4 language skills to test for bilingual positions

Hiring candidates who are able to communicate effectively in more than one language is a sound strategy for companies that are looking to reach international consumers and build a more diverse workforce.

The ability to speak more than one language also brings a range of other benefits, from an enhanced ability to multitask and process information to improved listening skills.

Are you looking to fill bilingual positions within your organization? Here are some of the most important benefits of having bilingual employees, as well as the four main skills you should test for in a language assessment.

Why should you want bilingual employees?

In today's diverse and interconnected Canadian market, embracing bilingualism is not just a strategic advantage—it's a necessity. Canada's bilingual heritage, with English and French as its official languages, positions bilingual employees as invaluable assets in various sectors. From Quebec's predominantly French-speaking communities to the multicultural hubs in cities like Toronto and Vancouver, bilingual employees bridge linguistic divides, enhancing service and communication across the country.

Bilingual employees can significantly enhance operational roles in sales, customer service, administration, and finance by connecting more personally with customers and stakeholders who prefer or require communication in French or English. This capacity for direct communication is crucial for engaging with Canada's diverse consumer base and for conducting business efficiently with partners and suppliers who operate in both languages.

Beyond the practical advantages in communication, bilingualism is linked with several cognitive benefits. Research indicates that bilingual individuals often excel in areas such as conflict resolution and multitasking. Studies suggest that bilinguals are adept at divergent thinking—a type of creative thinking that explores multiple solutions to a problem. This ability can lead to innovative approaches and solutions in the workplace.

Furthermore, bilingual employees tend to perform well in both verbal and nonverbal tasks and are more skilled at understanding and empathizing with others. This emotional intelligence is especially valuable in roles that require negotiation, customer interaction, and team collaboration.

To fully leverage the potential of bilingual employees, it's essential to assess their proficiency in both official languages. Here are four key language skills to evaluate when hiring for bilingual or multilingual roles: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Ensuring competency in these areas will help your organization effectively utilize the talents of bilingual employees, meeting the needs of Canada's diverse and dynamic market.

The skills you need to test for when it comes to hiring for bilingual positions

Corporate language tests are a good way to assess a potential hire’s language abilities during the recruitment process. They can also help organizations assess the language proficiency levels within different departments and identify areas for improvement.

Because most job seekers understand the importance of language skills, many resumes will likely include phrases like “Fluent in Spanish” or “Working knowledge of French.” Without administering a language proficiency test, it can be difficult for hiring managers to determine just how accurate these self-assessments might be.

With this in mind, here are the four most important language skills you should be testing for if you’re looking to hire employees for bilingual positions.

Speaking

Testing a candidate’s ability to speak a foreign language fluently is important when hiring for roles that involve direct interactions with clients, contractors and business partners.

Although simply speaking with candidates during a job interview will already reveal a good deal about their fluency, language tests can further assess grammar and vocabulary as well as articulation and intonation.

Listening

Listening is considered a passive language skill. A person’s ability to listen to and make sense of a foreign language usually begins to develop well before they are able to speak the language.

The ability to understand spoken language is important for everything from taking phone calls and meeting with clients to sitting in on presentations. Language tests can assess a candidate’s level of proficiency in understanding complex topics and terminology or even different accents.

Writing

Writing is a language skill that will be particularly important for roles that involve communicating in written form, whether this entails answering customer emails or communicating internally with employees.

Having applicants submit a cover letter can be a good way to assess their writing ability, although language tests can more comprehensively assess an applicant or employee’s grammar, vocabulary and sentence comprehension.

Reading

Testing an applicant’s reading ability is important in order to gauge how accurately they are able to understand written texts such as emails, company guidelines, instruction manuals or supplier contracts.

Depending on the level of reading proficiency that’s required, language tests may require applicants to read a text and then answer multiple choice questions about it or even rewrite the text or sum it up succinctly.

Are you looking to incorporate language testing in your organization’s recruitment process? Or maybe corporate language tests would help you identify areas that your team could stand to improve in? Berlitz offers language testing services to help organizations screen potential hires more effectively or provide current employees with more opportunities for advancement.

 

Find out more.