On March 31st, UCLA ELTS students had the chance to meet with representatives from outside organizations to network, receive advice from established professionals, and explore related career pathways. Students were able to expand their perspective on what it means to work in the linguistic and cultural fields after graduation. Here is what some students had to say about the experience:
“Everyone was very welcoming and kind, open to questions. I got to learn about relevant experiences in LA. I’m now going to find an event to attend at the Hammer museum.”
“I loved seeing how passionate the representatives were about their work, especially when the work involved bringing people together (like the Elles collective). {…} No matter what my education background is currently, there are so many opportunities in different fields. Language is one of the skills that is very applicable to many fields and is therefore worth investing time in.”
“It was so great to speak with professionals knowing they want to help you and knowing that learning French will give me better opportunities of being hired.”
“I learned no matter where you are on your language journey, there are opportunities out there for you. Many people were excited to hear that I was studying French.”
“I was highly impressed by how many immigrants were so passionate about intertwining their professional lives in the United States with their home cultures. Specifically, speaking to representatives from SACC-LA and GABA was a very interesting example of this. While these people technically work in American industries, they recognize the importance of international business and trade relations, and work to strengthen those with their home country and its fellow immigrants.”
“I was impressed by the opportunities that exist in these cultural/linguistic fields outside of language teaching.”
“This career fair was fun and interesting. As a computational + systems biology major, they didn’t have many related opportunities, but I liked how there were various industries presenting – from museums, study abroad, news and other professional industries. I wasn’t considering a career speaking French before but seeing how it can be incorporated with other opportunities in the US made it more realistic in my mind.”
“I spent some time before the event researching the opportunities at the fair and was worried that I wouldn’t find many or even any options that could help me in my professional development process. However, I was proven wrong when I ran into the Career Center table. There I met a lady who is one of only three pre-law advisors helping pre-law students with their applications to law school. Lately I’ve been having a lot of trouble worrying about what I need to do, what jobs I need to get, all questions that could be answered by someone in that field. Luckily she was very helpful and gave me her contact to reach out and answer questions and I’ll be scheduling my first official meeting very soon!”
For these students and many more, the 2025 European Languages and Transcultural Studies Job Fair was a professionally and personally fruitful experience. We hope to see you next year!