Abstract:

The importance of a foreign language as a means of day to day and professional communication has increased considerably. Moreover, in the era of globalization and internationalization, mastering at least one foreign language is considered a means leading to successful employment on the labour market. Therefore, the level and quality of foreign language teaching at universities reflects the requirements of society and respects the needs of study programs as well as the needs of Slovakia in international environment. The students are expected to become specialists who are able to increase their qualification using foreign language materials and communicating with their colleagues from abroad. This fact is reflected in the curriculum of subjects taught at non-philological universities, which are aimed at acquiring and practicing foreign language skills. The aim of present paper is to find out to what extent an appropriate mastering of a foreign language is important for the employment of university graduates on the labour market. We point out the various advantages and benefits of mastering foreign language, especially when applying for a job. With the help of selected job portals, we examine specific job positions for which students are being trained during their studies at the Faculty of Economics and Management of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra. The main criterion for their examination is the need of foreign language skills in these job positions. We determined the research sample in the number of 100 job advertisements for a specific job position. The results are presented in the form of graphs and are accompanied by recommendations for better employability of university graduates in Slovakia concerning the acquisition of foreign language skills.

Keywords:

Foreign language skills, labour market, job and foreign languages, university graduates, job portals.