This sentence, or one very close to it, appears in 23 of the 25 Welsh requirements we found: "The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; English and/or Welsh speakers are equally welcome."
If you speak a second language, you may wonder whether it belongs on a UK CV. We counted rather than guessed.
What we counted
We read 5,555 distinct UK job adverts from 35 saved searches, including Reed and Indeed searches. The same advert often appears in more than one search, so we removed repeats first, both within a search and across searches.
A language counted only when a word for speaking, such as speak, fluent, bilingual, written, spoken or native, sat within 80 characters of the language name. That rule keeps out a line such as an employer called Welsh Government.
Only 0.7% of adverts ask for a language
41 of the 5,555 adverts asked for a language. Welsh accounts for 25 of them. The rest are spread thin:
- French: 6 adverts
- German: 4 adverts
- Mandarin or Cantonese: 3 adverts
- Spanish: 2 adverts
- Russian: 2 adverts
- Polish: 1 advert
- Urdu: 1 advert
Most Welsh adverts come from Welsh health and council employers
Of the 25 Welsh adverts, 18 came from Welsh health or council employers. We matched them on their wording, such as health board, NHS Wales, Hywel Dda, Cwm Taf, Betsi Cadwaladr, Aneurin Bevan, Swansea Bay, Powys or council. The other seven did not use those names, so the count for Welsh public bodies could be higher.
The roles are mostly paramedics (6), care workers (5), HR business partners (4), office administrators (4) and doctors (2). The rest appear once each.
Desirable, not essential
23 of the 25 Welsh adverts call Welsh desirable, and 23 say English and Welsh speakers are equally welcome. In this sample, a Welsh speaker gets a plus, not an entry requirement.
We checked the wording with a script, not by reading all 25 in full. Treat the split as a close estimate.
British Sign Language is rarer than you might expect
Five adverts mention British Sign Language. Most of those mentions are a plus, a qualification, or training the employer offers. One describes a service user who communicates in BSL, which is a different thing entirely.
What this means for your CV
If you speak Welsh to a working level, put it on your CV with the level you have. The Welsh employers in this sample treat it as a plus, so state it clearly where a reader will see it.
For other languages, add them in a languages line if you use them at work. These adverts rarely make a language a condition of applying, so do not expect a language line to decide whether you are shortlisted.
Here is the part we cannot prove. An advert is only what the employer chose to write. A manager may ask about your languages at interview even when the advert says nothing. Our data cannot tell us how often that happens.
What we could not count
- These are saved searches, not every UK job. Some sectors may be under-represented.
- We counted what adverts say. We do not know what applicants write about themselves.
- Some employers put language rules in a document attached to the advert, which we did not read.
Frequently asked
Should I put a language on my CV if the advert does not ask for it?+
Yes, if you can use it at work or hold a conversation in it. Only 0.7% of the adverts we read asked for a language, so a language line rarely decides whether you are shortlisted. It can still come up at interview.
Do Welsh health jobs need Welsh?+
Not usually, based on this sample. 23 of the 25 Welsh adverts called Welsh desirable, and 23 said English and Welsh speakers are equally welcome.
Is British Sign Language a language on a CV?+
It can be, with your level stated, for example BSL Level 2. Only five adverts mentioned British Sign Language in our sample, and most of those mentions were a plus, a qualification, or training the employer offers.
How did you count the languages?+
A language counted only when a word for speaking, such as speak, fluent, bilingual, written, spoken or native, sat within 80 characters of the language name. Adverts were de-duplicated first, because the same advert often appears in more than one search.
Check your CV before you apply.
Free to try. No account needed.
