Company and location
London and Paris (Head Office)

Industry sector
Broadcast Technology

Background
An independent software vendor dedicated to providing Enterprise Media Platforms (EMP) to broadcasters and content providers and corporations. French company, quoted on Euronext.

Why is your language important for your job?
I was working with a European target market and was able to communicate across all areas. Also helped me to communicate within the organisation. Although the official company language is English, it is the first language of only a small minority of employees. The Head Office is in Paris and so French is almost essential for dealing with Accounts & admin departments where the standard of English is not so high.
Additionally, the German-based team did not have French as their second language. I was able to communicate with them directly and for a short while, managed the German office on an interim basis.
In terms of external communications, I was responsible for the Partner network and this meant liaising with a global range of commercial and technical partners. Whenever it was possible to do this in their own language, it was advantageous for both sides.

How are languages used across the organisation?
Dalet is a multi-lingual company: although headquartered in Paris, the official language of the company is English. However, English is the first language of only a small minority of staff so the ability to communicate in other languages is important.

How would you describe your job?
I joined Dalet as a Sales Manager; gradually acquired other responsibilities such as Partner Manager; this meant liaising with all commercial and technical partners and ensuring that they were in receipt of up to date information; that they were aware of Dalet events, that contracts were valid & relevant etc. Finally, I was appointed Director of Marketing which meant ensuring that all marketing collateral, events etc stayed within budget, reflected the actual technology and were relevant to the current and ideally, future, markets.

What kind of skills and qualities do you need?
Good presentation skills, an understanding of IT and broadcast technology, persistence, organisational skills, self-motivation.

How have languages helped outside of work?
In several ways:

• Confidence on holidays. I’m the one who deciphers the menu, talks to the waiter, asks questions. Oddly, this isn’t just in countries where I speak the language but everywhere. It’s as if the ability to speak a couple of languages means you are more able to understand any new language.
• Confidence in travel: once you’ve mastered another language, you feel that you can manage others. You look around you and understand more of where you are.
• Friends – of course I have friends of many other nationalities and we swap between languages as we need.

What’s the best thing about knowing another language?
Having an entry into another culture. Understanding what people say; understanding the small differences between cultures that can make so much difference; feeling that the world is yours, you can go anywhere; having the confidence to deal even with languages you don’t know. I love being able to read novels and magazines in four languages; I can watch TV in all these languages; I watch the news, read newspapers, and am able to be abreast of the culture in many different countries.