Thread: Careers... when you have a degree in Russian

Hi everyone! This is my first post here... and concerns a question that is currently consuming my life! I am graduating from a University in May with a Degree in Russian with a specialization in Business... and now I have no idea what to do with it!

All throughout university people asked me what I planned to do with my degree... but now the time has come and I have no ideas

Any suggestions from anyone with a similar degree or just ideas in general? Thanks everyone!

Become a Russian oligarch.

try to find a good company where you can use your russian, maybe become a russian business/investment specialist/pimp.
you could live in russia for a year and try seek something out here

Are you talking about finding work in the US or UK?

It is an interesting question for me as I got a degree and it had no impact on getting a job at all. Nobody is really too bothered about language skills in England..... employers would be more interested in other skills you may have. However I am talking about 20 years ago. It may be different now. There is a wider market in Russia and must be many more business links than previously.

I did notice a vacancy recently for a Russian speaking Tractor parts sales negotiator near me in Exeter so there are jobs out there.

Banking and retail management was where most people seemed to go or the BBC translating services if you get a very good degree. Russian seems exciting but jobs aren't so exciting, I'm afraid!

Try www.expat.ru and ask your question there.

In which country are you? I suppose you are in UK, USA, Canada etc.
At first, in my opinion, you have to write a resume and then post it on job sites (www.dice.com, www.monster.com, www.hh.ru and on the other job sites). You'll get a feedback that give you new ideas. I think you have a good chance now.

come to China!!!

It seems to me that unless your Russian is excellent, to the point you could serve as a translator, it's probably going to be of secondary importance when searching for a job. For example, I ran into a fellow at a conference last year who told me he was looking to hire people with scientific/engineering degrees to travel to Russia on inspection tours 6-8 times per year. Being able to speak Russian would probably help you get that job, but without the scientific/engineering degree, you probably wouldn't even get an interview.

Originally Posted by Grogs

It seems to me that unless your Russian is excellent, to the point you could serve as a translator, it's probably going to be of secondary importance when searching for a job. For example, I ran into a fellow at a conference last year who told me he was looking to hire people with scientific/engineering degrees to travel to Russia on inspection tours 6-8 times per year. Being able to speak Russian would probably help you get that job, but without the scientific/engineering degree, you probably wouldn't even get an interview.

Also to be a translator you usually need a master's in Translation, or have formally done some sort of translation course. Simply knowing a language very well doesn't mean someone would be a good translator. I know people who speak both Russian and English fluently but come up with rubbish translations because they've never been formally taught translation theory.

true enough TATU, but there are a lot of good books on translation theory and its not really difficult to get into, quite interesting actually.

i dont know about the standards of translators in england as ive never met any, but over here the standard can be really shocking. the guys best chance is to go to russia and start checking things out. plus even a graduates russian is normally not that good because they lack time in the country (one year just doesn't cut it with russian)

if he's in england he'll be limited to some lucky break or maybe translating if he's lucky enough to get accepted into one of the translation societies (forget working as a translator in england without it) but for that you need to be over 25, have experience in translating and all sorts of other stuff.

im sure something will work out, just got to want it and be proactive

I will say that when I graduated at the end of the 1980's, no-one expected Russian to be of much importance in itself. If you wanted to use it, options were: translating (extra qualification required); teaching (French/German and a teaching qualification required); or civil service, (but you'd be lucky to use Russian unless you get head hunted by the security service - and then expect to spend some years with the conventional police first).

That said, some students after me did get jobs working with companies in Russia in the initial optimism and rush of Western investment in the early 1990's - but this has pretty much died down I think.

You've got an excellent degree so make the most of your transferable skills, but expect prospective employers to be more interested in teaching Russian to the people with the skills they want, than teaching those skills to Russian graduates.

Good luck!

If you are an American citizen you could apply for a job with the State Department. They look for Russian speakers and also need people to to the business management part of the foreign service.

First I taught one year, then I became a freelance translator until perestroika, then a programmer (one language is as good as another!) Then I became a masterrussian board groupie....

Well I heard that in the US only one university offers a Master's degree in translation. I doubt that's true but I think the number is low.

I met a man in the USA that took Russian for 4 years at Portland State University and is now working as a translator for the court system. I asked him how much time he spent in Russia. He said about 2 weeks. I still can't figure out how he got good enough to translate for defendants in court!

There probably isn't a big demand for Russian speakers in the UK because there arn't really a lot of Russians there (I'm in Russia now YAY! So I'll refer to it as "there") and the ones that are there speak English already but in America its a different story.

My mom looks sometimes at job offers and stuff on the internet for me for when I get out of the military and there are lots of schools, banks, hospitals, TV and internet providers etc... who need Russian speakers so badly that no formal education or previous experience is necessary.

While the pay might not be great and the work random at best, it would be great experience to have while working on a Russian degree to put on a resume.

When I was in highschool teachers or counselers called me into offices a few times to translate for Russian kids who hadn't learned english yet or to help Register families who had just arrived. In England you'd be better off learning Polish, but all the Polish people I've met there already speak English anyway.

You don't have to live in Russia to become fluent in Russian (although I would encourage it if you want to become acquainted with the culture and stuff). All you need are the right resources to help you out. Also, meeting members of the Russian community in your city also helps.

Get a job at Gazprom.