|
|
| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Administrative and Office Support |
Brak wants to know, "Why do I have to be bilingual for an Adminstrative office job"? |
I was job hunting today and a lot of office jobs say bilingual a plus or bilingual a must. What if I am only fluent in English? One job offer did not include phone duties and mentioned bilingual. I only speak English and a little bit of Spanish. In all honesty, it is because many companies can use bilingual staff to lure in new business without paying those who have the skill the bonuses they are worth. The 'misconception' is that there is a lot of money to be had in the Hispanic community, thus bilingual people are needed. Sadly, those who have mastered another language are often taken advantage of...as...because companies and agencies are 'cheap', their 'bilingual' person may be loaned out with no extra pay to other segments of the organization, from the mailroom to the corporate suite. MY advice? If you want to become bilingual, do it at a community college or a training program where you can get a certificate to prove you have 'passed' or 'taken' a course. This will boost your dollar value heading into a company, and IF you decide to job shop, will give you an edge on your compatition. I speak a little Spanish, and have the 'paperwork' to show I have had training. However, some of my Hispanic friends speak 'Spanglish', and DO understand English for survival reasons. Be aware that there are different typses of Spanish...and of course, if you master the slang, you are definitely worthy of hire. I can give you an example with my own business. I have a full service insurance Agency in a major metropolitan city in the Mid-Atlantic Region. My client base is about 35 to 40% immigrants (from all countries, Ethiopia, Great Britain, Russia, El Salvador, Mexico, etc.) of which at least 80% speak Spanish. If my Agency was in one of the suburban cities East of here the percentage would probably be even greater. Everyone on my staff is at least bilingual--I speak three languages, one other staff person speaks five languages. I have hired someone who only speaks English in the past but frankly they would be limiting their own growth potential with my company. I currently have 6 agents and 2 administrative positions. Any business that is located in a diverse metropolitan community risks losing business if they do not attempt to reach out to Spanish language clients. By the year 2009 it is predicted that one out of every six persons living in the U.S. will be of Hispanic origin. And the buying power of the Hispanic market is growing at a rate of 347% over a 20 year period compared to non-Hispanic buying power of 148.5% over the same period. If you really want to have job security take more Spanish classes--it certainly will not hurt you. And it will probably make you an asset and increase your possibilities in the job market and other areas. Good Luck! brak i saw you learning italian on a youtube video, so dotn give me that, you are good at Italian, please keep practicing so i can call and order a italian meatball sandwich from you if you get a job at the admin cafateria. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deoz20qnd... When I was in the job market (I'm working on BA now), I saw lots of those jobs. I am in Texas and every other ad would say 'bilingual' a must. I wonder if anyone has ever tried suing for discrimination? I've seriously considered it. ...I refuse to learn Spanish. I'm actually taking an Italian class instead to meet my degree requirement. Immagration, all because of the immigration that is happening in America. Not for all jobs. Not here in New Jersey. Bilingual is optional. |
| Tags |
| Law & Legal Health Care Government & Non-Profit Food Service Financial Services Administrative and Office Support Other - Advertising & Marketing Search Engine Optimization |
Finance Categories--Copyright/IP Policy--Contact Webmaster |