Careers
Study French. Do Anything.
What can I do with a French major?
The world is more interconnected now than it ever has been before. Knowledge of the diverse languages and cultures is vital to our engagement with the global community at large. The study of French is indispensable for many sectors, including business, humanities, social sciences, communications, technology, and the arts. Notre Dame French majors find full-time employment in a variety of positions, enroll in graduate school, service programs, join the military, or launch independent projects after graduation.
Skills you'll learn
- Effective oral communication
- Strong writing
- Team Work
- Critical thinking and analytical reasoning
- Ability to apply knowledge to real-world settings
- Ethical judgment and decision making
- Ability to analyze and solve problems with people from different backgrounds
- Research and Data Analysis
- Cultural Sensitivity
- Social Adaptability
Carly Murphy '01
Vice President, Sotheby’s Auction House, New York
"I would not be who I am today without the Angers program. It taught me how to be independent, gave me friendships that last to this day, and opened my eyes to a new way to foster my love of French culture: the art world.
"We have many French clients at Sotheby’s and there was a time in my career I was tapped to phone bid with them during auctions. I now work with many French-speaking colleagues (including our new owner) and work with objects titled in French so I use it fairly often."
Learn more about Carly's career path.
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Carly Murphy '01
Vice President, Sotheby’s Auction House, New York
"I would not be who I am today without the Angers program. It taught me how to be independent, gave me friendships that last to this day, and opened my eyes to a new way to foster my love of French culture: the art world.
"We have many French clients at Sotheby’s and there was a time in my career I was tapped to phone bid with them during auctions. I now work with many French-speaking colleagues (including our new owner) and work with objects titled in French so I use it fairly often."
Learn more about Carly's career path.
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Jim Arkedis '99
Co-founder of Electica, an international political consulting firm
"My French studies at Notre Dame have been the cornerstone of my professional success. When I first when into political consulting, I was hired as a consultant by an NGO that works with political parties and activists in developing democracies regardless of ideology. They needed communications trainers in their North Africa program, and hired me to conduct trainings in their Algerian, Tunisian, and Lebanese (and later, Haitian) programs because I knew a little about political communications but mostly because I spoke French. That was the springboard to my career.
"It's a pretty rare thing to be an American who's fluent in another language, and my French has given me a professional advantage time and time again — and in ways I'd never expect."
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Amanda Tarbé de Saint Hardouin '08
Finance Manager at Medline Services, Paris
"Notre Dame’s French program fueled my desire to not only study literature from the Middle Ages through to the present but also to communicate with the French in their own so very subtle language. I am now a dual French-American citizen and working in a position that combines my French language skills and accounting knowledge for an American company in France."
Amanda majored in accounting and French at Notre Dame and went on to complete an MA in French Literature and earn her CPA designation. She spent 10 years working for EY in New York and Paris before taking her current position at Medline.
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Karen Quandt '00
Assistant Professor of French, Wabash College
"Studying in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Notre Dame has everything to do with where I am today. I started out as a French minor, because I figured boosting my language skills and cultural competency would nicely complement my studies in art history; but as time went on, I found myself pursuing a major in French and even the MA degree!
"The tremendous support of the faculty in French, along with their enriching courses and innovative research, prepared me for the rigors of pursuing a Ph.D. Most of all, my experience in RLL inspired me to be a teacher and to share my excitement about French language and culture with others."
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Christie Bodnar Swiss '02
Managing Partner, San Diego office, Collins Collins Muir + Stewart LLP
"Studying French at Notre Dame gave confidence. It led me to study abroad in Angers and travel all over Europe during a time without a smartphone and internet at my fingertips!
"At the suggestion of one of my Notre Dame professors, I applied to the Master's program in French at Bryn Mawr College, which I was able to attend on a full scholarship. I then went on to law school at Indiana University McKinney School of Law where I studied European Union law in Strasbourg, France, and participated in an international moot court competition where I argued a case on European Law in both French and English to a group of over 100 students and professors from all over Europe and the U.S. When I began to apply to law firm litigation positions, I was able to use my moot court experience as a talking point to set myself apart from the competition."
98% of recent Notre Dame French majors started full-time jobs, enrolled in graduate school, entered service programs, joined the military, or launched independent projects within six months of graduation.
Note: Outcomes data comes from First Destination reports, a survey of recent graduates conducted by the Notre Dame Center for Career Development and Office of Strategic Planning and Institutional Research. Status is known for more than 90% of each graduating class.
Independent projects include activities such as writing a novel, making a film or fine arts project, traveling the world, caring for a family member, etc.