7 Nov 2011 ● Andre Boeke
only fluent english speakers please
We regularly talk to our clients and discuss ways of improving the job title, the job description and what qualifications and other requirements there are. Ultimately you, as a client, need your vacancy filled by the best applicant possible.
There is always room for improvement in the quality of the candidates that jobsites send over to you, and this is something we really focus on. It is not a one-off, but an ongoing project where we are constantly looking to further enhance the service we provide.
One of things I want to talk about is the candidate’s ability to speak English. With many customer facing roles it’s crucial that your employee is able to interact and communicate effectively, especially with your customers!
How does this translate into a tangible requirement that candidates can confirm they meet? If you say:
“You must have a good level of spoken English” – what does this mean? “Good” is subjective, and is always going to be interpreted differently. An improvement would be:
“You must be able to speak English fluently”. Being fluent requires more than just a good command of a language. It means you must be able to speak with ease. This is definitely a higher level, but again, it is still subjective.
Another variation is: “You must have an exceptional standard of spoken English”. Still subjective, but as long as this is an actual requirement of the job, it is permissible and will reduce the potential for misinterpretation by candidates.
It’s always a good idea to have processes and also say that candidates may need to prove that they meet the requirements as set out on the advert. This way you are holding people to account – and dis-incentivises unsuitable applications.
How does this translate into a tangible requirement that candidates can confirm they meet? If you say:
“You must have a good level of spoken English” – what does this mean? “Good” is subjective, and is always going to be interpreted differently. An improvement would be:
“You must be able to speak English fluently”. Being fluent requires more than just a good command of a language. It means you must be able to speak with ease. This is definitely a higher level, but again, it is still subjective.
Another variation is: “You must have an exceptional standard of spoken English”. Still subjective, but as long as this is an actual requirement of the job, it is permissible and will reduce the potential for misinterpretation by candidates.
It’s always a good idea to have processes and also say that candidates may need to prove that they meet the requirements as set out on the advert. This way you are holding people to account – and dis-incentivises unsuitable applications.
