In today's unpredictable job market and economy, as Forest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get." With the merging of companies and out-sourcing of jobs, gone are the days when we felt secure in our jobs and when we could take our employment for granted and go on cruse-control until retirement. We can no longer be in denial about the fact that our world is becoming more global and contact with people of other countries is increasing exponentially. How can you improve and expand your employment options and security nowadays? The answer is one in which few of us really give serious thought to because it seems too simple. The answer is this: if you learn to speak Spanish fluently, you will increase your marketability, job position, job options, salary and security.

Increased Marketability:

Why should you invest your time and energy to know a second language? More and more jobs today require a minimum of basic proficiency in another language. If you have proven yourself to be a competent employee with the required job skills and you speak a foreign language such as Spanish, you are much more likely to snap up that dream job of yours than if you are monolingual. Even only having a basic knowledge of Spanish may be the deciding factor that puts you in a class above the rest of the applicants for the job you are pursuing.

Increased Job/Career Options:

In the US, with the rapidly increasing Hispanic population, there are many different career fields such as nurses, social workers, teachers, drug enforcement agents, investment analysts and many more, that need Spanish speakers. On the international platform, people who speak Spanish often have opportunities to work in trade or business fields. Other more high profile options include diplomacy, interpretation, and security applications, which all require proficiency of another language.

Increased Salary:

Money talks. Did you know that bilingual highly skilled employees often receive a larger salary than their non-Spanish speaking counterparts? Having an extra language skill that few people have will give you a marketable advantage over your competitors. The fact that companies are willing to pay you more for speaking Spanish is especially seen in the more senior/managerial positions. Thus to secure a senior management position in a large company, a knowledge of languages such as Spanish and the experience of other Spanish countries and cultures which that allows, are now essential. An employer will see you as a bridge to new clients if you know their language. More clients equal more money and profits for the company.

Increased Career Security:

Recent surveys indicate that more than 80 agencies of the federal government rely on professionals with intermediate to high-level competence in foreign languages. Why? Because when you learn to speak fluent Spanish you can improve your cognitive and critical thinking abilities. This in turn will give you the ability to gain an understanding of the cultures of US trading partners such as Mexico, Argentina, Columbia, etc. In addition, because of today's global economy, American multinational corporations and non-governmental organizations need people with foreign language abilities in order to compete effectively in global markets. They need employees who can communicate in foreign languages and understand other cultures.

Nothing in life is guaranteed but what we can do is to improve the odds with regards to our job security and overall financial well being by learning Spanish. Spanish could play a unique role in improving your professional portfolio, security and salary. What are you waiting for? Now is the time to learn how to speak Spanish online (for the convenience, student-centered teaching tools and excellent resources available). There is no time like the present to get started and get ahead of the game before it's over.