Reducing accent helps people land jobs
A very real barrier to securing new employment can be a heavy accent. A hiring manager is reluctant to bring someone onto the team who is difficult to understand and will generate miscommunication issues and errors on the job. A job seeker can improve his or her chances for employment at an appropriate skill level by getting more control of correct pronunciation and fluency in English. Poor language skills can be perceived as lack of expertise in other things.An example: After only five private lessons with a skilled speech and language professional from Language Directions, LLC, D.S, a New Jersey computer programmer was able to move to a higher level position in a prestigious Manhattan company. He had realized that it was not his skill set, but his accent that was the career obstacle. Similarly, when we met him, Z.L. was a skilled internet engineer with advanced degrees and an impressive resume, yet he was unable to advance past a screening telephone interview to be able to meet with a hiring manager. Many foreign-born university professors face similar challenges when they look over the lectern and see the panicky faces of students who cannot understand the important points of the professor’s lecture and cannot adequately master the material. The “light goes out” when comprehension is not there and could have possible tenure implications for the professor and course grade of the student.
Individual and group classes are less of a frill and more of a necessity as a stepping stone to reemployment or career advancement. A package of private pronunciation lessons is a reasonable investment. Even the heaviest accent can be reduced 50-60% at a cost lower than the cost of a 3 credit course in a public university.
Most people who have had coaching to improve their speech wish they had done it sooner. They have shared with us that improving their pronunciation has given them a competitive edge for a new job opportunity or promotion. According to S.P., a native of India , “that’s why I took it. I wanted to succeed, to go forward and to get better jobs. And that is necessary. You want people to understand you.”
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