The FBI is seeking qualified job candidates who can speak foreign languages during a job fair later this week at Houston Community College. The job fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the college’s conference center at 3100 Main, according to the FBI.

The languages currently most needed by the FBI are Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Dari, Hebrew, Farsi, Korean, Pashto, Somali, Spanish, Tigrinya, and Urdu.

Qualified candidates must have strong oral and written English skills as well as proficiency in a foreign langauge needed by the FBI. They also must be comfortable using basic computer applications, be a U.S. citizen and have lived in the United States for three of the past five years.

The FBI has nearly 1,500 linguists worldwide. More than 95 percent of them are native speakers of their language.

“FBI linguists play an extremely important role in keeping America safe,” Larry Wallace, FBI Houston Foreign Language Program Manager, stated in a news release announcing the job fair. “It’s a job opportunity that promises to be both challenging and rewarding.”

FBI linguists work a variety of interpretation and translation assignments. They also offer cultural awareness to FBI agents, intelligence analysts and other FBI employees.

FBI linguists begin as contract workers but may later be hired full-time. Contract linguists can work part-time and earn between $21 and $41 per hour, depending upon their foreign language and level of proficiency. They would work from their local FBI field offices.

FBI language managers and linguists will be at the job fair to discuss the positions available and to pre-screen potential candidates.

【新聞快訊】美國聯(lián)邦調(diào)查局(FBI)5月25日在美國休斯敦首次舉行外語人才招聘會(huì)，會(huì)講中文普通話的應(yīng)聘者十分“搶手”。2個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)近300位不同膚色的申請人填寫了表格，準(zhǔn)備參加長達(dá)5個(gè)小時(shí)的語言考試。

“休斯敦作為美國第四大城市，是重要的國際金融貿(mào)易中心，擁有世界著名的醫(yī)學(xué)中心、航天中心和海洋科學(xué)研究中心等，伴隨其國際化腳步的邁進(jìn)，越來越 多國家和地區(qū)的優(yōu)秀人才匯聚到這里?！盕BI外語項(xiàng)目發(fā)言人、特工維拉弗蘭卡告訴記者，由于外語人才緊缺和業(yè)務(wù)量不斷增加，美國聯(lián)邦調(diào)查局第一次在 休斯敦地區(qū)舉辦大規(guī)模招聘會(huì)，專門尋找英文流利且精通一門外語的語言人才，預(yù)計(jì)報(bào)名者將超過500人。

據(jù)維拉弗蘭卡介紹，F(xiàn)BI目前最需要的是中文普通話、阿拉伯語、達(dá)利語、希伯來語、波斯語、韓語、普什圖語、索馬里語、西班牙語等。合格的候選人在英語和一門外語的聽說讀寫能力方面必須具有專業(yè)級(jí)水平；能夠熟練使用計(jì)算機(jī)；必須是美國公民且過去5年內(nèi)至少有3年生活在美國。

順利通過筆試和面試的應(yīng)聘者，還將接受嚴(yán)格的背景審查，最終入圍者開始為合同制，以后可能會(huì)被聘全職。合同工可以在本地區(qū)的FBI辦事處兼職，依據(jù)其外語熟練程度每小時(shí)能賺取21-41美元。 　　

目前，F(xiàn)BI在全球有近1500名外語工作者，其中95%以上母語為非英語?！奥?lián)邦調(diào)查局的語言專家在保持美國安全方面發(fā)揮著極其重要的作用。”FBI休斯敦外語項(xiàng)目經(jīng)理拉里·華萊士說，“這是一個(gè)既具有挑戰(zhàn)又能獲得回報(bào)的就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)?！?/p>