Slovak jobseekers were required to speak a foreign language for most jobs in the first half of 2011, with English dominating the list as the most sought-after foreign language and German following a distant second, the employment website profesia.sk reported on Thursday, September 22.
In total, 57 percent of advertised jobs required some knowledge of English. "It's not unusual for employers to require at least a basic knowledge of English even for jobs such as hairdresser or shop assistant, particularly when providing services in the larger city centres or tourist spots," said Profesia director Ivana Molnárová, as quoted by the TASR newswire. German was a prerequisite for 17 percent of jobs, with Hungarian taking third place on 2 percent. As for job applicants, 67 percent claimed to speak English at lower-intermediate level. However, companies mostly require fluent English. The same holds true for German, spoken by 48 percent of jobseekers, but not at the level required by employers.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
