Amidst employers’ growing quest for bilingual sales representatives, the College of Business will host its inaugural Global Bilingual Sales Competition, where students will compete in both English and Spanish. The event will be held April 15-16 at FIU’s Modesto Maidique Campus.

A first of its kind, the tournament consists of simulated role plays in which students sell to a buyer from a global organization. Students must be prepared to conduct sales calls in English-only, Spanish-only, and in both English and Spanish. The judges, including representatives from global businesses and College of Business faculty teaching sales courses, will watch the presentations live through video streaming.

“Our vision is that the FIU Global Bilingual Sales Competition will serve as a venue for Spanish-English bilingual students and educators who want to accelerate the development of a global salesforce,” said Nancy Rauseo, Marketing Department senior lecturer and director of FIU’s Global Sales Program.

A Career Expo will be held Friday, April 15, from 10AM – 4PM where competitors as well as FIU sales and marketing students will be able to visit with employers.

“The need for bilingual sales representatives, key account managers, and sales managers by local, national, and worldwide organizations is rapidly increasing,” said Rauseo.

The tournament and FIU’s Global Sales Lab, inaugurated in 2015, offer hands-on practice on sales leadership development, professional networking and competitive training. The role-plays will be conducted in the lab, which houses 12 sales training rooms equipped with video recording capabilities.