How do I find a job as a linguist in tech?
Go to linkedin.com and search for “linguist” and “linguistics”.
Go to the careers webpages of the tech giants like Amazon, Google, Oracle, Apple and search.
Figure out what other words are used in the industry for linguists. They vary by company and change over time. For example in early 2021, these were some of the job titles that linguists had at Google:
- Computational Linguist
- Analytical Linguist
Research Scientist (also used for many non-linguists)
These were titles used for linguists at Amazon:
- Language Engineer
- Taxonomist
- Data Engineer
- Language Data Researcher
- Language Data Specialist
- Applied Scientist (also used for many non-linguists)
Are there entry jobs for linguists?
A common way for linguists to get into the industry is by working for a while in localization, internationalization, translation or taxonomy. Often they work for consulting companies that in turn work for one of the big tech companies.
For example in early 2021 “Data Linguists” or “ML Data Linguists” or “Data Associate” position for consulting companies working for Amazon do not necessarily require any linguistics background, but can be a great way for a linguist to learn about the industry. Similar job titles for companies working for Google are “Bilingual Engineer”, “Language Engineer”, “Associate Linguist” and “Search Language Specialist”.