Yesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to meet with Earl Meininger, PHR, of Vancouver, WA-based Columbia Machine, Inc., a global leading manufacturer of concrete products equipment, serving customers in over 100 countries. We discussed their current workforce demands and the need to have the right technical bilingual/bicultural team members who can enable and help the company sustain and grow into the Latin American market. My takeaways from the meeting & tour: 1. The Manufacturing Industry Columbia Machine engineers and builds multi-million dollar customized equipment in Vancouver, WA and sells them to clients around the world. Upon entering the facilities, we had to wear safety eyeglasses and protective hearing plugs, and observe safety precautions such as watching out for moving forklifts and cranes. The equipment varies based on the customers demands. For instance, one machine can mix concrete and produce concrete cylinder blocks (all types), another machine replaces … [Read more...]

Over the weekend, I was reading through my email feeds and read @fredwilson's post on "Own Your Online Brand." And, Fred's right. We might not be able to control the negatives others write about us online, but we certainly can control the positive brand we seek to image ourselves and apply that online. You see, Google, the world's largest search engine, indexes in such a way that pushes the live content as well as those pages that are most active to the top of the page. Which means when I type, "David Molina, Oregon" I will find my LinkedIn profile, closely followed by my columns at LatinosPoliticsBlog.com, and then BilingualHire. All those are positive because they tell anyone searching for me, who I am, my writing, and my business. It gives readers a small taste of what to expect when they meet me. However, if I type, "David Molina, BilingualHire" then it pushes all of our BilingualHire content to the top, including heavy emphasis on these blog posts and my personal Facebook page. … [Read more...]

Let's face it. Interviews can be grueling. We assume because we have degrees or know someone we're a shoe-in. Here's some open distilled thoughts. Feel free to add or subtract. Details: know the details of the position you are applying for. Know it inside out. Talk to those who are employed at that organization beforehand, and those in the office, customers, clients, etc. Ask them about the position. The challenges it faces. Google the organization. What are the blogs, news media outlets, Facebook and Twitter, and other companies saying about the organization? If possible, talk to the person who just vacated the position, or others that currently occupy similar posts. Know the details and the needs. Know where the organization is headed. Gear: dress according to the position you are interviewing for. If you are applying for an office type position, might be helpful that you dress as to how you will actually be dressing during the course of your position. Always consider dressing … [Read more...]