Ramirez, CEO, Rephrasely
Exchange Student Agency
You can open a business that will help exchange students in Spain get accustomed to the new environment, with accommodations, and generally make the best of their foreign journey. A Spanish major not only means that you know the language, but you’re also an expert in Spanish culture. Thus, you can provide valuable tips for students, for example, suggesting travel destinations and helping them connect with locals, which is extremely important for outsiders.
Natalia Brzezinska, Marketing & Outreach Manager, Uk Passport Photo
Events Coordinator
Studying Spanish can open many doors to creative and lucrative career opportunities. One such career option is Events Coordinator; Spanish majors are well-suited to managing complex events, because of their strong communication skills and understanding of cultural nuances.
Events Coordinators are also in high demand as organizations seek professionals with effective marketing and problem-solving capabilities. They may work independently or with an event management team in a variety of corporate, nonprofit, hospitality, and media settings to develop themes, manage budgets, create timelines, review contracts, coordinate vendors, arrange catering services, plan logistics, and more.
Ultimately, Events Coordinators use the skills they gain through a Spanish major to ensure successful outcomes for every project.
Jim Campbell, Owner, Camp Media
Medical Interpreter
There is a growing need for interpreters in the medical field. Hiring bilingual individuals is not the same as hiring medical interpreters. Medical interpreters need additional training, as they serve a very important role in the healthcare system.
When people are seeking medical attention, they need to understand their provider and the instructions they are given. This can be very difficult for patients who don’t speak English as their primary language. In these cases, patients require someone who speaks Spanish and has some basic medical knowledge. Spanish majors can find a very fulfilling position serving as medical interpreters.
Caroline Duggan, Chief Brand Officer, Lumineux
Communications
If you know another language, a career in customer service is a great option for you. Customer service representatives interact with a very diverse array of people, and knowing Spanish or any other language can help you greatly succeed in a customer service career. By knowing another language, you will stand out in your job because you’ll be able to help a whole additional group of people that your colleagues don’t have the ability to do.
Nabiha Akhtar, CEO/Founder, Lil Deenies
Teacher or a Private Tutor
Teaching is a challenging, yet rewarding, meaningful, and exciting career. You influence your students’ lives by inspiring and motivating them to achieve their potential—that’s priceless.
Learning new languages opens new perspectives on the world. Speaking Spanish gives your students many job and educational opportunities. They can also communicate with people from different countries, get to know other cultures, and explore the world with greater self-confidence.
What’s noteworthy is that there is high demand for Spanish teachers, lecturers, and private tutors. You can also earn decent money doing that job. If your heart is in teaching, don’t wait any longer and start sharing your language skills.
Agata Szczepanek, Community Manager, Livecareer
Travel Agent
Starting in high school, Spanish came easily to me. Soon, the university was the new scene, and I needed to pick a major—and pick wisely—or risk losing semesters of credit studying the wrong thing. I never knew what I wanted to do after college and never had a “dream job,” so I chose Spanish as my major because it was easy to learn and I figured that if I spoke Spanish, I could at least work almost anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.
After graduating from the University of Minnesota, I returned to Costa Rica, where I had previously spent a semester abroad. Originally thinking of pursuing a medical interpretation career, I got a job at a travel agency and that turned out to be the opportunity I was destined for. I worked there for eight years and became their top travel consultant, then in 2014 I started my own multi-national travel agency and have since turned it into a seven-figure company.
Chris Atkins, Owner & Founder, Central America Fishing
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