Multilingual Role Model Shares Powerful Message with MSU Students: Show Off Those Languages!

Andreina Botto Roever, a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion expert with over 20 years experience working on human resources, outreach, communications and partnership building in the United Nations, recently visited campus for an open Q & A session with Montclair State University students from across campus.

Botto shared her own experience coming from a middle-class family in Argentina, getting scholarships to study in Italy and Germany, becoming fluent in German, Italian, and finally English, and as a mom with three small children working her way into positions in the United States where she has dedicated herself to opening the door to others by advocating for equity in the workplace, for women’s rights, and for multilingualism.

She told students, “The UN does not see race, but it sees gender diversity and language diversity.” The United Nations sees multilingualism as an “essential factor in harmonious communication among all peoples and an enabler of multilateral diplomacy,” assuring greater transparency, efficiency, and empathy. Furthermore the United Nations is committed to protecting linguistic diversity for the over 7,000 languages remaining in the world, and Botto told of a powerful event where the United Nations brought in the last few speakers of a particular language to highlight the importance of preserving language as part of their heritage and cultural values.

Before delving into the Q&A, students in the room shared their own multilingual backgrounds in Albanian, Croatian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, and many other languages, as well as their majors, double majors, and minors in everything from Graphic Design to French to History to Montclair’s unique and growing interdisciplinary major in “Language, Business, and Culture.” Botto pointed out that students like those at Montclair with language skills, intercultural awareness, study abroad experience, and a high sense of community service are precisely those that the United Nation is looking to hire today.

One Business Administration major pursuing a minor in German asked if someone like him should also be considering positions at the UN, and what someone with his academic background might do for the UN. “Well, do you want to make rich people richer, or do you want to help do something with all that money?” Botto quipped. She described the UN Global Compact that aims to accelerate the collective positive impact of businesses worldwide, and she suggested ways in which students with business training can help facilitate public private partnerships in addition to helping the UN manage its own finances.

Coming from someone who has had copious experience on both as an applicant and an interviewer, Botto shared many tips all can take to heart.

1. Always have your elevator pitch ready. Botto herself once ran into the UN Secretary General literally in the elevator at a museum in New York. Trying to summarize your greatest accomplishment, your passion, and your aspirations on the fly is too much, so think of your three main interests and how your experiences led you there now. Also: be respectful, and never, ever be in your car when your interviewers have scheduled a call with you. Botto told a story of one interview where she had gathered supervisors together from three countries for an online interview with a candidate, only to find the candidate taking the call in her car. The bridges were burned and Botto herself wanted to make a hole and fall into it, she was so embarrassed for the applicant.
2. The UN is not just for diplomats. Botto talked about all types of entry level positions at the United Nations. Yes, the United Nations needs translators and interpreters, but it also needs employees to do marketing, advocacy, communications, web design, social media, IT, and all kinds of analytics, not to mention droves of people who simply want to facilitate international exchange in any way possible through organization and dialogue.
3. Start now! Botto shared several programs where one can start volunteering, reaching out, and paving the way to future professional possibilities today. There are internships at UN headquarters, but also online internships, and many international initiatives that one can pursue by reaching out to a specific mission.

Many Montclair students have taken on roles at the United Nations, including Kyra Wyllie, a recent German and Psychology graduate who worked in the Human Resources and Management office of the United Nations in Vienna after completing a United States Teaching Assistant program in Austria as well.

Botto left students and faculty with a takeaway that resonates with Montclair’s “carpe diem” motto: “There are so many opportunities. So start checking them out today!” Botto encouraged students to connect with her on LinkedIn and resolved to return to campus soon to check on students’ progress toward their professional goals.