Spanish & employment (Las Cruces: hotel, jobs, medical)

[gnubler]

My husband and I are planning to spend the late summer in Las Cruces to get a feel for the area and see if we want to stay in S. NM. While we have enough savings $ to get us by, we might want to pick up part time jobs just for some extra money. I'm curious about being bilingual, and any advantages. My Spanish is at best, pidgin-level (broken grammar) and my husband isn't even close.

Is it a deterrent to not speak fluent Spanish when looking for part time work? Say at a hotel, restaurant, bar, convenience store, etc. I'm just trying to think of the type of jobs that don't require much experience and that are typical of high turnover.

Whether we look for work or not, I'm mostly just curious about what the service industry looks for in employees and if bilinguality is a big deal.

[30apples]

No, you don't need Spanish for those kinds of jobs. But for many government jobs and some other kind of office work , along with some jobs in the medical/nursing home field you might need Spanish. Good luck

[onelilredrose]

I am born and raised in New Mexico (never lived anywhere else) and I do not speak spanish. Here and there I have picked-up a few words, but mostly because the streets are nemed them. You do not need to know the meaning of the spanish-named street, so don't worry about that either.
Enjoy your stay in 'Cruces!
Rose

[GregW]

When we move there I expect I'll reawaken the high school spanish. In the meantime I expect that Gracias, De nada. will go a long way.

[Sarahsez]

You shouldn't have any problems. The majority of the people I met that spoke Spanish were bilingual. If you really needed someone to speak a little Spanish, there is usually someone else around who can translate. The Spanish that was spoken in Southern New Mexico is not the Spanish that we learned in high school. I have a couple of friends who are fluent in Spanish, but are not native Spanish speakers. My friends said they were unable to converse with the locals in Spanish because the local Spanish has a lot of slang in it. If you listen in, you'll notice that you'll hear a few recognizable Spanish words, probably some Spanish you don't understand, and a few English words thrown in.

I didn't live in Las Cruces. I can only imagine that it is like other areas in New Mexico and across the country that need help. If you are willing to work and can pass a drug screening test, you should have plenty of employment opportunities especially if you are looking for jobs in areas with a high turnover.

Good Luck! I hope you enjoy your stay.

[tito]

I have been in Las Cruces many times, I even owe a piece of property there. During all my visits to Las Cruces I always felt that I was in an American city where English is the natual language, in fact I met some people with Hispanic names who didn't speak Spanish. If one needs to speak Spanish to be able to live in Las Cruces, we would be having a very serious problem. Even in San Antonio, TX where there is a higher percentage of Hispanics, English is still the "official" language.