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Why is networking so important?

It is essential for business leaders to master the skills involved in networking. This is the same across all industries and regardless of your level of experience. Good industry networking is the difference between having an okay career and a fantastic career.

With the right approach, networking can help you to build relationships that will be mutually beneficial with other professionals within your industry. With a solid network of professionals in place, you will be one of the first to hear about new and exciting job opportunities within your industry. You’ll also know when people with the right skills are looking for a new role and would fit nicely into your team and reap a whole host of other benefits.

Who should your professional network include?

You need to make sure that you have the right contacts in your professional network. This is something that will help you to maximise your learning opportunities and career growth. You should consider building your industry network to include the following groups of individuals:

Former and current colleagues

Study peers and classmates

Friends in the industry

Members of the appropriate industry-related associations

Peers from other digital networks like LinkedIn

Recruiters who are specialists in your field

The type of networking that you do may vary but could include everything from informal chats at social events to attending events that are specific to your industry. The goal of networking is to open up the lines of communications and begin to make network relationships

The benefits

There are many benefits to be had from networking, and if you are not doing your networking effectively, then you could be damaging your career prospects. These benefits include:

Strengthening your business connections within your network

Tapping into your network when you need ideas and perspectives

Raising your professional profile

Helping you to grow your own personal brand

Getting access to job opportunities

Exchanging best practice knowledge with members of your network

Getting support and career advice

Boosting your confidence

Gain a perspective that is different

Develop long lasting relationships that can also be social as well as professional

Get answers when you have questions

Find your ultimate dream job

How do you start networking?

Building networks is incredibly beneficial for your career but for many individuals the work that is necessary to build up a network is not something that comes naturally. Not everyone is comfortable starting conversations with individuals that they do not know and even the idea of sitting next to a stranger at a conference can fill them with dread.

You can prepare for such eventualities by planning ahead and making sure that you have a couple of relevant points for discussion in your arsenal so that when you find yourself making small talk with new people you have something to discuss. Not all discussion points need to be about work, they are simply ways of getting conversations started.

multi-lingual communities around the world

How Many People Around the World Speak More Than 1 Language

Leave a Comment / Business Success / By Guest

Speaking more than one language is highly beneficial. It helps you to keep your brain in good shape, helps you learn additional languages with more ease, helps broaden your job prospects and gives you better ability to communicate.

The positives of knowing more than one language are plenty, but just how many people across the world actually are bilingual or multilingual? Let’s take a closer look:

How Many People Can Speak More Than One Language Worldwide?

As it stands, at least 50% of the world is able to speak at least two languages with some estimates as high as 75%. This is more common in some countries than others. In the UK and America, Italy, Ireland, Hungary and Portugal, populations are less likely to speak an additional language. However, across Europe, certain countries have a really high chance of speaking an additional language. A high percentage of people (over 90%) in: Latvia, The Netherlands, Sweden, Malta, Slovenia, Lithuania and Luxembourg are able to speak more than one language. Across the world: Aruba, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Suriname, East Timor are well known for being bilingual or multilingual countries.

Does It All Come Down To Learning?

Although learning additional languages is a deliberate choice for many people, there are lots of countries where learning extra languages is simply expected, or necessary. Papua New Guinea, for example, uses over 840 languages. Of course every person doesn’t speak all those languages, but it’s common for people to be multilingual as par for the course.

Interestingly, a person who speaks a certain language, such as Ukrainian, may also have an understanding of a similar language, such as Russian. So, although they don’t speak the same languages, they, to some degree, can access materials that are in a Russian language.

Some communities may also understand a language conversationally and be bilingual in a sense, but more detailed versions of the language may not translate as well to them. They may also only communicate with that language in certain ways. So, if an area has a second language that many people speak, if you want to capitalise on that by adding that language to marketing content or learning content, it’s important to know how that additional language is generally used. Is it conversational? Is it written or read? This will help you to choose between adding useful layers like subtitles, voice overs or dubbing to content.

So, where it might seem like a good idea to utilise the country’s main language for a voice over, and perhaps a British voice over for business materials or marketing, in fact, there are usually multiple languages you could apply to any one video to further its reach.

Always Choose Professional Translation Services

Whichever languages you choose to use in your business project, always choose professional translation services. A professional translation and voice over agency such as Matinee will ensure that whichever languages end up in your international marketing strategy are correctly translated and localised. This ensures that your content has the best chance of representing your brand well, and communicating your marketing message for a positive impact on your target market.