"The struggle for qualification"

By Celso Gagliardo*

Carlos Alexandrino is a driver from Minas Gerais who is aware of the importance of innovating. Kind, low profile, with a clean car , good music and always on time. These features were part of his differential. One day, Alexandrino realized that most of his colleagues were reaching his quality level. So, he thought about alternatives, because what used to be his differential turned into demanding of qualification. As a consequence, he started learning English, so he stood out among his colleagues and his work was had a great demand.

The struggle for qualification gained new perspectives – graduation does not mean much. Even experienced people in charge of leading positions need to keep up with new qualifications. Such change has increasingly and amazingly speeded up. Obsolence comes each day earlier; what used to be enough now is old fashioned.

The globalization of economy, for instance, has threatened the life of several professionals. Knowing how to speak and write the English language is a need even for an analyst in the most well known organizations. Job ads urge for applicants who speak two languages; Spanish is fashionable and even the Mandarin Chinese language has been required in the business world.

No one can stop! It is the end of estagnation. Coworkers at the age of 40, 50 keep on investing in trips to other countries, just like teenagers in exchange programs, leaving their families and jobs to learn English and keep up with the techniques used by developed countries.

A hard decision and a planned investment. They are skilled professionals that, with broken hearts, fly away in order to acquire the knowledge required in job interviews that is used ordinary days at work. They stay months living with weird people who have different eating habits, exposing themselves internationally to open their minds and finally adjust their workability levels.

Few could prioritize the foreign language at the beginning of their careers, even because it was not required by the market. But time went by and today we need to make great efforts in order to have a differential or to meet the market´s needs. – what used to be a differential - even for a driver, a machine operator, an analyst, a supervisor, a manager or a director, affected everyone somehow.

Hard signs of modern times when relearning and doing your best with the least is a continuous surviving demand, indeed.

(*) Celso Gagliardo is an expert in Human Resources, a journalist and a lawyer.