CONSEJOS DE

INGLÉS PARA RRHH 
A small selection of our tips about

how Spanish speakers should use

English in the Human Resources

sector

D A N I E L S M I T H + P A R T N E R S
Designed and produced with Spanish

speakers for Spanish speakers

Copyright 2017, Daniel Smith + Partners 

 Foreword

by Daniel Smith

Thank you for taking the time to download our small free guide
about English for human resources. We hope that the
information here will help you improve your English a little
more. Remember that your improvement depends on your
consistency and exposure to English. So the more that you can
do to surround yourself with the English language the better
you will get.

The human resources sector in Spain is becoming

increasingly international and the need for English has never
been greater. You will be clearly aware of this because of the
recruitment processes that you undertake on a regular basis.
English is needed to get the job and then often required when
you are in the role.

Each one of us constructs our own vocabularies. They often

differ because of context. The vocabulary we use at home is
not the same as that which we use professionally. As a human
resources professional you will need to work to ensure that
your professional English vocabulary both connected to human
resources and more general business English is sufficient for
your everyday needs.

This guide is only a small set of tips but hopefully, it will

encourage you to do more and push yourself that little bit
further.
DO YOU KNOW HOW TO SAY

"BAJA POR MATERNIDAD" IN

ENGLISH?

When you are absent from work

we often use the word: "leave".

So the direct translation for

"baja por maternidad" is

"maternity leave"!!! Maternity

leave varies considerably from

country to country. Do you think

women are given enough

maternity leave in Spain?

"TO CONTRACT"

I hear this mistake very often and it is

something that Spanish speakers who

work in HR (RRHH) need to get right,

especially because they probably use

this verb on a daily basis. The verb "to

contract" does not exist in English and

is a good example of the type of

Spanglish that I hear every day. It

comes directly from the verb

"contratar" in Spanish. In English, we

need to use other options that sound

better which include: "to hire" or "to

employ". So the correct version should

be: 1) We are going to HIRE someone

next week 2) We are going to EMPLOY

someone next week. When you use the

word "contract" in English most people

will always think of the noun

(substantivo) and therefore think of the

actual document that needs to

be signed! Hope that helps!

TO APPLY

This is another tip (consejo) for those of you

who work in HR (RRHH). The verb "to apply" is

very useful in your field of work and you should

know how to use it without thinking. I have

noticed, however, that many Spanish speakers

don't know what it means or cannot think of the

right word when they need to use it. Instead,

they often use the Spanglish version which is

something like: "I will send my curriculum". In

English, however, it is much better to use the

verb "to apply" in almost all situations: 1) I am

going to apply for a new job 2) I am going to

apply to go to university 3) I am going to apply

to go on that course about presentations! It is a

very useful verb. Hope that helps!

TOP TEN WORDS FOR RRHH EN

INGLÉS

Last week we interviewed a

CANDIDATE for a new POST in our

company. During the INTERVIEW

process, we discussed a variety of

issues such as SALARY, SOCIAL

BENEFITS, and various other PERKS.

After the interview, we were happy

with the skills that the candidate

was able to demonstrate and we

offered him/her a CONTRACT on

the spot (en el momento)! We don't

normally HIRE people so quickly but

we were a little worried because

we knew that this person would be

very attractive to a number of our

competitors. The contract that we

signed is very flexible so, in the

case that we need to FIRE or sack

him/her, the COMPENSATION will

only be very minimal. Hope that

helps!
HOW DO YOU SAY

"HABILIDADES" IN

ENGLISH?

Most Spanish speakers

fall into the trap of

translating "habilidades"

as "abilities". Although

this word is not

completely wrong and

there are some

occasions when it might

be the right word to use,

I would generally prefer

you to use the word

"skills". So, you could say

something like: "My

English skills are great

because have just done

an intensive course".

How are your English

skills? Getting better I

hope! 
CV OR RÉSUMÉ?

Clearly one of the most common

words used in the world of

human resources is "cv" or

"résumé". Interestingly, the use

of these words depends on

where you are located. The

British always use "cv" while the

Americans generally use

"résumé". A "résumé" in British

English means a "summary". The

Spanish like to use the word

"curriculum". They often say:

"Please send me your curriculum"

and while most native speakers

will understand this, it is better to

use "cv" or "résumé". Hope that

helps!
HOW DO YOU SAY "PARO" IN ENGLISH?

 The easiest way to talk about "paro" in English is

the word: "unemployment". So, if you are talking

about a statistic you need to say:

"Unemployment is going down in Spain" (for

example). If you are talking about yourself then

you need to use the word: "unemployed": "I am

unemployed at the moment". If you want to talk

about the money that you are receiving from the

government because you don't have a job then

you need to use "unemployment benefit": "I get

unemployment benefit every week". Hope that

helps!
DO YOU WORK IN "SELECTION"?

 Many Spanish speakers who work in HR

(RRHH) often use the word "selection". In

many ways this is understandable because

"to select" and "selection" do exist in English

but we do not use them very much in this

context. The correct word to use here is

"recruitment". So, for example: "I work in

recruitment" or "I work as a recruiter for an

employment agency". The word "selection"

in English is more commonly used to

describe some sort of variety. For example:

"I have found a selection of hotels that

might be of interest to you". Hope that

helps!
"DESPEDIR" ALGUIEN EN INGLÉS?

Interestingly, there are many

ways to talk about this in English.

The three most common words

are: "to sack someone", "to fire

someone" or "to make someone

redundant". Another alternative is

"to dismiss someone". So there

are four options. Our

recommendation is to use "make

redundant" or "dismiss" most of

the time. The other two are used

more when the person has done

something seriously wrong. Hope

that helps!
 Daniel Smith + Partners

INGLÉS PARA EMPRESAS - GRUPOS Y "ONE TO ONE"

INGLÉS GENERAL

INGLÉS DE NEGOCIOS

INGLÉS PARA EJECUTIVOS

ARQUITECTOS

ABOGADOS

RRHH

MARKETING

CLASES POR SKYPE

CLASES POR TELÉFONO

INGLÉS PARA PARTICULARES (CLASES "ONE TO ONE"

PARA EJECUTIVOS)