Discrimination?

[princess75]

I have a question to ask.

Am I facing discrimination? If so, please what should I do?

I was hired to startup and manage an office which involves a lot of writing and oral communication and managerial skills. All which I have skills for. But, unfortunately upper management, who had not interviewed me ...apparently does not believe in me nor my skills (so says my boss). I am multilingual and I have learned english since childhood. I consider english to be my primary language, along with spanish.

Now, I have major projects coming up, for which I am not being able to concentrate. Why? Simple, my boss has already 'encouraged' me to look for other jobs, based on 'i don't know English', and she states her boss said ' i don't care 'me' knows so many languages, she does not know english' My boss, after this comment started asking me to send the emails I send to the whole community first to her prior I send them out to everyone. Last week, she requested me to send her one on X topic and event which hapens every 6 months. I went ahead and sent it to her, and used the txt from a previous mail (sent out 6 months before).

Now, she replies back criticizing it, and correcting it as it "should" be.

Grammatically it was correct, and also it was used before.

What does everyone think? What should I do?

[Touche]

Did you go to college?

 

I'm sorry to say this but I found your post a little bit difficult to read/understand. Here are a few examples:

 

Now, I have major projects coming up, for which I am not being able to concentrate.

 

Simple, my boss has already 'encouraged' me to look for other jobs, based on 'i don't know English', and she states her boss said ' i don't care 'me' knows so many languages, she does not know english' My boss, after this comment started asking me to send the emails I send to the whole community first to her prior I send them out to everyone. Last week, she requested me to send her one on X topic and event which hapens every 6 months.

 

I could have quoted more but I won't. Do you use paragraphs at work? Because you didn't here. Also you have many spelling mistakes and didn't use proper punctuation.

 

Proper written English is expected at a management level. Poor writing skills reflects badly on the company and on those who hired you.

 

I'm sorry to tell you that this is not discrimination. It's simply a matter of not possessing the required skills for the job.

 

I suggest maybe taking some community college writing courses to brush up.

 

Good luck, dear.

[Jackson2008]

I have a question to ask.

Am I facing discrimination? If so, please what should I do?

I was hired to startup and manage an office which involves a lot of writing and oral communication and managerial skills. All which I have skills for. But, unfortunately upper management, who had not interviewed me ...apparently does not believe in me nor my skills (so says my boss). I am multilingual and I have learned english since childhood. I consider english to be my primary language, along with spanish.

Now, I have major projects coming up, for which I am not being able to concentrate. Why? Simple, my boss has already 'encouraged' me to look for other jobs, based on 'i don't know English', and she states her boss said ' i don't care 'me' knows so many languages, she does not know english' My boss, after this comment started asking me to send the emails I send to the whole community first to her prior I send them out to everyone. Last week, she requested me to send her one on X topic and event which hapens every 6 months. I went ahead and sent it to her, and used the txt from a previous mail (sent out 6 months before).

Now, she replies back criticizing it, and correcting it as it "should" be.

Grammatically it was correct, and also it was used before.

What does everyone think? What should I do?

 

I am actually having difficulty following your story. What's your education level?

[Je Ne Regrette Rien]

It's not discrimination. If your employers think that your standard of work is below what they expect, they can rightfully ask you to leave.

 

Talk to your employer and ask what you can do to improve your skills to the standard that they require

[spookie]

There were a number of grammatical mistakes in your post, and it was structured oddly.

 

I don't think expecting a certain level of competency is discrimination.

[HokeyReligions]

You may be proficient in conversational skills, but business communications - both oral and written - are different. You may be more relaxed writing here, which would explain the comments above and your broken text, but in a management position you need to hone your business skills.

 

I'm lazy when I'm posting. You would never know I was a technical writer or a manager! I have taken several courses in business communication in college; business seminars; and self-help books on business writing.

 

You might want to look for a seminar or check out an area college to help with your written communication skills.

 

Your company is giving you a chance to improve. Instead of firing you outright, they are reviewing your work. You are their representative and they need to be confident that you can do the work they require. If you show that you are open to their concerns and are actively improving yourself you could still have a good career with them.

[MimiMe]

You may be proficient in conversational skills, but business communications - both oral and written - are different. You may be more relaxed writing here, which would explain the comments above and your broken text, but in a management position you need to hone your business skills.

 

I'm lazy when I'm posting. You would never know I was a technical writer or a manager! I have taken several courses in business communication in college; business seminars; and self-help books on business writing.

 

You might want to look for a seminar or check out an area college to help with your written communication skills.

 

Your company is giving you a chance to improve. Instead of firing you outright, they are reviewing your work. You are their representative and they need to be confident that you can do the work they require. If you show that you are open to their concerns and are actively improving yourself you could still have a good career with them.

 

 

I agree. Local colleges offer seminars or workshops. Search the net, and if you work in large corp. take advantage of any training that they may offer.

[princess75]

Hello! Thank you very much for everyone's feedback. I really appreciate it a lot.

I am not sure if I meet or not the requirements for being a proficient writer in the english language, but I do know that I am in fact being put down at my workplace. There are countless of unjustified circumstances which clearly show my boss has a biased attitude towards me. The last incident was when I was trying to present to her, and she kept on interrupting me and correcting my grammar without letting me even finish the sentence. Another time I copied the text from a different source (that is being currently used at work) and she once again corrected the grammar. The original source had been written by her!

I do have a Masters in Communication and I do write and speak not only in English, but four more languages. What I do have is an accent! Unfortunately I am being judged for this, and unfortunately it is affecting me enough that my level of confidence has decreased since I started this job. (I am scared to perform at all!) My ideas are not being taken into account.

I am about to join a group that helps people further develop their communication skills. I mentioned this to my boss. She was not happy about it. Why?

Thanks once again!

[Nevermind]

Can you tell us about the other incidents?

 

What did you present to her? Did you show her a presentation you were supposed to give to other people later on? If so, then she was justified to correct you. You represent the company.

 

What other languages do you speak? Interferences are something that you have to be aware of. Sometimes you change a sentence structure, without noticing, because you were still thinking in another language. Or you use a word that is not really appropriate for the circumstances or sounds odd. I sometimes use "to comport" instead of "to behave", because I got sidetracked by "comportarse", a Spanish verb. That is just a trivial thing, but you might want to focus on this. It's a common source for trouble.

 

Did you approach your boss directly with your concerns? After all, they hired you and haven't fired you yet. Show them that you're making an effort and work as hard as you can. If it doesn't work out, look for another job and see this as an experience.