Kevin Spear
of The Sentinel Staff
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on May 07, 2000
Millie Mercado earns a good living by speaking two languages.
Make that three languages -- English, Spanish and talking with her hands.
For nearly three years, she has worked for time-share giant Central Florida Investments, selling vacations over
the telephone.
The company hires all kinds of people, including moms, experienced salespeople and people with physical handicaps.
The one big job requirement is good phone skills. Once in the job, a big advantage is knowing two languages.
Amid sales chatter, you'll hear English, Portuguese and Spanish, languages of the most frequent customers.
Then there's Mercado, a single mother of two girls. While callers don't know it, Mercado, 37, talks with her hands
-- by turns clasping them, pointing, karate chopping a palm and tapping her chest.
She also talks to customers in Spanish or English. Raised in a Puerto Rican family, she is equally comfortable
speaking both languages. More importantly, both are avenues to sales, she said.
Telemarketers at CFI earn $20,000 to $80,000 annually, depending on commissions from sales.
While it's no secret that speaking two languages can help in a number of jobs, time-share companies draw a big
share of customers from Latin America.
CFI, as well as many competitors in the fast-growing industry, face an increasing need to hire bilingual workers.
Already, about 60 percent of CFI's staff at its new Ocoee headquarters speaks two languages.
When Mercado started her job, she had sales experience but no idea two languages would help so much.
"You double your market," she said.
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