Foreign Language Proficiency Exam

[ali4nia]

[SIZE="2"][COLOR="Navy"]First, I must say that the comments you made to Jennifer (and everyone else for that matter) were really uncalled for. She spends a significant amount of time on this forum. She is a strong asset, and she offers insightful suggestions to people who really appreciate her effort. I would hardly say that her actions display the "who cares" mantra that you openly accused her of supporting. It is important to remember that one of the best parts about this forum is the diverse group of people we have here. Generally we can exchange ideas and feel comfortable doing so. Here is my two cents on the rest:

Fortune 100 companies drop literally millions of dollars every single year in an ongoing effort to recruit people who have broad knowledge in at least one of three main categories, which include the following: math, science, and cultural diversity. Quite frankly, a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics is one of several degrees that are highly coveted in the business world. So how would I know? That would be because I work in human resources for a Fortune 100 company. In fact, I was a recruiter for three years before I started working on this consulting team. It may be helpful for me to mention to you that emotional intelligence and good written communication skills (to include solid grammar) are also very important skills that recruiters actively seek in potential candidates.

I have personally never asked for a recap of the electives one selected during his or her undergraduate studies. I will admit that I would find a recruiter who did anything like that to be a little spooky too. However, assuming that this actually happened at any point in time, I cannot imagine that a recruiter who was worth half the paycheck he or she was receiving would ever think that an elective in sociology or psychology was worth more than knowledge of multiple foreign languages! Actually I would even go so far as to say that I would go out of my way to brag about my electives if they were comprised of foreign languages.

Rarely does a company request copies of your transcripts at all. Most of the time companies either take your word for it that you have a degree from university of XYZ, or they have a pretty little database that will happily inform them of whether or not your credentials are legit. In any case, your electives are all yours to choose and your recruiter is unlikely to give a rip, even if you were to take all of those in Personal Enrichment categories.

Lastly, you mentioned that we live in a very competitive era. That is the one statement you made that I think is a true fact in every way. Having said that, I think you may agree that in a competitive environment, setting ourselves apart is invaluable. The truth is that nearly every undergraduate in the world is going to take psychology or sociology. In many cases, with my educational institution included, both of these courses are actually required in order to earn a bachelor's degree. It is also noteworthy to mention that a good percentage of college educated people deem introductory courses in sociology or psychology to be "EASY As" - hardly an impressive achievement. What on earth makes that so special? :confused: [/COLOR][/SIZE]

I will answer your question really simply without telling you all my life story (or Jennifer's life story as you did) by the way I helped alot of people too but I dont need to bring that up to prove my point.. anyway I think you forgot that I mentioned that I speak 3 other languages beside English and never said its not useful to have those type of skills(for some jobs they are useless though) however What I said its '' I would mention my language skills ON MY RESUME '' did u read this? thats what Resume's are for, to answer your last question specifically: I would be way more impressed by someone speaking 3 ,4 languages mentioned on their resume and having a decent general education (English, history, arts and yes even basic psychology and sociology) rather than someone who just took 2 languages exams and filled up his degree with 30 credits or more, is this that hard to understand for you people?? JEESSUS personally me and some of my friends have been in certain interviews for jobs and school and we have been speciafically questioned about our general education background, If you didnt use to do it while you were a recruiter,thats your choice, it doesnt mean no other recruiter does it !! looks like general education reqs are so worthless to some of you guys, for me its one of the most important and probably the most useful (generally speaking) part of a degree regardless of your career choice!! hope you get finally my point ! JEEEESUS help this people to understand the value of education rather than obsessive academic validation!!