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.

It has been my experience that people who are bilingual are more inclined to want to learn more about other cultures, they take more risks with people who they don’t know yet, and they can handle unfamiliar circumstances a bit easier. Have you noticed this as a manager?  Bilingual folks are usually fascinated by other cultures and languages therefore they enjoy the challenges that lie ahead.  I can include myself in this group since I love to learn about other cultures, global trends and global markets.

In addition, bilingual folks usually connect to their local community to a larger degree and like to get more involved with the organizations within the area.  So, if a company hires bilingual employees, they might get the benefit of having local representation at an event.  You can read my personal story of “What motivated me to become Bilingual”.  You can also read the two blogs I wrote about “Mr. Brown: My First Friend in the US – part 1 and 2”.

Retail

The retail world is a large employer of bilingual personnel.  The large chains such as Target, JC Penney, Sears, Wal-Mart and K-Mart, in addition to smaller retail outlets in malls all over the country,  need to fill positions in human resources, management, sales, inventory management and customer service.  In all of these job areas the chance for interaction with bilingual customers is high.  It is a fantastic advantage to be able to serve and communicate with a multicultural customer base.  The hiring of bilingual personnel can mean higher sales volumes for retailers because they can sell and service this growing segment of the market.

The possibilities are endless for bilingual personnel.  For more thoughts on marketing bilingual skills to potential employers, read The Advantages of Being Bilingual, and How to Write a Cover Letter that Showcases your Bilingual Skills.

To browse the bilingual job opportunities in retail that are available on BilingualJobFair.com, click here!

Education

Participation in the local, national, and international community is strengthened by knowledge of the language and cultures of other people. The key is to teach language skills so we can communicate with each other and give everyone an equal chance to become a productive member of society.  The increase in the number of students in the U.S. who use English as a second language is creating more positions for bilingual personnel in our primary and secondary school systems, as well as at the college and university levels. Opportunities will continue to expand for bilingual teachers, administrators, translators, financial aide advisors and school social workers.

There are many dedicated bilingual employees at schools and colleges who are helping our bilingual students advance. To learn more about what students go through to acquire a second language, read this post about the stages people go through to become bilingual.

Check back tomorrow for the final industry on our list.

Also, to browse bilingual job opportunities in education on BilingualJobFair.com, click here!

Health Care

Nowhere is it more evident than in the field of health care that the United States must respond to the needs of our diverse population. We need to increase the access to quality care for all citizens, including those who only speak a foreign language. Hospitals, doctor’s offices and medical insurance agencies all hire bilingual employees to address these needs.  In addition to improving communication between health care providers and their patients who come from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, medical care employers are also looking to broaden the diversity in health care leadership and administration.

Hospitals in particular are excellent sources of jobs for the bilingual job-seeker. The types of positions that are needed to be filled include: hospital administrators, doctors, nurses, medical assistants, emergency medical technicians, case managers, health educators, counselors, and billing/accounting representatives.

We have two emerging industries for bilingual jobs left to cover!

In the meantime, to browse bilingual job opportunities in the health care field on BilingualJobFair.com, click here!

Banking and Financial Services

This industry offers career opportunities for the following bilingual professionals: bankers, financial advisors, attorneys, realtors, insurance agents and automobile dealers. These professionals represent and discuss very personal matters with their clients, who want to make sure that they are well understood. With the ability to communicate effectively in more than one language, the bilingual professional can expand their clientele, and can reach out to people of other cultures. (For more thoughts on the advantages of being bilingual, read this post.)

Additional jobs available in professional offices include customer service representatives, administrative assistants, billing/accounting representatives, claims representatives, tellers and loan personnel. The banking industry in particular is eager to provide services to all populations, including the Hispanic community — the largest minority group in the United States.  They also want to service the more than 3 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S., and are therefore a key employer for those seeking Spanish-speaking jobs.

We have three more emerging industries for bilingual jobs coming.  Stay tuned….

In the meantime, to browse bilingual job opportunities in banking and finance on BilingualJobFair.com, click here!

Telecommunications

The world seems to shrink with each technological advance; with e-mail, cell phones and video conferencing you can contact virtually anyone anywhere in the world at any time!  With these advances, there is a growing need for more employees who are multicultural and bilingual.  Many companies have branches all over the world and need employees to be able to communicate with their foreign counterparts. Many companies have phone centers that are staffed by bilingual employees.

Other positions available in the telecommunications field are in sales, management, customer service, and information technology.  When customers buy, they like to feel comfortable and like to understand why they are buying.  That’s why bilingual employees are so important. (For more thoughts on the advantages of being bilingual, read this post.)

We have more emerging bilingual jobs coming.  Stay tuned…

In the meantime, to browse bilingual job opportunities in telecommunications on BilingualJobFair.com, click here!

Forward thinking employers see diversity as an opportunity to embrace a variety of opinions and cultures, and they do it because they believe in it, rather than just to fulfill their equal opportunity requirements and their quotas.

People who have known me for years can attest to the fact that although I’m a minority, I would not like to be considered for a position because I am Hispanic or because I am a woman.  I want to be considered for a position because I have the right experience, the education, the appropriate knowledge, and the skills to get that position.  Having said that, I like companies that are visionaries; companies that like to involve people of all ethnical backgrounds.  With more diversity come more ideas, better products and greater services for the company.

When you have a multicultural atmosphere, you come up with multicultural ideas that can be embraced by the world, and consequently, the company can benefit.  In my opinion, the more diversity there is in a business, the more diverse the ideas are in that business.

The leaders of multi-cultural teams need to take into consideration the many cultural facets of their employees.  Here is a short list of things to consider (and there are plenty more):

• Religious Holidays and religious practices- Managers should try to understand their employees’ religious practices and embrace their respective beliefs, including special holidays.

• In some cultures, if a family member is sick – other family members must attend to their siblings’ (parents, next of kin) needs and would not have it any other way.  An employee might need to fly to another country, to pay their last respects to a family member.  If you assist the employees at particularly tough times, the majority of them will give you loyalty back for years to come.

• For some cultures, mourning the loss of a family member, especially close siblings, is a period of time to spend time with each other (after the family member’s passing), and grieve together.

• If two employees are from a specific country, and they speak to each other during their lunch hour or during their break, in their native tongue, don’t take it personally.  No, they are probably not talking about you.  But they might connect at that time with their past (with their roots).  It might be that they don’t have anyone, but that co-worker, to speak in their native language.

• Take into account how long the employee has been away from their native country.  If it is less than five years, they are still going through the feelings of being ‘homesick’.  Be supportive and encourage them daily.  With every month and every year that goes by, it gets better.  The employee will get more accustomed to their new country, to the new customs, and to their new world.

• Keep in mind that if the employee came from another country, and spoke another language, that he or she has gone through a lot of adjustments and that they’re just trying to make their dreams come true.

As time passes, the multi-cultural employee will become bilingual and will feel more ‘at home’.  They will never forget the leaders who helped them make it in their new country.  I hope that you are one of those leaders.

Let’s learn more from each other and let’s create a more understanding world in the workplace.