It Pays to Enrich Your Language Skills
Back when I was in high school, a lot of my classmates griped about how unimportant the Chinese language is, that’s considering that they have Chinese surnames such as So or Uy, and that they’ve enrolled in Chinese school. I beg to differ. Chinese is as important as all other (probably fancier) languages like Korean, French and Yiddish. A recent experience of mine just further proves this.
Just last week, our school had a job expo. This is an opportunity for Lasallians (and even non-Lasallians) to find the company where they could start their career. I, being an ECE, have my eyes set on mostly Technology, Semiconductor and I.T. related companies. Yet, one experience I won’t forget is my application for LTW Technology.
I submitted my resume to this company without knowing what it is, what it does and what products it offer. The "Technology" appended to the name is enough to catch my eye, much the same way as something written in my resume is enough to catch LTW’s H.R.’s eye. Specifically, they took notice at my language skills, one of which includes conversational proficiency with Fukien and Mandarin (both are Chinese).
On the spot, I was given the examination. I was completely unprepared since Job Expo is normally just the application process, not the screening. Right there, the company’s H.R. screened me, a priviledge not given to others. What’s funny is that I thought I totally blew my chance of getting hired, seeing as how I’m unable to answer SO MANY QUESTIONS given in the examination (which asks so many chemistry-related question, a subject which I didn’t suck but didn’t rock at either). THat’s just the first part of the quiz. The second part really racked me off. It was a translate Chinese-to-English quiz, and it completely hit me in the gut by reminding me " I really blew it this time!" This really reminds me of my experience with Ateneo Entrance Examination.
I can’t actually proclaim to have good Chinese. In fact, for a Taiwanese, my Chinese is subpar (moreso than my English, which is above average, maybe excellent, in Taiwanese standards). But, my admitting of this being much to my chagrin, I have had experience translating Chinese to English. So I used my technique (or my Kung Fu, if you will) (OT: Try to imagine me speaking that sentence a Hong-Kong dubbed English) by seeing the entire Chinese document as one big picture, and translate it to English. I don’t have to translate everything word for word.
The remaining of the test I did well, but I really don’t find them memorable. Right after I finish the exam, I was ready to move elsewhere and take this exam as "an experience" or a "lesson learned". Surprise, surprise. The H.R.’s went through my answers and asked me to sit down. They perused my resume and were much impressed by it (I really don’t know why besides the fact that I know Chinese). I was given the interview, right there. And after that, I was given the contract for the job offer, right there.
You read that right: I got a job offer merely because I can speak Chinese, even though I don’t actually excel in it. Never mind that I refused the offer (due to personal reasons). What I’m trying to get across here is that, this experience itself answers all nagging doubts that pertains to the importance of Chinese language.
