HOW IMPORTANT COMMUNICATION IS IF YOU’RE AN OFW

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“Communication-the human connection –is the key to personal and career success” is a notable quote from the most well-known contemporary solo clarinetist from France, Paul Mayer. Having good communication skills is not only essential in our lives but it’s the most important one. The question is, what if you’re an Overseas Filipino Worker? How can you communicate with different nationalities with different languages? What communication skills you must have to be successful in that career?

Before I conduct the interview I’ve questioned myself on who am I going to interview and it leads me to my father who is also a professional. His name is Rolly Virtuso, an OFW in Saudi Arabia who works as a Human Resource Assistant in a Hospital. I chose him to be my respondent, not just he is a professional, it gives me curiosity on how he communicates with different people as well. I asked him first who or what kind of people he encounters every day at his work, he said that there are many nationalities he communicates with on his workdays like Indians, Egyptian, Syrian, Bengali, Arabian, and Sri Lankans. He said that English is the main language they use in their working area so it’s easy for him to communicate however there are instances that some of their patient and co-employees are not using English when communicating. That’s why I asked him, “How it is possible for you to talk with them?”, he said that they use hand gestures while saying basic English to state only the main point to them and sometimes by just writing it on paper.

For him verbal communication skill is essential but he added that Non-verbal Communication skill is the most important one for him to continue in succeeding his profession. He said, “Having the ability to communicate well with your co-employees and superiors can make you the successful one.”

After the interview with my father, it enlightens me that having good communication skills even it is verbal or non-verbal communication, all know it is highly important for us. Just like what Paul Meyer said that communication is the key to our success. We can’t live and survive without communication especially when we are pursuing to be a successful professional in our desired field. As a Journalism student and someday we will work in a field full of communicating with different people, I must say that we must improve now our communication skills so that when we are working it is easy for us to be successful. It is related to what Brian Tracy said, “Communication is a skill that you can learn, it’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.”