With the acceleration of the “Going Global” strategy in Hebei Province, this study aimed to examine the foreign-related communication competence of non-English major undergraduates and its alignment with local enterprise demands. A total of 308 undergraduates from a local application-oriented university in Hebei Province were investigated using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, with data analyzed via SPSS 26.0. Results showed that participants’ overall competence was moderately low, with workplace English reading and writing as the core shortcoming, and structural mismatch with job requirements in equipment manufacturing, infrastructure and new energy industries. Self-rated English proficiency, gender and CET performance significantly affected the competence, while exam-oriented learning contributed little to intercultural literacy. Students had strong improvement motivation but cognitive misperception of job demands and heavy reliance on translation tools. This study provides empirical evidence for optimizing college English teaching to cultivate talents for Hebei’s internationalized enterprises.