Can I recruit a native english speaker only?

CaraFawn

Hey guys,

I will be publishing a job offer for a sales guy and I need a native english speaker.
Can I actually specify this in the offer (Legal?), which means in essence I will not consider anyone who is not a native Irish/British/US/...individual ?

Thank you in advance for your feedback

AARRRGH

The grounds for discrimination are:

* gender
* marital status
* family status
* sexual orientation
* religion
* age (does not apply to a person under 16)
* disability
* race
* membership of the Traveller community.

Your advert would not discriminate against any of the above.

Nody

But what about someone who's lived for 20 years in the UK? They would not be a native but they would be fluent and that is not taking into account the Irish accents which may be native but sure as heck is not understandable! I'd recommend instead to put fluent English or something along those lines.

Serafijn

Use 'native level English' instead, then you're not specifying they have to be Irish/English etc but highlighting that their English has to be better than fluent. A lot of people consider themselves 'fluent' but you wouldn't want them answering your phones...

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

CaraFawn

Thank you guys for the feedbacks.

You are right, even if I were to write this in the Ad, I would receive resumes from people with a basic English anyway and certainly not even the half of the experience/skills I am asking...

Clytus

...try "excellent level of written and spoken english"...its subjective so its up to you how you rate them during interview.

By the way...has anyone else experianced getting mail from recruitment agencies who see your vacancies on the the net??

I have one up at the moment and got an information leaflet and a couple of mug coasters in the post...funny that eh??

lostexpectation

fluent rather then native

PurpleBerry

The Scientist wrote: »

My advice is to put the following in your advert:


'Leaving cert Irish Essential.'

I respectfully disagree with this. You don't have to have done Leaving Cert Irish to be able to speak English fluently. People from the UK, the US or Austrailia would not meet that criteria. There are also Irish people who have not done their Leaving Cert but would be fully qualified. Seriously.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

lostexpectation wrote: »

fluent rather then native

think this is the way to go. it then leaves it up to you to decide in the interview. i'd say you could be on dodgy grounds by using the word native.

Xiney

Besides that fact, there are people who are non-native speakers that have an excellent grasp of the English language - Many people from Germany, for example, would have both a minimal accent and a high proficiency in English.

I myself, am not a "native" English speaker if you want to get right down to it, since French was my "first" language. However, I'm French Canadian so I don't even have an accent when I speak English.


I would STRONGLY advise against you using the word "native" in any advertisement - that is surely opening you up for a civil suit of some kind. Simply say that "A high level of proficiency both in written and verbal communication in English is an absolute requirement - please reply with CV and targetted cover letter."

Anyone can have their CV corrected for grammar errors, but asking for a targetted cover letter will probably give you a better idea of their grasp of the language.

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

the_syco

If you did a phone interview before an actual interview, you may be able to weed out all those who can't speak english to your liking, before doing an actual interview.

Saying that, I have heard of stories of foreigners asking for a native english speaking person when they are talking to someone with a real strong Dub accent, so the Dublin accent may not always work.

StickyMcGinty

The Scientist wrote: »

My advice is to put the following in your advert:


'Leaving cert Irish Essential.'

i've a feeling this line would put a lot of irish people off applying for the job tbh

SerialComplaint

CaraFawn wrote: »

I will be publishing a job offer for a sales guy and I need a native english speaker.

Can you clarify why you need 'native' as opposed to 'fluent' or 'excellent'?

hunnymonster

StickyMcGinty wrote: »

i've a feeling this line would put a lot of irish people off applying for the job tbh

It would certainly put me off. I have a good honour in Irish Leaving cert irish but would hate to have to recall anything more than the our farther and asking to go to the toilet these days!

nesf

Clytus wrote: »

...try "excellent level of written and spoken english"...its subjective so its up to you how you rate them during interview.

I agree, "excellent level of written and spoken English" can mean anything you want it to mean really. It's wonderfully subjective and leaves you loads of wriggle room.