German Minor

Imagine Your Future

There is no typical career path for students who minor in German. However, these skills allow you to thrive in many fields: from the arts, business, communication, consultancy, diplomacy, and education to work in financial institutions or in government or international organizations. Knowing a foreign language can also benefit you in fields from health services, hospitality management, human resources, IT services, journalism, law enforcement, marketing, and media to politics, public relations, retail and sales, security, tourism, trade, and translation and interpretation services. German consistently places in the top 10 for its usefulness in a variety of professional fields.

In addition, almost half of US adults, 49 percent, look back on their education and say they wish they had taken more classes in foreign languages, according to a survey by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Sixty-three percent say it’s important to teach foreign languages to children. Also, a quarter of Americans ages 18 to 29 say they often use a language other than English with family and friends.

Language skills are in high demand among US employers, and that demand is only expected to increase.

According to a survey commissioned by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, nine of 10 US employers rely on employees with skills in languages other than English. Of those employers, 56 percent say their foreign language demand will increase in the next five years.

In addition, 47 percent of US employers have stated a need for language skills exclusively for the domestic market; one in three language-dependent US employers reports a gap in language skills, and one in four US employers reports a loss of business because of a lack of language skills.

Career Opportunities

Germany is a cosmopolitan, democratic, prosperous country that plays a leading role in the European Union. It is a highly industrialized nation with strong international links.

Germany and the US have many common experiences, values, and interests, and they have strong political, cultural, and economic connections.

German companies offer about 700,000 jobs, making Germany the fourth largest foreign employer in the United States. In Pennsylvania, many firms are subsidiaries or affiliates of German companies. Bayer, a pharmaceutical company that has thousands of employees in western Pennsylvania, is one example.