Saturday, August 18, 2012

Increase Your Value as an Employee by Learning Spanish

By Mark Twains


First off, learning Spanish isn't going to be easy so you better be willing to put in your time to see the task to completion.

Learning Spanish as a second language has many benefits that can be an asset to your business life as well as your personal life. The number one thing that employers look for in a qualified employee is their communication skills. A valued employee has the ability communicate effectively with co-workers, employers and potential customers. In order for businesses to survive in the ever-changing global markets they need to be able to adapt. They are doing so by becoming more diversified and reaching out to target audiences around the world. Being able to communicate effectively in a second language will make you a highly valued and more versatile employee!

Did you know that about half a billion people live in North America today? Of that number, about 30% speak Spanish as either their primary or secondary language. Wouldn't it make sense for a company to develop products and sale those products to this massive target market? That's a no brain er for most companies and the evidence of the expanding Spanish language market can be seen every time you look at the instructions to any tech device you buy. There's always bilingual instructions included now-a-days. Twenty years ago this was never seen! With the expansion of this growing market, anyone who knows how to speak Spanish fluently will become more valuable to their employers.

Currently, the United States has one of highest unemployment rates in its history. This means that there are lots of highly qualified prospective employees hunting for any job they can get their hands on. So do everything you can, while you can, to keep your hard earned job. There are many benefits to knowing how to communicate effectively in Spanish. When a company decides to target the Hispanic community for a new product release then knowing Spanish will place you in a position to get a job at that company if you are currently UN-employed. If you currently work for this company, know how to speak Spanish, and are a sales representative then doors will open for you to make more sales and improve your overall quality of living through increased commissions. You may also find yourself reaching new bonus plateaus and bringing home a bigger pay check in regards to that format.

Cultural awareness is essential for a company to survive in the global market! They need to know how to interact and communicate with every aspect of the product line, from productions to consumers. For a company to do this, they need to have talented individuals on staff that know how to speak multiple languages and are well aware of cultural differences. This is where your multilingual skills will come in handy. By having these skills you will be setting yourself up to take on new job opportunities and where there are new job opportunities there are pay increases. You never know where and when a new opportunity will present itself and the only way to take advantage of an unknown opportunity is to prepare for it before it presents itself.

Customer relations are also vital to the success of any business. Being able to relate to your consumers in their native language will help your company gain their respect. If a competing company is not taking the time to focus on customer relations then they will lose out on a lot of business that they otherwise would have gotten. In addition, one of the most valuable marketing tools in the world is the marketing that occurs through word of mouth. A happy customer will tell others about their experience with the company which may lead to more sales. By knowing Spanish you can give yourself the opportunity to be more valuable and successful in what ever you do!

Another way that knowing how to speak Spanish can make you more valuable to your company is through department-to-department communication with in your company. Suppose your company is a multinational company and you need to communicate with another department in another country in order effectively complete a project. If the other department is in a Spanish speaking country then knowing how to speak Spanish will be a vital skill to have. I am sure your employers will notice your valuable skill and keep that in mind if the company ever has to do some restructuring. This means that you are more likely to keep your job verses someone who lacks multilingual skills.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment