I can not believe that it has been 30 years now. My memories of the ‘big move’ to the ‘big apple’ are still pretty vivid. The road I’ve traveled in the USA has had its ‘ups and downs’, along with some curves, valleys, and numerous hills along the way (steep hills I should add) but I’ve traveled it all a-mile-at-a-time, and never losing the momentum needed to reach my final destination…my goals. I truly wouldn’t trade the road I’ve chosen for anything in the world. It’s been a good road thus far. Yes, it is true. The USA is the ‘land of opportunity’. If you have dreams, if you work hard and don’t deviate from those dreams, you can make them come true. Motivation, persistence, hard work and high standards have been my key to accomplishing my goals. Also, the people I have met along the way have been a blessing in my life, and have made it a better road for me.  Since this blog has a bilingual theme to it, I’ve thought that to commemorate my special moving date, that I would share some of my personal stories, which I’ve included in previous blogs.  Hope you can learn something from my experiences, and that they give you hope. May they help you in your path to becoming bilingual, help you in assisting someone who wants to become bilingual, or in accomplishing your own goals and dreams. Thank you for being an avid reader of this blog and for being a part of BilingualJobFair.com.

Yours truly ~ Mylene

Can you imagine a sales person traveling to Japan, to sell pharmaceutical products, or working for an automobile parts company and not being able to speak Japanese?  Now, picture the same example, but this time with the sales person being bilingual and speaking English and Japanese.  This would be a more comfortable situation all around. If the employee is bilingual, he or she can communicate the benefits of the product, can interact with the local people, and can create better relationships with Japanese customers for the company overseas, including when they are visiting their customers in Japan.  And while they are in the United States, they can communicate with company management, with their co-workers and can have the best of both worlds; in Japan and in the US.   The sales for the company can increase and everyone involved can feel more comfortable dealing with each other…because they understand each other.

This brings me up to the last post on the “advantages of hiring bilingual company representatives” – and this is my conclusion:  When companies hire bilingual sales people and or bilingual company representatives, we have winners all around.  The company selling their products and services can see an increase in their sales, based on the good communication between the sales person and the customers.  On the other hand, the client is also a winner, because they can communicate better with the company selling them the product or service. Having a bilingual sales person is a win-win situation for everyone. Companies should not go without bilingual personnel. We are important and can make a HUGE difference for corporations all over the world.

Let’s take as an example folks in the healthcare industry; such a nurse, a dietitian or even a physician.  If they are bilingual, they can communicate better with patients, and can provide better care for the patients.  A dietitian can explain the diet to the patient. A sick patient can explain his or her symptoms better to the doctor or the nurse, and there can be better communication among all parties.  Folks can take better care of each other.  By experience, I can tell you that one of the hardest things when you are learning a new language is to get sick and not be able to communicate your symptoms to the nurse or to the doctor.  If you are speaking to someone who can understand you totally, your chances to get better care can improve greatly.  This is an industry that needs bilingual professionals and has a long way to go. We can all get better health care if we can understand each other better.

If the company has a bilingual sales representative who can speak English and Spanish to the Hispanic market, that bilingual employee can communicate the calling plans, the minutes per month, the calling features, and all of the advantages of the specific carrier to their customers; in their native language.  Since the Latino community out-spends the general market in minutes used per month, the company can be the chosen carrier for the Latino community in that area, and can consequently increase their sales and bottom line.  The telecommunications company will also create more loyalty in the specific market, by communicating better with clients, and by the consumers appreciating the efforts of the telecommunications company in their specific market. And there’s nothing like loyalty in the business world!

If the company offers specialty products, those products can be sold better to the specific community by an Italian, Hispanic, Irish or a German person.   Why?  Because the bilingual person understands the product, they might have used the product themselves – all of their lives – and can answer the questions to the client.  Also, if you are a believer of a product and or a service, you can sell it.  In the end, the company can benefit by hiring a bilingual and multi-cultural employee to service that community.  There may be better relationships – and oftentimes – better relationships equal better sales for a company.

