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My original post was about jobs, it belongs here. One thing I've noticed about this place is the many self righteous, know-it-all, have all the answers, smart-ass posts. There are many helpful posts and suggestions, but according to many of you, the unemployed should spend the money they have to survive on going back to school and "learning a new skill, language, etc." Do you understand that when you don't have an income you cannot afford to back to school. They also are not about to take out loans to pay for school. I know people that have, and they still don't have a job, and now they're even poorer, but wow, they have a new skill set to stick on their resume. They had a darn good resume to begin with and solid work history.
Done!
If I didn't have a job, I would be learning a new skill whilst also looking for work. You can upskill yourself and teach yourself for free. There's lots of wonderful resources on the internet that are free and lots of networking and learning workshops for free in big cities. And I see lots of unemployed people on this forum do have access to the internet. So, yes, while some of us might be learning a new skill, what else are you going to do if your not employed?
It does upset me if it's a requirement and it has nothing to do with the job. In other words, it's a bonus. But if the job does have interaction with a non english speaking clientele, why on earth would you be offended? What are you going to do if you have client after client saying, "Habla Espanol? Yo necesito..." and you are like what? It's a qualification. If the job you are applying for have this needed qualification, learn it. You can't customize the job around YOUR needs, you have to fit their needs.
I know a young woman of Irish heritage who grew up in Pennsylvania. She went to college in California, earned an IT degree and learned Mandarin. The world is her oyster. She's now married with a couple of kids and she just moved her newly retired parents to California so they can help with her children because she's such a busy executive. Her parents didn't even go to college, so she's bucking the trend that young people today can't do better than their parents. But in this case a willingness to learn another country's language and the foresight to make her career in computers got her there.
Good for her! I've been considering picking it up myself just for personal enrichment.
Key to guaranteed success: Master COBOL and become fluent in Mandarin. You'll be able to name your own price for employment for life.
I was hired for my current job in part because I speak Spanish (and I am not a native speaker - sorry, these jobs are going to suburban white kids who dedicated themselves to learn like any other skill), even though Spanish is not required for the job. And yet, I still find many ways of using my Spanish in higher ed - writing materials to attract prospective students in Latin America, corresponding with parents, donors, and corporations, speaking with families of alumni (or alumni whose English has become rusty since returning home).
It's a skill, like anything else. I don't know JavaScript well, which would be helpful at work and for future employment, so I'm learning. Why not do the same with Spanish?
And I see lots of job openings that request people who speak Mandarin, Portuguese, French, Creole, and Russian. It's not just Spanish.
It does upset me if it's a requirement and it has nothing to do with the job. In other words, it's a bonus. But if the job does have interaction with a non english speaking clientele, why on earth would you be offended? What are you going to do if you have client after client saying, "Habla Espanol? Yo necesito..." and you are like what? It's a qualification. If the job you are applying for have this needed qualification, learn it. You can't customize the job around YOUR needs, you have to fit their needs.
It's becoming a very common form of discrimination and it's because the Spanish speaking pouring over the border refuse to ever learn English and demand all services be provided to them in English. It's being allowed, there was a time when immigrants were even expected to make some effort to learn English but the reality today is that there is no expectation of them but the language of this country is being changed over to Spanish. It's already like that where I live. Spanish speakers are given preference over English speakers. You will very commonly see businesses with 100% of their employees from one ethnic/cultural background -- blatant discrimination.
[color=darkslateblue][b]In my specific type of job position, it's not usually mandatory to know Spanish (because we usually have billingual assistants)...but it SURE does help!
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Last edited by 7G9C4J2; 08-10-2013 at 03:19 PM..
Reason: removed race-bashing comments
And I see lots of job openings that request people who speak Mandarin, Portuguese, French, Creole, and Russian. It's not just Spanish.
yeah, i found an amazing job at yale that i wanted to apply to, but it required that you be fluent in french, because you had to proofread transcriptions of french letters. i was disappointed because i just have half-remembered high school french but oh well, sometimes you're not qualified for a job.
i don't see how this is any different than having to speak spanish because you will be interacting with spanish-speaking people.
calling it discrimination is silly because anyone can learn spanish. you don't have to be any particular ethnicity to do that.
I see many jobs, general office, clerical, etc. I'm qualified for but they list Spanish speaking preferred or required. Sorry, but I highly resent this requirement. I don't see jobs listing any other language preference except Spanish. I feel this is a form of discrimination since we're not officially a dual language country, we're not even "officially" an English speaking country. I've always been a very open minded person, but this has always been my only bone of contention. Americans should learn other languages, but they should start to be taught a language at a much earlier age in school then we do now, that's how other countries do it. European countries start teaching their students English starting in the very early grades, when our minds are more adaptable and are like sponges, and English is the #1 2nd language taught. You live here, learn English. If I go to a different country, I would learn their language and it would probably be expected.
Lindy -- AMEN!!!!!!!
When I was job hunting I would see jobs I was qualified for and about to apply when I saw the Spanish requirement,. I have traveled to different countries and learned enough of their language to ask questions and be able to ask simple sentences.
I think Americans, in general, have been able to take for granted that we speak one of the most widely used languages in the world. It has never been an expectation that we should speak anything except English.
So the new reality where many jobs are asking for people who speak Spanish is a culture shock.
In the 1970's, my family lived in a small rural village in Scandinavia during part of my childhood due to my father's job (from the US). In that small village, children began formalized, daily instruction in English beginning in 4th grade. These were primarily children of farmers in a town with less than 10,000 people.
I am still amazed by it today.
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