January 9th, 2006
A new year and a new employer
I received my pulse check results and it revealed nothing new. During the hiring process the managing director and principal considered my Korean language difficulties yet I was still brought in. Now my appraiser and the guy-who-is-not-really-doing-his-job-as-my-mentor are making a big issue about this - "You aren’t fluent with the Korean language, thus you could not fully contribute to the team." Well, duh! It shouldn’t take a Ph.D or an MBA to figure that one out. With that said, wouldn’t it make logical sense for a native English speaking consultant to work alongside the clients who are also native English speakers? If that was the case, you wouldn’t have clients complaining about the poor communication skills of the Korean consultants.
The competencies of this local Booz Allen office is in question. How global is the local office if the usage of English is frowned down up on? I’m just too global for this firm to embrace/handle.
Update: I’ve been offered an opportunity to do something productive for a change with a VC-funded outfit in the mobile telecom sector. This position will compensate more for working less hours. Best of all I don’t have to wear a suit and tie.