In the following blogs, I’ll provide several examples of the benefits I see in hiring bilingual sales representatives. 

Example 1 of the advantages of having bilingual sales jobs – or a bilingual company representative – Delivery Truck-Delivery Package person in Chinatown, NY – or Chinatown in San Francisco, CA

Sending a Chinese company Representative – or someone who is totally fluent in Mandarin-Chinese will provide a tremendous benefit to the company, because they can communicate better with the clients or prospective clients.  The hundreds of companies in Chinatown can create a better relationship with the specific bilingual company representative.  They will see each other daily, and the Chinatown companies can end up giving the bilingual representative more business.  Comfort and loyalty can be a direct result of their relationship.  The delivery company can see benefits in their bottom line. Ultimately, everyone involved can be happy with the end result.

I believe that when bilingual people from different countries work together, they might connect more to each other than the average company personnel. They could have many things in common, like knowledge of more cultures, different values, music, beliefs, foods, dance, and other diverse cultural identities.

When I lived and worked in New York City, I recall being in the subway and hearing two people speaking, and asking myself “what language is that?” After living there for a while, I would challenge myself, and was able to tell when people were speaking Greek, Japanese, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, French, Hindi, Korean, Russian, and so on.  It all fascinated me.

At the advertising agency I worked for, there were people from Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, and many other Latin American countries.  I loved to learn more about their respective dishes, native cultures, dances, music, about their families, and to hear about their individual American dream stories.  All of the employees were bilingual, and it appeared that we had an International day each day at work.

When a company has bilingual employees in the US, those employees have usually moved here from other countries.  Consequently, they have their own ‘American dream story’ and have worked hard to ‘make it’ in America.  A company can have an International Day, and can have employees bring homemade dishes from their respective countries.  Companies can have more fun events at work and enjoy the teamwork that builds and develops from having a pleasant work environment for everyone.  To learn more about having a diverse work environment, click here.

In summary, globalization is changing the world – and we all need to get a better worldwide picture in our respective companies.  Globalization not only goes for the economics, but it also goes for our communication with each other.  Bilingual employees will become essential to get a better worldwide picture.

Picture this.  Your company is expanding into Brazil and you have to hire a General Manager, who will be in charge of your expansion…but you do not speak Portuguese.  You have to conduct focus groups as well, to see about the feasibility of bringing various products into Brazil but you are concerned about communicating with the local residents, and describing your products well enough to the target market. Can you imagine the position you will be in?

When a company has bilingual personnel, the bilingual employees can travel with management, and the company’s representatives can have their own local connection to the market.

As I indicated in ‘Advantage #3’, the bilingual employee can understand the market better and can provide a better cultural identity with the local residents.  Picture the Brazil example I provided above, but now add a couple of dynamic sales people to the trip with you and a product engineer who speaks Portuguese.  The trip would be easier because there will be true contact, accurate positioning of the products, and communication of the bilingual employees with the Brazilian market and with the future customers.

Language is a critical aspect of connecting with a culture.  Bilingual employees provide that connection.

If the company has an experienced bilingual staff, who is familiar with the products and services, and who have proven themselves in their field; the company has a bigger winning potential and can better penetrate and reach new markets.

Bilingual employees can assist the company with the knowledge of the new location, what the culture likes, dislikes, and with the knowledge of their purchasing habits.  For instance, if I was advising a client and they were reaching the Hispanic market, I could tell them that the Latino population is brand oriented and loyal to the products and services they like.  If the particular company wanted to translate their company material into Spanish, I would tell them to use ‘neutral’ Spanish, which can be understood in the various Latin American markets. I know the Hispanic market well, and can illustrate the Hispanic culture to a company.

Each language is inter-related to a specific culture, and the bilingual employee can help the company understand the specific market.  Consequently, the company can get a better cultural identity and a better connection to the market, through their bilingual employees.