Related to Major
Linguistics
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
For more information, visit the Department of Linguistics website.
Explore Your Possibilities
According to Workopolis, almost one third of Canadians have 5 to 10 different jobs in one career, and one in every four has more than 10 different jobs in one career (Workopolis, 2015).
Explore the list of job titles below for ideas about what you could do with your major. Remember your choice of major is not all there is to you, and organizations hire people, not majors.
Some of the occupational titles reflect jobs of SFU Alumni, and others are occupations commonly associated with each major. Jobs that typically require further education are also listed.
Make a list of options you are most curious about, then start exploring the possibilities.
Options commonly associated with the major
- Child Learning and Development Specialist
- Terminologist
- Technical Writer
- Pronunciation/Dialect Coach
- Endangered Languages Educator
- Speech Writer
- Translator
- Sign Language Interpreter
Other Possibilities
Job titles beyond the typical options
- Social Researcher
- Communications Specialist
- Public Relations Assistant
- Study Abroad Officer
- Quality Assurance Tester
- Language Data Analyst
- Data Collection Assistant
- Web Content Migration Contractor
Further Education
Possibilities with additional education or training
- Linguist
- Machine Learning Engineer
- Lexicographer
- Audiologist
- Behavior Interventionist
- Speech Language Pathologist
- Financial Consultant
- Full Stack Software Developer
Fields of Work
There are myriad fields where you could find yourself following your undergraduate degree. For example:
- Arts and Culture
- Environment
- Health
- Manufacturing
- Scientific and Technical
- Telecommunications
What fields interest you? If you are uncertain, take the initiative and start exploring different fields. If your preferred fields turn out to not be what you expected, pause. Technology, climate change, automation, globalization and other factors may impact these fields and offer new or different opportunities.
The North American Industry Classification System gives you an overview of all industries and their subsectors.
WorkBC lets you browse careers, the education expectation, salary ranges, descriptions, and specific information about each job.
Core Skills (Major-Specific)
In the course of your undergraduate degree you’ll develop a wide array of skills. While many of these skills encompass essential skills and 21st-Century skills, you’ll also develop job specific skills. These are the specialized knowledge and skills you’ll gain through your courses and are unique to your discipline.
Content knowledge and technical skills vary widely between occupations and are generally only used in one line of work. The type of skills that you’ll need depend on the scope of the work.
You want to understand what skills you developed and the one’s you want to use, so when someone asks you about your discipline content knowledge and skills you can speak clearly and confidently about them.
+ MAJOR Specific Skills
- Language structure typology skills from developing a comprehensive knowledge of the different types of languages that exist.
- Language pattern recognition and analysis skills from working with large linguistic datasets and formulating rules that explain the patterns of linguistic structure.
- Linguistic analysis software skills from extensive practice in using speech and text analysis software, some of which is at the forefront of AI technology.
- Comprehensive knowledge of the most current theories in both general and applied aspects of linguistics.
- Interdisciplinary skills from broad experience with how linguistics interfaces with other fields such as psychology, education, computer science, cognitive science, sociology, and anthropology.
- Linguistic laboratory skills from extensive experience participating in thriving research labs and learning the fundamentals about research design and ethics, participant recruitment and presentation of results.
- Develop both receptive and expressive communication competencies through collaborative projects, oral presentations, and written reports.
- Problem solving and critical thinking skills from comparing alternative solutions to datasets and alternative theoretical models for organizing and explaining patterns.
Foundational Skills
You’ll need these skills to perform different tasks and at varying levels of complexity in education and work environments depending on the what further education you pursue and on the nature of the work. The Government of Canada and other organizations such as the World Economic Forum report that these skills are increasing in importance and are highly valued and sought after by employers.
Through each of the different events and experiences in your life (education, work, travel, hobbies and extra-curricular activities) you have developed a diverse range of these skills, probably more than you realize.
Useful Sites
Through extensive research, the Government of Canada along with other agencies have identified and validated key literacy, essential and employability skills. These skills are used in nearly every career and throughout daily life and are instrumental in helping you enter, stay in, and progress in the world of work.
Get involved
There are plenty of opportunities and different ways to get involved in activities, programs and services outside of the classroom to learn and grow. By engaging in student leadership programs, volunteering, paid work, and student clubs and groups, you’ll develop new skills, make connections, and gain experience.
Explore a diverse range of inclusive events, services, and community outreach opportunities for students, staff, alumni and friends of SFU.
Explore on-campus opportunities like workshops and events, as well as volunteer and paid positions.
Want to gain experience and earn money while studying? Consider applying to the co-op program
Apply for on-campus volunteer and paid positions, participate in career and leadership development programs and workshops, and access your Co-Curricular Record.
Not-for-profit network by students for students. Find student unions, clubs and other resources and services.
Related Professional Associations
Professional associations are a valuable resource for occupational research, work search and building connections. They may offer career information, job boards, networking, mentorship, volunteer opportunities and additional resources.
Resources
Take your career exploration one step further by doing your own research. Here are some organizations and resources to get started.