Annual Salary
£22,000 to £40,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
Swap to Finance & accounting or Sales & marketing or go back to all job sectors
Swap to Finance & accounting or Sales & marketing or go back to all job sectors
Bilingual secretaries provide administrative services in English and one or more foreign languages.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings; flexibly
There will be
18.7% fewer Bilingual secretary jobs in 2027.
In your day to day duties, you could:
For general administrative duties, you could:
You could work in an office.
You can get into this job through:
It could help you if you have a degree in modern languages or languages combined with business studies, although this is not essential.
You'll usually need:
Completing a recognised qualification in administration or office skills may help you to get a job. Colleges offer a wide range of full-time and part-time courses.
Relevant subjects include:
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
You can get into this job through a business administrator advanced apprenticeship and combine it with your language skills to find work.
You'll usually need:
You can apply to companies directly if you have some of the relevant skills and knowledge required for this role.
You'll need at least one A level or equivalent in your second language unless it's your native tongue, or you became fluent by living abroad.
Employers may also expect you to have GCSEs or relevant office skills and experience.
Most businesses look for bilingual secretaries who can speak a European language like French, German, Spanish or Italian.
Other languages like Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic are also growing in demand.
You can develop your IT and administration skills by doing a free online course through The Skills Toolkit.
You could join the Chartered Institute of Linguists for professional recognition, training opportunities and to make industry contacts.
You can get more advice about working and training in languages through the Chartered Institute of Linguists.
With experience, you could be promoted to personal assistant or office manager.
You could move into translating or interpreting, or international business, sales or marketing.
You could move into a specialised bilingual role like bilingual legal secretary or bilingual medical secretary.
You'll need: