Looking for a job is not an easy task even in times of
economic growth. Sometimes, finding a job is a full time job in itself, only
without pay.
There are people who are willing to relocate in order to
find a job that suits them well and, in Europe, this implies dealing with
linguistic diversity. Most (working age) Europeans speak at least one more
language than their mother tongue (usually English, German or French), but this
is not a full proof quality in an area of huge linguistic diversity.
Somehow, in all job descriptions, in the “requirements” section,
the languages one is required to be proficient in are placed at the end of the
list.
A job seeker goes through the job description and at one
point focuses on the requirements to see if she fits the profile. She sees
things like “master level education”, “five years’ work experience in a similar
position” and “good knowledge of MS office”
she thinks
“Got it”; “Got it : )“, “Got
that too : ) : ) :)”; “This looks nice! I really think I have a good chance of
getting the job”.
After all these positive thoughts and (usually futile) hope,
our job seeker sees on the last bullet point of required skills: “Working proficiency
in Norwegian / Hebrew / Estonian etc.”
Why can’t these language requirements be placed at the beginning
of the list? After all being proficient in Czech or Norwegian is a very tough
selection criterion!
But in the end, who cares about the feelings of job seekers?
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