Although my job doesn't involve French directly, I want to share with you my experiences since leaving Skidmore last May. Knowing French has helped me in many aspects of starting my career and beginning my life outside the the classroom.
I graduated with a double major in French and Economics last May and knew I wanted to work within the environmental economics sector. While interviewing for a job with an environmental consulting firm in New Mexico (a place I never expected to be able to use my French) my future employer looked at my resume and immediately started speaking to me in French. My ability to respond and to interact with him on a different level showed my future employer that I had great communication skills. Though a brief exchange, that conversation gave me an edge over other competitors for the job. I landed a managerial position in the company, and maintain that it was my foreign language skills that gave me an advantage that got me the job.
On another note, I think that my knowledge of French has been of the utmost importance considering recent international events. It is very interesting and useful to be able to visit lemonde.fr or liberation.fr and read articles about world events from a French perspective. Additionally, having studied abroad in Paris for a semester, I feel as though I understand the views of the French government a bit more towards the current situation in the Middle East. I feel as though my travel experiences aided in developing my scope of knowledge of the world.