Finding the “right” Hispanic expertise for your company

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Like one of my good teachers once said, “would you ask the janitor to develop your marketing strategy?” Well then, why would you ask your call center representative to create and translate your Spanish collateral materials?

How many times do managers find themselves in the position of having to hire an employee—be it for a call center, sales or marketing—and didn’t know how to go about it?

Here are some tips on how to hire the “right” Hispanic expertise

Finding the “right” Hispanic expertise for your company

If you are looking for a call center representative, you need to find a person with a customer centric attitude and bilingual skills. Ah, but this is tougher than it sounds. The customer service skills are easily detectable, but how do you test the prospect’s bilingual skills in a language you do not know? My advice is to have them take a proficiency test at a local branch of a language instruction institute or a reputable foreign organization that tests Spanish language skills.

Maybe you are looking to fill a junior marketing position and you want to make sure you hire the best asset for your company. You will have to do a little research first. If the position requires a degree and your candidate’s diploma is from a foreign country, find out if the school is a reputable one for the year of graduation. You will find that many Latin American countries have better public universities than private ones. Only the brightest students are able to pass the public university tests and graduate. Some years (the economy and politics of that country have a lot to do with this) may see the best and most prepared candidates graduate. Some years might not be as good. Another nice fact to know is that most Latin American universities do not have electives or specialization in any specific area until graduation. You must look into their post-graduate studies for special skills.

To hire a senior executive position, I would strongly advice the use of an experienced recruiter that understands your expectations. Most companies believe that bringing one or two top Hispanic gurus will achieve the goal of acquiring the Hispanic market. In reality, you need to hire an executive that will also build you a good team. You must be ready and able to support his or her resources and staffing needs.

How do you find a reputable recruiter? Once again, a little research is needed. Check credentials—talk to other hiring managers—treat it as if it were a future “hire.” Make sure the recruiter specializes in “Hispanic” and works with the type of candidates you are looking for. Do not embark in a venture with a recruiter that specializes in call center staffing to find either your Director of Hispanic Marketing or a Hispanic member for your board.

If all this seems overwhelming, you may want to hire a consulting firm that can find you the right recruiter, the perfect candidates and can also assist you in developing your Hispanic marketing strategy.