> Everybody's different from somebody. That doesn't make > them any less valuable, or worthy of respect.
I just want to clarify that, I don't think badly of these recruiters as people. It's frustrating for me because of the context in which the language barrier is presented. A language barrier is always frustrating; nobody likes to have a misunderstanding, even when both people speak a common language fluently. So when you notice a sudden and dramatic increase in the likelyhood for misunderstanding during a conversation, it raises an obvious concern about the possibility for miscommunication. In trivial conversations about movies or sports, the concern is trivial; in non-trivial conversations about pay-rates and hours worked, the concern is non-trivial. In a conversation with a recruiter there are additional factors which amplify this concern, such as the fact that a recruiter is someone whom you have usually not previously met and therefore have had no opportunity to acclimatize yourself to their individual accent, mannerisms or word selection. You're also speaking to someone who has a vested interest in placing you with a job (for their commission) and who will most likely not speak to you after you are placed, which eliminates the vested interest another person such as an ongoing business partner would have in acclimating the relationship to improve communication in the future, and in all probability eliminates much if not all of the vested interest the recruiter has in your own personal well-being. Even recruiters who speak a common language fluently have been known to lie to job-seekers (by omission if nothing else) to preserve their interest in the commission when the job-seeker's interests would not be well served by the employer. The only condition which is likely to change their interest in the outcome is an ongoing relationship with a larger company which hires many of its recruits through their agency, but you can't count on that sort of relationship in more than at most half of the recruiters you talk with. Further the hiring process is short and often rushed, and even when all parties are genuinely interested in the best possible fit, the simple lack of experience with one another is another source of increasingly likely miscommunication. With a single company you're not likely to spend more than 3 hours or so in interview prior to being hired, compared to the 40 hrs of exposure you'll have to that company in your first week of employment, so by the time you're hired, you are really likely to know very little about the company, and of course both the job-seeker and the employer are liable to massage their own outward appearances (possibly stretching the truth or lying by omission -- "we try to keep overtime to a minimum here" minimum=5hrs per week) because each is courting the other to serve their own interests. The end result is that I'm already a little anxious about choosing the right job because I know that there's already an increased likelyhood for miscommunication during the interview process and because myself, the employer and the recruiter all have different and frequently non-mutual interests in the outcome. So when I say that I don't like talking with recruiters who have a poor grasp of our common language (English) or who speak with such thick accents that it's difficult for me to understand them, I'm concerned about my own personal well-being; I will work the job months or years into the future, the recruiter will not. To respond to the previous comment about English being the "sword" which is used to divide people, my aversion to this situation has absolutely bupkiss, zero, zilch, nada, NOTHING to do with my not wanting to be in contact with their tribe. In a social context, I'll immerse myself in nearly any tribe (barring violence which is why I exclude Snoop Dog's tribe), and given an opportunity I'll learn their language. In school I learned some french and a little less spanish. I would GLADLY interview in French for a job in Canada, France or Monaco if I honestly felt fluent in my grasp of that language. s. isaac dealey 434.293.6201 new epoch : isn't it time for a change? add features without fixtures with the onTap open source framework http://www.fusiontap.com http://coldfusion.sys-con.com/author/4806Dealey.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:11:2999 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/11 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:11 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.11 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
