Spanish required for a job? (Nuevo: employment, high schools, universities)

[AnUnidentifiedMale]

I've been seeing comments on other sites that say Spanish language skills are increasingly a requirement for a lot of jobs in L.A.

Has anyone here noticed this?

[antialphabet]

I don't know about it being a requirement, but I think employers have always given more consideration to the applicants with the most skills. Being fluently bilingual is considered a skill.
Depends on the job.

Spanish classes, as well as other languages, are offered extensively in high schools, junior colleges, universities. There is a huge Latino market(obviously) in the Southwest, so I would think being fluent in English and Spanish would definitely be a plus.

[Full-Blooded American]

There are MANY jobs here where "habla Espanol" is a requirement. I've seen quite a few of them in the Jobs section of the L.A. Times, and most government jobs where you interface with the public require "habla Espanol", as discussed on various radio talk shows. And, as we have a mayor who champions La Raza, things will only get worse for those of us who "no speaky Spanish".

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...exico_med1.jpg

[antialphabet]

Originally Posted by Full-Blooded American

There are MANY jobs here where "habla Espanol" is a requirement. I've seen quite a few of them in the Jobs section of the L.A. Times, and most government jobs where you interface with the public require "habla Espanol", as discussed on various radio talk shows. And, as we have a mayor who champions La Raza, things will only get worse for those of us who "no speaky Spanish".

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...exico_med1.jpg

Better a bilingual American than a customer service representative in India.

[msnorman67]

Personally, I am a little embarrassed that I have yet to learn Spanish at 41 years of age. I wonder where the US (LA in particular) ranks in terms of native bi-lingual residents.

[SandyCo]

I know a few words, but not nearly enough to carry on a real conversation. I'm not surprised that many jobs are asking for bilingual people, especially social workers, etc. English may be the official language of this state, but the reality is that much of the public speaks Spanish.

[harhar]

Like Sandy I'm not surprised either. You either have to sink or swim, and learn Spanish. Is it fair? Is life fair?

I can understand a lot of Spanish, but converse only a little bit. If I knew more it would help me and the people that I work with a lot.

However its funny when you press a Spanish speaking to speak English, they will, and most times their English is better than my Spanish. However, other times, they hang up.

Working at a school, we shouldn't waste time teaching adults, but rather focus teaching English to their kids. If you really want to get down to the "problem."

[VillageLife]

It's a plus,not a requirement,you will get the job easier and faster,I speak spanish and chinese. I have both Chinese and Spanish clients.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Why not add the language to your employment tool box. Here is one for you. A friend was called to Hong Kong for a job interview several years ago. All of the applicants for the job were from the United States. While in a meeting with the three applicants the employers staff started to discuss the three American applicants in the same room. The employers people spoke Mandarin in the room and my friend asked them in Mandarin to be excused from the room if they were going to be talking about each of the applicants in the same room with him, as he had a noticable advantage. Guess who got the job?

I think that it is a good thing to teach our kids not only Spanish but Mandarin, German, French, Tagoli, Farsi, and any other language we can get them to become fluent in. (Not sure if i spelled them all correctly, but then if you have read my stuff, you know I have a problem with the use of there, their and they're

[vdy1985]

Being able to speak spanish will give you a leg up on other job applicants in LA. LA is Nuevo Mexico City for the most part, so spanish is pretty essential/useful.