Media Relations Jobs

[NoName]

I keep getting turned down for media relations jobs because I'm not fluent enough in Spanish. Is anyone else getting this "second language" requirement? English is my first language. I had to learn Spanish in high school (six years). I can carry basic conversion, but I've forgotten much of the grammer. The majority of employers I've seen are all looking for someone who can crank out press releases and conduct interviews in more than one language.

[jrat33]

Que???

[The Mockingbird]

Well, first you cake some bookies, then you speak a lot of Mexican to the hired help, is what I heard.

But only if you're down range.

[Creative Cutie]

It could depend on where you are looking to work. I certainly can see the value in being bilingual, as the Hispanic population is increasing so rapidly across the nation. However, I went from TV to media relations 2.5 years ago, and I am far from bilingual. I took 4 years of French in High School and never looked back. No Spanish whatsoever. Although I work in a area that has a large Hispanic population, we do not have a great deal of media for those who only speak and read Spanish. In so far as the few Spanish language media outlets that are in our area, it is incumbent upon them to have a staff member who understands English so as to be able to use our materials. I could also see it depending on the position. I am sure if I wanted a Media Relations job with one of the local public school systems in my area, that fluency in Spanish would probably be a requirement or a preference in terms of candidates. Hope this helps.

[ISTHISTHINGON?]

Originally posted by Mockingbird with cranberry sauce:
Well, first you cake some bookies, then you speak a lot of Mexican to the hired help, is what I heard.

But only if you're down range.graemlins/icon_pray.gif

[insiderknowing]

I'm in media relations and speak fluent French. No spanish and frankly, I refuse to learn it for one reason.

This is the United States. To give special language treatment to spanish speakers is to disrespect and ignore all other ESL speakers who comprise my audience. The US Census Bureau says some of the top 10 other languages spoken in this country include French, Tagalong, Italian and Vietnamese. Therefore, I will not cater to one special group but stick to english, which is the primary and unifying language of the United States.

Spanish language channels and papers are used to translating press releases or soundbites for their coverage anyway.

In addition, making spanish a requirement for a job, including public media relations jobs, is probably illegal. The city I live in now won't allow anyone to get onto city payrolls (even if you're a garbage man) unless you speak English and Spanish. It is widely expected that someone will sue soon to challenge that requirement.

If I were you, challenge the system and apply and yes..you ARE bilingual--english and french and therefore meet the guidelines for the job, unless it specifically requests spanish.