Is requiring a candidate for employment????

I have inquired about a site level manager position that I am 99% qualfied for; everything they are asking for, I have DONE successfully without assistance. The 1% I am short is the fact that they are requiring the person to be bilingual in Spanish. I was passed over because I am not fluent (I studied Spanish in High School, but have not had much use for it since). Could this be considered discrimination?

I doubt that it is considered discrimination; however, if you knew prior to applying and interviewing for the position that there was a job requirement of being bilingual, I would have advised you to present an alternative to this prerequiaite. For example, do you have a translator app that could assist you during leasing and resident interaction? Are you willing to take classes, take language development courses on line and with computer programs to learn and become fluent? There may be valid reasons to require the Manager to be bilingual. If many of the Prospective Residents, Residents, Vendors and other employees all converse in Spanish, then the Manager MUST know how to communicate, too. Emergency situations requiring Management's oversight may also be an example of why speaking another language is necessary.

I agree with the OP. My case is similar: I studied Spanish in High School (but they teach 'Spain' Spanish and not any of the dialects); then I joined the Army and was sent to Germany (so I really had no use for Spanish)! Even given the fact that the typical overseas tour was 2-3 years at a time; we ALL went through a 2 week crash course in German. This served 2 purposes: 1) as a sign of respect for the host country, and 2) so we could get along off base and use public transit, order food, or ask for directions.

My huge problem in requiring employees to be multilingual is the fact that these people come here (presumably for an indefinite period of time) and refuse to learn/use our language.

Please do not misunderstand me, I am not against immigration in general; I am simply saying that we need immigration reform to include teaching immigrants in the proper use of our language, even if it is only superficially. The only languages I want to see our government forms printed in is English and Braille.

Ok. I am off my soapbox now.

How is this any different from someone wanting to apply for a Maintenance Supervisor position of which there is a requirement of this person having certification in HVAC? Obviously this is a required skill level. Anyone applying should have this or risk rejection.

I think Mindy is right on this. My last community was 95% Hispanic. I took spanish in the 10th and 11th grades, but that was many moons ago. When hiring an assitant and leasing persons I required they speak spanish. That wasn't discrimination, it was just common sense. Johnny I agree with you whole heartedly, but we don't require those things of people immigrating to the US, so we're have to work with what we have...

I manage a community that is very close to the Mexican border. If I was not fluent in Spanish, I would be an absolute failure despite how good I can do my job. Don't take me wrong, I had to relearn the language and improve it. I used to live in an area where Spanish was not the primary language, so I did not practice it much.

Since Canada speaks primarily French; do properties near our northern border require employees to be bilingual in French?

I can understand this if the property was close to the Mexican border; but this property is more than 500 miles from our neighbor to the south.

I say get over it and apply for a job you are fully qualified for. People who are not bilingual is not a protected class and nor do we need any more protected classes.

While I can understand your frustration, I must agree with the property management company on this one. Considering that effective communication is necessary for, at the very least, 50% of any community manager's daily responsibilities, saying you are 99% qualified is somewhat off the mark. Skills and experience are important, but they are undermined by the inability to effectively communicate with current and prospective residents, on-site staff, vendors etc. Rather than focus on why you did not receive an offer of employment, focus on becoming 100% qualified for future openings. Discrimination wouldn't come into play as you are unable to perform one of the necessary job functions outlined in the job description.

If the ability to speak Spanish is a bona fide requirement for employment, then no. I have seen many manager ads in certain parts of the country (namely, southern California) that require this due to the dense Hispanic population. It is not discrimination if they need a bilingual candidate, sorry.

But the property in question is more than 600 miles away from the closest international border. How can being bilingual in spanish be a requirement for employment? Keep in mind that the language they teach in schools is 'Spain' Spanish, not any of the dialects and in most cases, there is still going to be a language issue. I would support offering ESL classes for residents on property, but to require an employee to have these abilities as a prerequisite to being hired sounds like discrimination without the admission (or even the intent) that it is.

Anonymous, have you ever thought about it this way? Suppose having the ability to converse fluently in Spanish would help make you promotable within the Management Company? Have you ever looked at your bosses and the movers and shakers within your organization? Maybe they can all speak/write Spanish well. Maybe this requirement is a stepping stone to a larger role within the company. Stop thinking so negatively. Look for ways to contribute. I see this as a thinking error on your part. Accept this limitation and decide what you are going to do about it. Sitting around complaining and waiting for someone else to validate your veiwpoint isn't going to happen. Take some classes. Get fluent! It will only increase your marketability.

Mindy is absolutely right. You are looking at this from a political and personal perspective, not that of a business owner. Our job is to make money for the owners; to do that we must be able to communicate with our current and potential residents. My last community was 99% Hispanic. I believe one of the reasons I was hired was because I could speak some Spanish, and was willing to learn more. Talk about being far away from the boarder, it was in Richmond, Va.

I can see the point with learning another language; however, with a language like Spanish; there are so many different dialects that learning 'Spain' Spanish would do little good when dealing with someone that has never set foot on Spanish land, rather his dialect is from Mexico, Cuba, or any of the South American countries.

I would rather see the property make an investment in offering ESL classes to residents instead. It should be easy enough to find a resident that is either a current or retired teacher, or a substitute that can contribute a few hours a week in exchange for a small monthly rent discount to do this.

I can assist here with the language and dialects. If you learn to speak the proper language, people will understand you even if they speak dialect. You in turn will pick up on the dialect given time. I am not Spanish speaking born, was raised in Illinois, and took Spanish in junior high and my freshman year in high school. I tell people that I have a working knowledge of Spanish. In the military I was faced with soldiers who had problems with English and I as a leader learned to communicate with them.

If it was in the job that speaking Spanish was a must, then this is the employers right to place this in the job. It is a skill! Mindy gave some good advice and I can inform you from experience that if you want a job where and Spanish is a required skill, then, get busy with it! I have seen many jobs that require speaking Spanish and it has nothing to do with how close to the border you are.

I always tell people if you speak English, Spanish, and French you can travel almost anywhere in the world.

Not trying to come off hard, but if the management knew you were bucking a requirement, now even if you learned they may not want to hire you as you would not be a fit for their employed culture.

Just FYI... Quebec is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population. The rest of the country primarily speaks English, as the Queen of England is the official head of state.

There are tons of language learning CD's and even software available at the public library.

Being from the Houston market this is an ongoing problem for job seekers in this industry. I have to admit on a personal level it kind of pisses me off. Sorry, but it does. I have been in property management for 20 years and have a successful track record. As an American I find it offensive that I am required to speak a language that is not my own in my own country. With that being said, I have not encountered any problem finding employment even when the job requires this skill. I have overcome the objections by pointing out that my level of expertise and my proven success rate proves that being bilingual is not a necessity though it might be preferred. As a matter of fact I am about to start a new position at a property that is at least 95% Hispanic. I used this argument and got the job!