Spanish Language Assessments
Tips for Recruiting Multilingual Employees
By Astrid Rial, Arial International
C
ompanies who are hiring bilingual talent to
4. Excellentverbalandwrittencommunications
service US Hispanic customers are seeking
skillsrequiredinbothEnglishandSpanish
employeeswhoareabletoeffectivelycommunicate
5. Bilingual and able to read, write and speak
in “Business Spanish” so that they can deliver
Spanishproficiently
products and services to Spanish‐speaking
6. MustspeakandwriteSpanishfluently
customers.However,confirmingthatjobcandidates
are fluent in verbal and/or written English and
Spanish is a challenge if the recruiter is not fully Inthissample,therearesixdifferentdescriptionsof
bilingual.
sought‐after job applicant skill sets, but each one
requiresa differentlevelofSpanishcommunication
Many Spanish speakers in the US speak colloquial expertise.Inthefirsttwoexampleswherebilingual
Spanish.Theyareabletoconverseacrossthedinner skills are “a plus” or “preferred”, a recruiter may
table,butthey lackthevocabulary orknowledge of decide to “take the candidate’s word” that he can
grammar, syntax or verb conjugation rules to speak Spanish. However in the last four examples,
conduct a business conversation in Spanish.Unless thecompanyisseekingspecificbilingualabilities.In
the interviewer is fully fluent in both languages, these situations, an independent language
recruiters find it difficult, if not impossible, to proficiency assessment is highly recommended as
distinguish between casual and business Spanish‐ in‐houseappraisalscanbesubjective.
speakers. For companies who offer differential pay
for bilingual language skills, the recruiter has the BestPractice“Tips”
additionalresponsibilityofensuringthecandidate’s
verbal communication and/or writing skills are
professional and appropriate for a business How do recruiters assess a candidate’s
communication and comprehension skills? Many
environment.
companies require candidates to complete a
Let’sevaluatethe followingrequirementscommonly language proficiency assessment: an objective,
usedinbilingual(Spanish/English)recruitmentads: scientificallydesignedevaluation ofthecandidate’s
verbal and/or writing communication skills.
Effective assessments are fact‐based, consistent,
1. Bilingualabilitiesareaplus unbiasedanduse aprovenmethodologytoevaluate
2. Bilingualpreferred
allcandidateswiththesame criteria.
3. Bilingualpreferred;ataminimum,theability
to understand and to make one’s self Assessment services that require no advance ap‐
understood to all Spanish speaking pointment are the most flexible forrecruiters since
no planning is required and any eligible candidate
individuals
may be assessed at the time of the interview. We
© Arial International, 2014
have found that some companies prefer to assess
candidatesforbilingualpositionsatthefirststagein
the interview process so that they only spend their
internal resources on qualified candidates. Other
companies assess Spanish proficiency in the final
steps of the interview process, after the candidate
has fulfilled other hiring requirements. Some as‐
sessment services can providestaffing for job fairs
and weekend and evening appointments as well as
duringregularofficehours.
services to multi‐lingual customers have an
additional resource available: language proficiency
assessments to objectively testthecommunication
andcomprehensionskillsofbilingualjobcandidates.
Astrid Rial, is President and Founder of Arial
International,amulticultural,multilingualconsulting,
training and services firm. Our domestic and
internationalclientscountonour22yearsofexpertise
in the U.S. Hispanic Market and throughout Latin
America. Via language proficiency assessments,
translations and bilingual training we evaluate and
improve the Spanish and English verbal and written
business communication skills of bilingual
professionals.
We have found that companies are able to recruit
and retain the most qualified candidates when the
job description is specific and lists the position’s
qualifying requirements. Advising potential
candidates in advance that their language
communication skills will be tested can help weed Weinviteyoutovisitourwebsiteat
outunqualifiedcandidatesfromapplyingforthejob. www.arialinternational.com, call 1‐877‐866‐1578 or
[email protected]
e‐mail
This is a time‐saver for recruiters as only those
candidates who are confident in their bilingual
communicationskillswillapplyforajobiftheyknow
inadvancethattheirlanguageskillswillbetested.
BenefitsandCost‐Savings
Once assessed, companies can assign employees to
the business process they are most qualified to fill
thereby improving employee retention, reducing
turnoverand,ultimately,deliveringthehighestlevel
of service to their customers. Other benefits and
cost‐savings companies experience by conducting
languageproficiency assessmentsinclude:
● increase the probability of hiring the right
candidate;
● reducetrainingtimefornewrecruits;
● provideobjectivedatatojustifybilingualpay
differentials;
● reducecostsofdischarginganemployeedue
toinadequateskills;and
● deliver consistent, excellent, high quality
servicetoyourcustomers.
Manycompaniesconductpersonalitytests, clerical
and computation skills assessments and drug and
alcohol checks to screen job applicants. These
employers know the benefits of pre‐employment
testing.Nowcompanieswhoprovideproducts and
© Arial International, 2014