Mandarin x German (university, live, offices)

[Ichig]

In your opinion which one would be most beneficial to learn for people that work in the financial sector?

Which one is more required by companies for people working outside Mainland or Germany?

[Bettafish]

Where do you live?

In Europe, German is much more useful than Chinese. In East Asia it is the opposite.

Some things to consider:
(1) Very few people can really read and write Chinese fluently after years of studying it as a second language. Speaking is easier.
(2) All educated Germans can speak English.

[xander.XVII]

It mostly depends on which country you choose since at the financial level both people usually speak fluent English.
So, if you have deep connections with Chinese businessmen it might be beneficial (not in my opinion but I'm obviously speaking from a completely facts-less point of view), and vice versa with German.

[Mahhammer]

Mandarin in a way, most Germans speak English, many Chinese businessmen do too but the culture of "face" in Asia means being able to quote doggerel like those 4 word idioms that are thrown around will be sure to make you their favoritest white/black person they've met.

[viribusunitis]

I was recently looking into jobs in Hong Kong. Mostly at big banks like HSBC. You'll have to speak/write in Mandarin/Putonghua for most jobs. Some job descriptions just said that speaking the language would be beneficial.

Speaking German is also a must when you plan to work in Germany. Most job descriptions are only available in German and even the English ones usually say that excellent German and English communication skills are required (eg Deutsche Bank).

Same in Austria. Even the international banks require you to speak both English and German. Additional languages (especially Eastern European ones) are a huge advantage.

The same is basically true for Switzerland. French might be an additional requirement for some positions.

If you are planning to work in the US and just want something for your CV, I'd say it doesn't really matter which language you learn.

[masonbauknight]

Originally Posted by viribusunitis

If you are planning to work in the US and just want something for your CV, I'd say it doesn't really matter which language you learn.

Totally disagree there. I speak (native) American English, (near-native) French, and (university) German and Spanish. But Spanish and Mandarin are much better assets in the US than either French or German. French and German are marvelous languages, but they aren't practical here in any general terms. I've even met American employees from the big US offices of German firms such as Lufthansa, and few of these folks speak any German at all. I've been in German language classes here in NY with many such American employees, and most are there out of curiosity for the language and not because of any recommendation from the German firm (which would be unusual outside Germany and Austria.)