Do you put down the mission, or just the fact that you have some fluency in the language?

How do you answer questions about how you get your language experience?

I'm thinking of saying that I had a sales job....

If they ask, tell them you were doing work for A church.

I am not against harmless lies, but starting out at a new job that way is not a good idea. IMO.

My language is so obscure I never list it.

I was thinking of just listing the language on the resume, and then when asked about it in an interview, laughingly say it was a "sales job".

My resume has BYU all over it, so its pretty hard to avoid the LDS connection. Anyone who knows the first thing about Mormons will assume I served a mission. Since they can't ask me about religion right out and I do want to disassociate myself from the religion of my birth, I'm hoping I can get the point across by saying that I thought the missionary experience was a sales job. Too subtle?

Sales job makes sense in that way.

I understand not wanting to say, "missionary."

I think "foreign exchange program" or "language immersion program" would be better than sales job, they're going to ask you for details of what you were selling and who trained you in the language to send you overseas. That situation could get awkward. You won't know your interviewer's beliefs/background and they'll might be offended by missionary work being referred to as sales.

Maybe you should just refer to it as a "communications project" run by/sponsored by/funded by the LDS church.

I'd say listing the language on your resume is a plus. There is no need to laughingly call it a sales job, IF you are even asked about it. My advice would be to say you had training in speaking the language and then lived XX # of months in XX country where it solidified your skills in speaking said language. You may or may not decide to additionally share about your experience learning about and living amongst those of another culture and give specifics of how that has broadened your views of the world.

I just put it in the language section as fluent in French. If asked, I'll say I spent 2 years in France during my college years. I also got a minor in French in college.

Then again, I have BYU on my resume so they can put 2 + 2 together, but it's illegal for them to ask religious-based questions.

I have to review resumes to make sure they don't reveal any confidential information. I just did one for a guy who listed his mission, calling it something like "2-year religious volunteer activity in Guatemala, requiring acquisition of Spanish language."

On my resume' I listed Fluent in Dutch and Proficient in Spanish. Anyone that asked, I told them I was a missionary in the Netherlands (didn't say which religion).

Some perqs came from this. My first job in banking was on the Mexico Desk, and later in my career I worked for a Dutch bank. All-in-all, it helped my career in many ways.

Ron

I tested out of three years of Spanish when I returned. On the resume, I just put "Fluent in Spanish". If asked, I explained that I tested out, lived abroad and offer to speak it.

I rarely, even as a very good TBM, talked about a mission. The interviewer would have to recognize the signs of it and ask first.

When I was a teenager i was told that because the MTC's were so successful at teaching languages the CIA sent representatives to see how it was done but They found nothing different in technique etc.
I was told this as an example of the Holy Ghost helping out.

Is there any truth at all in this story?

Jon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When I was a teenager i was told that because the
> MTC's were so successful at teaching languages the
> CIA sent representatives to see how it was done
> but They found nothing different in technique
> etc.
> I was told this as an example of the Holy Ghost
> helping out.
>
> Is there any truth at all in this story?


That story is actually true as far as the CIA sending folks there to check it out. I was not in the MTC prior to my mission as it wasn't there then. However, I taught at the MTC when I came back and saw and spoke with them. This was in 1978.

The part about the Holy Ghost is poppycock.

Ron

I tell people I did social work for two years. Which on the Navajo reservation is what we did a lot of the time.

When asked, I explain that I went to school there and then worked for a church with which I am no longer affiliated. After that response they've never asked.