MySQL Insert Can't Insert Special Characters

[nsmith]

Is there any way to encode strings or perform a MySQL insert on a special character like ł or Ł. I can’t get it working, but it works just fine using another ETL process.

In my specific use case I’m trying to insert names that include special characters. They appear in MySQL as “?” instead of the special character.

Any help is appreciated!

[nsmith]

THANK YOU jaybodra!!! Turns out our workaround broke in MySQL 5.7, and we stumbled upon our own question which now has your solution that worked. A bunch of employees with special characters in their names will be very grateful!