GeekMBA360: Beat Recession. Grow Career. Build Wealth. - Latest Comments in Accent

Re: Accent

Renita Kalhorn — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:11:16 -0000

When I was a college student at Juilliard (which has a very international student body), there was a girl in my class who spoke with a strong Russian accent --articulately, with perfect grammar. I still remember how surprised I was when I found out she had lived in the States since she was five years old or so. Clearly, she had made an effort to assert her cultural heritage by maintaining her accent.

Of course, certain accents are harder to understand in English than others, but I think if someone fundamentally expresses themself clearly and intelligently, an accent simply adds "spice" to the delivery. :-)

Re: Accent

GeekMBA360 — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:56:59 -0000

You have a good point. I think in certain professional areas such as management consulting, appearance and language skills are really important. Like you said, accent could be a liability.

However, over the years, I have seen plenty of people who succeed in investment banking, high tech, or even legal careers while speaking with heavy accents. It could be mind-boggling sometime. :-) But, I think it's really important that you believe in yourself, and not let your accent to prevent you from trying things out.

A Harrison Barnes, a former lawyer, legal industry recruiter, and successful entrepreneur, had a great post about this Russian lawyer who speaks with a heavy accent and graduate from a tier-3 law school, but kept getting better and better lawyer jobs in L.A. (http://www.aharrisonbarnes.com.... Check it out. A great read -- human minds can make a lot of "impossible things" happen if you believe and go for it.

Re: Accent

Nam — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:11:55 -0000

Is accent really not a liability? If you speak with heavy accent and you want to work in management consulting, I bet you could not land any job. And I hardly see anyone who can use a heavy accent as an asset to advance in her/his career. Well, except William Hung in American Idol. :D