Boston Jobs - Hollister Asserts the Importance of Being Bilingual

PRLog (Press Release) - Apr 03, 2009 -
Local communities are adding more flavors, and so for the economic recipe today, the job market calls for more ingredients, like bilingual employees.  Multicultural populations in today’s society put a high demand for those who can bridge cultural gaps linguistically, which would benefit companies dealing with diversity.  Hollister a woman-owned staffing firm based in Boston, targets candidates with special language skills and supports them in their job hunt.


“A diverse job market calls for diverse ways of thinking,” said Kip Hollister, founder and CEO of Hollister, “and when the demand for jobs is higher than the supply of available positions, companies must broaden their perspectives and search for the candidates who will help them adapt to future changes.”


A growing 15% of the state’s population is foreign-born, requiring that state initiatives go toward bettering these multicultural communities that take more from the state’s societal resources than do the better-established communities.  Across industries, companies are looking for people with the right skills to engage the growing masses of non-English speakers in Massachusetts.


“There is definitely a cultural return on investment for companies when hiring bilingual candidates,” says Kate Paramonova, staffing consultant with Hollister, who is bilingual and hails from Russia. “Not only does the bilingual skill break language barriers; it also brings the company diversity and culture.”


Like Hollister,  many Massachusetts companies are diversifying internally, which gives bilingual candidates and those with multicultural backgrounds a chance to provide worldly perspectives as well as professional skills.


“As this country continues to house more and more people from different backgrounds,” says Hollister, “the need for the business world to connect and communicate with them will only get stronger.”


Jobseekers who speak more than one language can aid companies like those in the health industry, where immigrants frequent because they lack health care and other citizen amenities.  In technology, companies shift to a focus on steering marketing initiatives towards attracting ethnically diverse consumers. At Hollister, each division promotes their candidates to market their bilingualism because it will help them become more versatile on the job front.


“As technology continues to evolve, I can see why many of our clients hold a strong interest in bilingual candidates,” says Ed Blum, Director for Hollister’s Permanent Technology Division. “Many of our clients are competing at a global level and technology plays a major role in their growth and sustainability.”


For 2009, 88% of companies confirmed that recruiting diversity is essential in the hiring sequence.  Hollister will continue to encourage jobseekers to highlight their language and multicultural skills.


About Hollister:


Founded in 1988, Hollister is a leading full-service staffing firm passionate about connecting Massachusetts‘ opportunity with talent. Based and home-grown in the Greater Boston region, Hollister is well positioned to see the Massachusetts job market from both sides. They essentially have two sets of clientele that they show up for every day- Massachusetts companies and its active and passive jobseeker. For 20 years, Hollister has been the bridge that connects professionals with jobs in Massachusetts and companies with the best employees. Whether you are searching for Massachusetts jobs or to hire your next best employee, they are the network you are looking for.