Learning a new language has its own set of advantages and expands one’s worldview. But who would have thought that it can also lead to a salary increase?
This was what exactly happened to a 27-year-old Malaysian man who shared how his salary increased from RM1,800 to RM8,000 by simply mastering the Japanese language.
Worked as IT support after graduation
Sharing his experience to the Instagram page Malaysian Pay Gap, he wrote that he got his first job working as IT support at a hospital after graduation with a RM1,800 salary.
However, he left the job after just a year as he had to be on call 24/7 and couldn’t handle the immense pressure.
Jumping to his second job, he stayed for nearly three years doing customer support for a local software firm, earning a salary of RM3,000 which only increased to RM3,500 when he quit the job.
While he noted that he had no problems with the company, he decided to resign as he felt “stagnant” and wasn’t progressing.
Picked up Japanese
The 27-year-old later discovered that customer support and help desk agents who spoke different languages were paid more than those who spoke the local language and decided to give it a shot.
I have self learned Japanese for a long time, though not super proficient but it is serviceable. I then registered for the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N2 test, scored it, and used it to secure my 3rd job.
After passing the test, he secured his third job as an IT help desk staff in a shared service team of a multinational company (MNC) which served Japanese customers.
27yo M’sian sees salary jump from RM1.8K to RM8K
While at the company, the man wrote that his starting salary was RM4,800 and it eventually increased to RM5,300 throughout his two-year-stint.
However, he decided to leave the job after he was offered a more lucrative deal by another company to work as an IT helpdesk with a salary of RM8,000 (RM6,400 base salary and RM1,600 language allowance).
Reflecting on his journey, the man wrote that he would have continued to stay stagnant in his career had he not chosen to step out of his comfort zone.
Learning a new language and working in the said language environment had grown my career and broadened my horizon beyond my expectations.
“I can now watch anime without subtitles and travel to Japan with zero language issues!” he exclaimed in the post.
He also encouraged others to pick up a new language as it can open up doors of opportunities, just like how it did for him.
Check out the full post here:
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