Russian in Your Career
Is Russian a marketable skill? The answer is of course, yes, but
in an increasingly complex world it is sometimes difficult to identify
opportunities where vocational demands are constantly changing.
Teaching used to provide employment for the largest number of Russian
language majors, and government was the next most productive source of
jobs. 
With the growth of trade relations and cultural exchange
agreements between the United States and the countries of the former
Soviet Union, the demand for Russian majors is more diverse. US-Russian
trade agreements have opened new areas of employment in banking,
manufacturing, sales, technical consultation, contracts, negotiations
and office management, to say nothing of the necessary work of
interpreting and translating commercial documents (from contracts to
sales brochures). It is generally recognized that Russian language
skills are best practiced in conjunction with some other professional
training. Thus, a student planning on a career in business should aim
for a degree in economics, business administration or accounting. Those
interested in government careers should combine Russian language
training with political science. Students in science, technology,
engineering and computers should keep in mind that knowledge of Russian
opens the way to employment opportunities strictly closed to complacent
monolinguals.
Opportunities in scientific, technical and business translation also
have increased in the past five years. With the opening of a 
number of
private translation firms, a general background in sciences, economics
or engineering plus knowledge of Russian are keys to employment in the
field. There are also vacancies in the area of machine translation and
artificial intelligence.
A recent study conducted by the National Foreign Language Center indicates that the need for Russian language competence in governmental, business, professional, and private contacts is expanding rapidly, and there is every indication that it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
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